Drawing on numerous examples from popular culture, Sarah Banet-Weiser examines
the relationship between popular feminism and popular misogyny as it plays out
in advertising, online and multi-media platforms, and nonprofit and commercial
campaigns, showing how feminism is often met with a backlash of harassment,
assault, and institutional neglect.
The book examines the Nickelodeon children's TV network and its related media, highlighting how they shape the perception of children as distinct "citizens" within their own community, separate from adults. It explores the network's impact on children's identity, culture, and social interactions, providing insights into how media influences their understanding of community and belonging.
The #MeToo movement created more opportunities for women to speak up about sexual assault. But we are also living in a time when “fake news” and “alternative facts” call into question the very nature of truth. This troubling paradox is at the heart of this compelling book. The convergence of #MeToo and the crisis of post-truth is used to explore the experiences of women and people of color whose claims around issues of sexual violence are often held in doubt. Banet-Weiser and Higgins investigate how the gendered and racialized logics of “believability” are defined and contested within media culture, proposing that a mediated “economy of believability” is the context in which public bids for truth about sexual violence are made, negotiated, and authorized today.