Dustin Kidd

I'm working on a new book project. The research is question is both very long, and pretty simple: How do race, class, gender, disability status, and sexuality impact the content, production, and audience of film, television, music, print media, and the internet? The question is answered using a combination of secondary and primary data, but I also highlight the many ways the question remains unanswered and suggest ways that we could improve our sociological study of popular culture. If you have favorite studies that are relevant, send them my way!

http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/ This is a good resource for studying women in popular culture. The research reports--The Celluloid Ceiling (film) and Boxed In (TV)--are particularly good. They are very basic but provide straight-forward analysis that is often hard to find. What the Center does well is track women's representation on both sides of the camera. It's very helpful to remember that female characters in TV and film are often authored by male writers, directors, and videographers.