Television Antiheroines : Women Behaving Badly in Crime and Prison Drama

As television has finally started to create more leading roles for women, the female antiheroine has emerged as a compelling and dynamic character type. __Television Antiheroines__ looks closely at this recent development, exploring the emergence of women characters in roles typically reserved for men, particularly in the male-dominated genre of the crime and prison drama. The essays collected in __Television Antiheroines__ are divided into four sections or types of characters: mafia women, drug dealers and aberrant mothers, women in prison, and villainesses. Looking specifically at shows such as __Gomorrah__, __Mafiosa__, __The Wire__, __The Sopranos__, __Sons of Anarchy__, __Orange is the New Black__, and __Antimafia Squad__, the contributors explore the role of race and sexuality and focus on how many of the characters transgress traditional ideas about femininity and female identity, such as motherhood. They examine the ways in which bad women are portrayed and how these characters undermine gender expectations and reveal the current challenges by women to social and economic norms. __Television Antiheroines__ will be essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in crime and prison drama and the rising prominence of women in nontraditional roles.

With a foreword by Diane Negra and Jorie Lagerway

As television has finally started to create more leading roles for women, the female antiheroine has emerged as a compelling and dynamic character type. Television Antiheroines looks closely at this recent development, exploring the emergence of women characters in roles typically reserved for men, particularly in the male-dominated genre of the crime and prison drama.

The essays collected in Television Antiheroines are divided into four sections or types of characters: mafia women, drug dealers and aberrant mothers, women in prison, and villainesses. Looking specifically at shows such as Gomorrah, Mafiosa, The Wire, The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Orange is the New Black, and Antimafia Squad, the contributors explore the role of race and sexuality and focus on how many of the characters transgress traditional ideas about femininity and female identity, such as motherhood. They examine the ways in which bad women are portrayed and how these characters undermine gender expectations and reveal the current challenges by women to social and economic norms. Television Antiheroines will be essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in crime and prison drama and the rising prominence of women in nontraditional roles.

Godmothers In Italian Mafia Story, Or, Something Else Besides A Mother / Milly Buonanno -- Mafiosa, Monstruous Beauty : Power And Loneliness Of A Female Mob Lover / Barbara Villez -- Adieu Carmela Soprano! : Lessons From The Hbo Mobster Wife On Tv Female Agency And Neo-liberal (narrative) Power / Kim Akass And Janet Mccabe -- Paying The Price : Penoza--combining Motherhood And A Career (in Crime) / Joke Hermes -- Really Good At It : The Viral Charge Of Nancy Botwin In Weeds (and Popular Culture's Anticorps) / Elisa Giomi -- Really Bad Mothers : Manipulative Matriarchs In Sons Of Anarchy And Justified / Amanda D. Lotz -- La Reina Del Sur : Teresa Mendoza, A New Telenovela Protagonist / Yeidy M. Rivero -- Blurred Lines : The Queer World Of Bad Girls / Vicky Ball -- Top Dogs And Other Freaks : Wentworth And The Re-imaging Of Prisoner Cell Block H / Sue Turnbull -- Lesbian Request Approved : Sex, Power And Desire In Orange Is The New Black / Suzanna Danuta Walters -- Women And Criminality In Brazilian Telenovelas : Salve Jorge And Human Trafficking / Samantha Joyce And Antonio La Pastina -- Your Turn, Girl : The (im)possibility Of African American Antiheroines In The Wire / Bruce A. Williams And Andrea L. Press -- Taming Pussytown : How Post-feminism Domesticated Underbelly: Razor / Leigh Redhead. Milly Buonanno, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "As television has finally started to create more leading roles for women, the female antiheroine has emerged as a compelling and dynamic character type. Television Antiheroines looks closely at this recent development, exploring the emergence of women characters in roles typically reserved for men, particularly in the male-dominated genre of the crime and prison drama. The essays collected in Television Antiheroines are divided into four sections or types of characters: mafia women, drug dealers and aberrant mothers, women in prison, and villainesses. Looking specifically at shows such as Gomorrah, Mafiosa, The Wire, The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Orange is the New Black, and Antimafia Squad, the contributors explore the role of race and sexuality and focus on how many of the characters transgress traditional ideas about femininity and female identity, such as motherhood. They examine the ways in which bad women are portrayed and how these characters undermine gender expectations and reveal the current challenges by women to social and economic norms. Television Antiheroines will be essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in crime and prison drama and the rising prominence of women in nontraditional roles."-- Provided by publisher