REVIEWS

If you have read Media, Gender and Identity then I would love to hear from you. Please email me, David Gauntlett, directly at david@theory.org.uk. Thank you!

PUBLISHED REVIEWS

"Gauntlett’s optimism is infectious, the subject matter engaging, and, as a result, the book is difficult to put aside. It is a thoroughly pleasurable introduction to the ties between self-identities and representations of gender in media." - Anne E. Lincoln in Journal of Consumer Culture (2003): See full review (Acrobat file)

"Brings the theory of popular culture to the widest possible audience... Delightful and provocative" - Charlie Peverett of HERO: See full review (Acrobat file)

"Exuberant... provides an interesting perspective on the many changes experienced by young people in the modern world, in an interesting and stimulating manner. There are many references to films, magazines, pop music and television, which demonstrate how the media are used in the shaping of self-identities. The book could be a good resource for students new to sociology and other related disciplines because it presents interesting but abstract ideas about identity and the self, and places them in a real world context of actual people and the media today." - Kathy French in Nursing Inquiry (2004), vol. 11 (2), pp. 124-127.

READER'S REVIEWS

"This book is an incredibly exuberant account of the changing landscape of popular media and culture. David Gauntlett shows how gender politics are reinvented for popular consumption, in ways which illustrate the media alert to its own critics but also influenced by new ways of thinking and affected by the introduction of new constraints. The wide and up-to-date range of cultural forms referred to, as well as the accessible style, will make this book very appealing to students." - Angela McRobbie, Professor of Communications, Goldsmiths College, University of London.

"With this excellent new book, David Gauntlett pushes the study of popular media and gender identities into the twenty-first century. Theories of self, gender, sexuality and identity are clearly explained, and then connected in fascinating new ways with a wealth of up-to-date examples from movies, TV and pop music." - Annette Hill, Reader in Communications, University of Westminster.

"I read Media, Gender and Identity during my research about men's magazines. I found it extremely helpful as it offers ideas that I haven't found in any other books. Gauntlett is very open-minded in his approach to this and other topics. Instead of damning phenomenon like the upcoming of Loaded, FHM and Co. he tries to positively explain their influence on society. This is overall the most modern book I have read about the influence of media on gender and identity as it takes in consideration pop music, films and magazines and in my opinion paints a realistic image of the world of young people today. I can only advise anyone to read this book who is interested in how media influences society. It is written in a very well understandable language that even I - not a native English speaker- could well follow and is even fun to read - something you can unfortunately not say about many theory books for university." - Meike Werkmeister, Bremen, Germany (review originally posted at Amazon.co.uk).

"An excellent introduction, not only for media students. There are dozens of books on popular culture and its relation to gender and identity issues out there, but this one is extraordinary: concise, up-to-date, and very readable. Gauntlett wrote not only an introduction to the main theories of popular culture like Giddens, Foucault or queer theory - he illustrated all the discussed theoretical concepts with recent examples like movies, TV series, music, websites, and magazines. If you are a student of media studies and always wanted to know how popular culture influences our lifestyles and our concepts of gender and identity - grab this book! It is well written and clearly structured with plenty of cross-references and suggestions for further reading. A unique feature is the accompanying website where additional material can be found." - Andrea Loibnegger, Klagenfurt, Austria (review originally posted at Amazon.com).

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