Thompson, Lauren Jade (2012) Becoming what women want : formations of masculinity in postfeminist film and television. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis uses a range of recent television and film texts to interrogate
postfeminist media formations of masculinity. In particular, this work
focuses on increasingly prevalent media narratives that are about producing
men as suitable romantic partners for postfeminist women. Arguing that
existing literature on postfeminism ignores or trivialises the issue of
masculinity, this thesis addresses new cultural formations of masculinity
that are linked not only to postfeminist discourse, but also related cultural
and economic shifts such as post-industrialisation and the rise of neo-liberal
cultural politics. Analysing texts from the mid-1990s to 2012, the work
argues that such representations are rife with tensions and contradictions.
They represent in part an ungendering of previously feminine arenas (such
as the makeover, and the home) yet are also marked by a discourse that
requires the reassertion of sexual difference and the maintenance of
heteronormativity. As such, the urge towards coupling becomes central to
these formations, across the range of texts discussed within this thesis. The
thesis argues that postfeminist media representations of masculinity are
often characterised by an interplay between dominant, residual and
emergent formations.
In the makeover show, the mission is to improve a man to satisfy his existing
partner (perhaps as preparation for a proposal) or to ready him for entry
into the dating market. In the lifestyle show, the advice given on how to
manage domestic labour is committed to encouraging harmony between the
heterosexual couple. The homebuilding sitcom focuses on the challenges of
the transition between youth and the establishment of a family unit: finding
the right partner, settling down, building a home, having children. The
Hollywood romantic comedy, even in its recent, male-centred incarnations,
still presents successful coupling as integral, essential, and inevitable, even if
its attitude to the union is sometimes ambivalent. In all of these television
and film genres, there is a considerable focus on how men must change in
order to become, and stay, "marriageable".
This emphasis on coupling is paired with images of singledom as failure, a
pathologisation which, this thesis argues, is rapidly becoming ungendered.
The example texts' reinforcement of compulsory heterosexuality, their focus
on a particular 'life-stage' (the early stages of independent living) and the
increased focus on men's private lives means that domestic space and the
home become key sites in which these tensions and battles are played out.
This thesis examines the central role of the home, its decor, arrangement
and labour, as both one of the major negotiations of coupling and as an
aesthetic strategy for representing different formations of masculinity and
postfeminist dilemmas of masculinity within this group of texts.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Masculinity in motion pictures, Masculinity on television, Feminism and motion pictures
Official Date:	December 2012
Dates:	Date Event December 2012 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Wheatley, Helen (Helen M.); Moseley, Rachel
Extent:	xiii, 366 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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