Suzanna Danuta Walters - Böcker

Splashed against the tumultuous Clinton years and framed by the clash between gay political might and anti-gay activism, "All the Rage" presents the first authoritative guide to the new gay visibility. From the public outing of Ellen DeGeneres to the vicious murder of Matthew Shepard, gay lives and images have moved onto the centre stage of American public life. Lesbians and gay men are indeed everywhere, from television sitcoms to Budweiser ads, from the White House to the Magic Kingdom. Combining personal stories with incisive analysis, Suzanna Danuta Walters chronicles this historic moment in our culture, arguing that we live in a time when gays are seen, but not necessarily known. Many consider the new gay visibility a sign of social acceptance, while others charge that it is mere window dressing, obscuring the dogged persistence of discrimination. Walters moves beyond these positions and instead argues that these realities coexist: gays are at once the sign of social decay in our culture and the chic flavour of the month.Taking on the common wisdom that visibility means progress, "All the Rage" maps the terrain on which gays are accepted as witty accessories in movies, gain access to political power, and yet still fall into constrictive stereotypes. Walters warns us with clarity and wit of the pitfalls of equating visibility with full integration into the fabric of American society. From the playful TV fantasies of lesbian weddings on "Friends" to the very real obstacles confronting gay marriage, from the award-winning comedy "Will & Grace" to Bible-thumping radio superhost Dr. Laura, "All the Rage" takes on naive celebrants and jaded naysayers alike. With a sophisticated mix of caution and optimism, the book provides an illuminating guide through these heady, controversial times.

In the 1940s film "Now", "Voyager", Bette Davis plays a daughter struggling against her mother's stifling repression. Nearly fifty years later, in the Hollywood saga "Postcards from the Edge", Shirley MacLaine, as a neglectful and bossy mother, inflicts untold psychological pain on her daughter, played by Meryl Streep. These dramas of conflict and the ambivalent struggle for separation have been central to popular images of mothers and daughters in the last half-century in the U.S. Walters boldly challenges these dichotomies and proposes an innovative and multi layered understanding of the cultural construction of the mother/daughter relationship. In a discussion of popular media ranging from themes of maternal martyrdom to maternal malevolence, Walters shows that since World War II, mainstream culture has generally represented the mother/daughter relationship as one of never-ending conflict and thus promoted an 'ideology of separation' as necessary to the daughter's emancipation and maturity. This ideological move is placed in a social context of the anti-woman backlash of the early post-war period and the renewed anti-feminism of the Reagan and Bush years.Walters uses exceptions to mainstream imagery-films such as "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", television shows like "Maude," novels like "The Joy Luck Club" - to offer evidence of alternative traditions and paradigms. Timely and vividly argued, "Lives Together/Worlds Apart" makes a brilliant contribution to discussions of popular culture and feminism.

Madonna, Murphy Brown, Thelma and Louise: These much-discussed media icons are the starting points of Suzanna Walter's brilliant, much-needed introduction to feminist cultural theory. Accessible yet theoretically sophisticated, up-to-date and entertaining, "Material Girls" acquaints readers with the major theories, debates, and concepts in this new and exciting field. With numerous case studies and illustrations, Walters situates feminist cultural theory against the background of the women's movement and media studies. Using examples from film, television, advertising, and popular discourse, she looks at topics such as the 'male gaze', narrative theory, and new work on female 'ways of seeing' and spectatorship. Throughout, Walters provides a historically grounded account of representations of women in popular culture while critiquing the dominance of psychoanalytic and postmodern analyses. The first comprehensive guide to the approaches and debates that make up this growing field, "Material Girls" belongs on the shelf of every cultural critic and savvy student today.

From Gleeto gay marriage, from lesbian senators to out gay Marines, we have undoubtedlyexperienced a seismic shift in attitudes about gays in American politics andculture. Our reigning national story isthat a new era of rainbow acceptance is at hand. But dig a bit deeper, and thisseemingly brave new gay world is disappointing. For all of the undeniable changes,the plea for tolerance has sabotaged the full integration of gays into Americanlife. Same-sex marriage is unrecognized and unpopular in the vast majority ofstates, hate crimes proliferate, and even in the much vaunted "gay friendly"world of Hollywood and celebrity culture, precious few stars are openly gay. In TheTolerance Trap, Suzanna Walterstakes on received wisdom about gay identities and gay rights, arguing that weare not "almost there," but on thecontrary have settled for a watered-down goal of tolerance and acceptancerather than a robust claim to full civil rights. After all, we tolerate unpleasant realities: medicinewith strong side effects, a long commute, an annoying relative. Drawing on avast array of sources and sharing her own personal journey, Walters shows howthe low bar of tolerance demeans rather than ennobles both gays and straightsalike. Her fascinating examination covers the gains in political inclusion andthe persistence of anti-gay laws, the easy-out sexual freedom of queer youthand the suicides and murders of those in decidedly intolerant environments. Shechallenges both "born that way" storylines that root civil rights in biology,and "god made me that way" arguments that similarly situate sexuality as innateand impervious to decisions we make to shape it. A sharp and provocative cultural critique, thisbook deftly argues that a too-soon declaration of victory short-circuits fullequality and deprives us all of the transformative possibilities of fullintegration. Tolerance is not the endgoal, but a dead end. In The ToleranceTrap, Walters presents a complicated snapshot of a world-shifting moment inAmerican history—one that is both a wake-up call and a call to arms for anyoneseeking true equality.