Gender, identity, and entertainment

Abstract

Mediated representations that we consume on a day-to-day basis, in a variety of entertainment packages, have consequences for how we see ourselves and others in our social world. In these entertainment formats, one of the features that has captured the attention of entertainment researchers is how they represent gender and/or how they function as a source of gender identity practices. This chapter will deal with the relationships between gender and entertainment media, in terms of production, content, and consequences. In these consequences, both the negative consequences of stereotyped representations will be discussed, and the perspective in which audiences are seen as active consumers who use entertainment as a source for gendered identity construction