The Journal of Popular CultureVol. 39 Iss. 6 (2006)
Dystopian Romance: True Crime and the Female Reader
Laura Browder
In detailed analysis, Browder examines through interviews and textual analysis, the female connection to the genre of true crime and convincingly concludes that for some women, true crime's violent nature allows for personal exploration and a means of survival.
Reading Wonder Woman's Body: Mythologies of Gender and Nation
Mitra C. Emad
Emad traces the historical and cultural meaning of Wonder Woman myths at four historical moments. Central to Emad's discussion is the role of bondage and power in the traditionally masculine public realm contrasted to the private realm of female sexuality.
Grace Metalious' Peyton Place: Sentimental Storm-Trooper or Popular Throw-Back?
Cinda Gault
Gault argues that Metalious subverts traditional female stereotypes and thus challenges understandings of female sexuality, sexual abuse, and abortion. In doing so, Gault suggests that Metalious anticipated and catalyzed the 60's feminist movement as a departure from postwar discontent with traditional femininity.
A Network of Support: Coping with Trauma through Star Trek Fan Letters
Lincoln Geraghty
In a style verbose yet intriguing, Geraghty studies British and American fan letters in Star Trek Magazine. Star Trek, with its proposal for a future glorious world, gave a destabilized nation, pressured by political controversy and racism a common experience by which to unify and generate hope.
Spears' Space: The Play of Innocence and Experience in the Bare-Midriff Fashion
Dennis Hall
In a brief but satisfying essay, Hall provides a historical argument for the prevalence of the bare-midriff based on the premise that it allows young women to live in the terrain between innocence and experience. Hall insightfully observes that the midriff becomes commodified and consumed through its creation.
Narratives, Festivals, and Reinvention: Defining the German Postwar Homeland in Waldkraiburg
Brenda D. Melendy
In an article riddled with German language and military jargon, Melendy examines German relocation in post-WWII Germany. By exploring conscious and unconscious actions, the problems of physically and emotionally recreating one's homeland are discussed.
Pepsiman! Toward a Theory of Symbolic Morphosis in Global Advertising
Noel M. Murray
Through the deconstruction of popular culture icons, Murray analyzes the transnational nature of American symbols, arguing that consumption is influenced by the role advertising plays within the context of globalization.
REVIEWED BY
Polly E. Coassin
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