Accessibility statement

Feminism on the Screen - TFT00095H

« Back to module search

  • Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This humanities module explores the relationship between feminism(s) and the history of primarily American popular film and television from the post-war era to the present, by charting the dialogue between feminism and its screen representations from the 1950s to the 2020s.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

  • To develop an in-depth, critical understanding of key terms, concepts, theories, and debates in the study of feminism and feminist discourse in popular media culture
  • Acquire a contextual knowledge and understanding of the relationship between feminism as a political movement and popular cultures of film and television from the 1950s to the present, including aesthetic, industrial, social, and national contexts
  • Explore, interrogate, and contextualise a range of cultural touchstones in the feminist history of Western film and television.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module you will be able to:

  • Apply relevant theories, concepts, and debates of feminist scholarship about film and television aesthetics, industries, forms, genres, and histories.
  • Critically discuss and contextualise historical and contemporary examples of popular film and television, in order to situate them in relation to relevant feminist thought.
  • Use film and television texts, marketing materials, industry data, and pertinent scholarship, as well as a range of other primary and secondary sources, in order to make an evidence-based argument about the relationship between feminisms and popular film and television
  • Develop transferable skills in research, critical analysis and presentation, both in writing, reading and speaking.

Module content

This humanities module explores the relationship between feminisms and the history of (primarily American) popular film and television from the post-war era to the present, by charting the dialogue between feminism and its screen representations from the 1950s to the 2020s. In doing so, it focuses on key moments for feminism (e.g. the women’s liberation movement or second-wave feminism; millennial postfeminisms; intersectional feminisms; the global financial crisis; the #MeToo movement) and groundbreaking screen texts that foregrounded or struck a chord with feminist concerns, have resonated particularly strongly with female audiences, and generated foundational criticism by feminist media scholars. By covering a range of genres and texts from Western film and television such as I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Thelma and Louise, 9 to 5, Absolutely Fabulous, Sex and the City, Girls, Hustlers, Mrs America and Barbie, the module equips students with the skills to critically analyse popular media's engagement with feminist and gender politics.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Students will receive written feedback on all assessments and reassessments in agreement with university policies.

Indicative reading

Banet-Weiser, Sarah, Empowered: popular feminism and popular misogyny, Duke University Press: Durham, 2018.

Brunsdon, Charlotte and Lynn Spigel (eds), Feminist Television Criticism: A Reader (Second Edition), McGraw Hill/Open University Press, 2008.

Dow, Bonnie J., Prime Time Feminism: Television, Media Culture and the Women’s Movement Since 1970, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.

Havas, Julia, Woman Up: Invoking Feminism in Quality Television, Wayne State University Press: Detroit, 2022.

Hollinger, Karen. (ed.) Feminist Film Studies. London: Routledge, 2012.

Hollows, Joanne, and Moseley, Rachel. (eds.) Feminism in Popular Culture. Oxford: Berg, 2006.

Negra, Diane and Yvonne Tasker (eds), Gendering the Recession: Media and Culture in an Age of Austerity, Durham: Duke University Press, 2014.

Perkins, C., & Schreiber, M. (eds.) Independent Women From Film to Television (1st ed.). Routledge, 2021.

Radner, Hilary and Rebecca Stringer (eds.) Feminism at the Movies: Understanding Gender in Contemporary Popular Cinema. New York; London: Routledge, 2011.

Tasker, Yvonne and Diane Negra (eds), Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2007).

Thornham, Sue (ed.) Feminist Film Theory. Edinburgh University Press, 2019.

Zoonen, Liesbet van. Feminist Media Studies. London; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.