Feminism Without Women: Culture and Criticism in a "Postfeminist" Age (Japanese Studies)

In a series of essays scrutinizing feminist and post-structuralists positions, Tania Modleski examines ""the myth of postfeminism"" and its operation in popular culture, especially popular film and cultural studies. In a (First published in 1991.)

Modleski examines 'post-feminism' in popular culture particularly through popular film. The discussion focuses on issues such as surrogate motherhood, women and war, pornography and gay representation in the era of AIDS.

Publishers Weekly

In the face of a self-proclaimed feminist criticism that leaps to embrace the often dubious pleasures of popular culture, Modleski calls for ``a feminist rethinking of the articulations of popular culture and political criticism.'' The book offers such a rethinking, first in terms of theory, then as applied to several recent film trends. Much of Modleski's ( Loving with a Vengeance ) sardonic ire is leveled against ostensibly pro-feminist men; she finds male critics in support of feminism ``most useful . . . where they analyze male power, male hegemony, with a concern for the effects of this power on the female subjectitals in text and with an awareness of how frequently male subjectivity works to appropriate `femininity' while oppressing women.'' The volume is at its best when dissecting ``profoundly regressive'' films like Three Men and a Baby and ``considering how various representations of masculinity that resist traditional patriarchal images and plots either contribute to or, on the contrary, undermine the feminist project.'' At other times, particularly in the last of the three theoretical essays, readers without a grounding in Lacan and Foucault will be utterly lost. (July)

Modleski Examines `post-feminism' In Popular Culture Particularly Through Popular Film. The Discussion Focuses On Issues Such As Surrogate Motherhood, Women And War, Pornography And Gay Representation In The Era Of Aids.--publisher's Description. Part I: Theory And Methodology. Postmortem On Postfeminism -- Femininity As Mas(s)querade -- Some Functions Of Feminist Criticism; Or, The Scandal Of The Mute Body -- Part Ii: Masculinity And Male Feminism. A Father Is Being Beaten: Male Feminism And The War Film -- Three Men And Baby M -- The Incredible Shrinking He(r)man: Male Regression, The Male Body, And Film -- Part Iii: Race, Gender, And Sexuality. Cinema And The Dark Continent: Race And Gender In Popular Film -- Lethal Bodies: Thoughts On Sex, Gender, And Representation From The Mainstream To The Margins. Tania Modleski. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Part I: Theory and Methodology Chapter One: Postmortem on Postfeminism Chapter Two: Femininity as Mas(s)querade Chapter Three: Some Functions of Feminist Criticism; or, The Scandal of the Mute Body Part II: Masculinity and Male Feminism Chapter Four: A Father is being Beaten: Male Feminism and the War Film Chapter Five: Three Men and Baby M Chapter Six: The Incredible Shrinking He(r)man: Male Regression, the Male Body, and Film Part III: Race, Gender, and Sexuality Chapter Seven: Cinema and the Dark Continent: Race and Gender in Popular Film Chapter Eight: Lethal Bodies: Thoughts on Sex, Gender, and Representation from the Mainstream to the Margins Notes Index of Films Index Offering a multi-faceted response to the shift within feminist theory from a woman-centered critical practice to an increasingly male-oriented 'gender studies, ' 'Feminism Without Women' assesses recent trends in feminist thought by discussing social issues relevant to feminism: women and war, the controversy within feminism over lesbian S&M, the intensification of racism under Reagan and Bush, and the emergence of 'male feminism.'