Despite the abundant literature on the topic of gender and media, the study of this relationship remains more relevant than ever. Media are one of the core mediators of social norms within contemporary societies. Thus, the study of gender representations and discourses within the media is an endeavor of great significance allowing researchers to seize the social and political aspects of gender relations.

Gender stereotypes still persist resulting to the marginalization of women and LGBTQ+ community members. Female experts are still underrepresented in the media of several countries and gender minorities struggle with issues of visibility and/or misrepresentation in numerous geographical zones around the world. Gender stereotypes also influence professional careers within the media. For instance, recent research has demonstrated that female journalists are often considered more capable to treat ‘soft news’ (e.g., lifestyle, etc.) while their male counterparts are more likely to have the opportunity to deal with ‘hard news’ (e.g., politics, economy, sports, international affairs, etc.). In addition to these phenomena, resurgent authoritarianism in certain regions of the world has a significant impact on gender representations and discourses conveyed by the media and popular culture. For example, gender representations proposed by Turkish soap operas are representative of the impact of political conservatism on media texts. It is also worth mentioning that the spread of digital technologies has also led to new forms of abuse (e.g., online harassment) and to new means of expression of toxic masculinity and misogyny (i.e., manosphere).       

Nevertheless, the advent of digital technologies has also allowed the awareness-raising on different forms of gender-based abuse. As it has been witnessed over the past years, social media have led to an unprecedented denunciation of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture around the globe (#MeToo, #MoiAussi, #BalanceTonPorc…). Furthermore, bodies which had been marginalized due to the norms imposed by the patriarchal capitalism have become more visible within the public sphere through social media (e.g., body positivity movement). In addition, the democratization of digital technologies has allowed the emergence of new forms of gendered resistance through the diffusion of counter-discourses within the public sphere (e.g., feminist podcasts). While in the past television used to be seen as a medium that tended to target female audiences and although cinema traditionally favored male perspectives, the growing digitalization and the platformisation of the audiovisual industry have changed the old patterns of production, distribution and consumption of film and television content. Within this context, video on demand streaming platforms propose original productions representing more independent and dynamic female characters and/or challenging many gender stereotypes (e.g., Maid/Netflix 2021, Game of Thrones/HBO 2011-2019, etc.).

The aim of this conference is to advance discussion about gender and media studies and exchange among scholars from different countries, providing an overview of the most recent and original studies on gender and the media.

​

Themes that may be addressed in this conference include (but are not limited to):

• Gender representations in media

• Advertising, social media and gender

• Gender and media professions

• Feminist / antifeminist discourses

• Mediatization of gender-based violence and femicide

• Online gender-based violence

• Gender identities and experiences online

• Sexuality and media

• Sports, gender and media

• Voice, gender and media

• Gender and resistance

• Gendered appropriations of media content

• Gender and alternative media

• Bodies in media

• Disability and gender in media

• Ageism, gender and media

• Gender, race and class in media

• Gender and popular culture

• Gender, science fiction and fantasy

• Gender and pornography

• Masculinity, femininity and LGBTQ+ issues

• Reality television and gender

• Theories and methods on Gender and Media studies

 

Submission procedure: Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words in English before February 28, 2023 to the following address: rc14isanewslettereditor@gmail.com

​

The abstract should include the title of the paper, all author(s) names and affiliation, contact information as well as if you plan to present in person or online. It should contain clear information on the research methods, data sources and analytical tools to be used. Please note that the organizers are seeking original contributions.

 

Venue: The conference will be held online and in-person at the University of Melbourne.

Publication: A selection of outstanding papers will be published in a confe