Research Catalog

Title

Rebellious bodies : stardom, citizenship, and the new body politics / Russell Meeuf.

Author

Meeuf, Russell, 1981-

Publication

• Austin : University of Texas Press, 2017.
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 237 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

Celebrity culture today teems with stars who challenge long-held ideas about a "normal" body. Plus-size and older actresses are rebelling against the cultural obsession with slender bodies and youth. Physically disabled actors and actresses are moving beyond the stock roles and stereotypes that once constrained their opportunities. Stars of various races and ethnicities are crafting new narratives about cultural belonging, while transgender performers are challenging our culture's assumptions about gender and identity. But do these new players in contemporary entertainment media truly signal a new acceptance of body diversity in popular culture? Focusing on six key examples - Melissa McCarthy, Gabourey Sidibe, Peter Dinklage, Danny Trejo, Betty White, and Laverne Cox - "Rebellious Bodies" examines the new body politics of stardom, situating each star against a prominent cultural anxiety about bodies and inclusion, evoking issues ranging from the obesity epidemic and the rise of postracial rhetoric to disability rights, Latino/a immigration, an aging population, and transgender activism. Using a wide variety of sources featuring these celebrities-films, TV shows, entertainment journalism, and more-to analyze each one's media persona, Russell Meeuf demonstrates that while these stars are promoted as examples of a supposedly more inclusive industry, the reality is far more complex. Revealing how their bodies have become sites for negotiating the still-contested boundaries of cultural citizenship, he uncovers the stark limitations of inclusion in a deeply unequal world.

Subject

• Human body in popular culture
• Human body > Social aspects
• Human body in mass media
• Body image in motion pictures
• Celebrities in mass media
• Mass media and race relations > United States
• Identity (Psychology)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction : star bodies and the politics of inclusion -- Melissa McCarthy : class and corpulence in the obesity epidemic era -- Gabourey Sidibe : obesity and postracial femininity -- Peter Dinklage : meritocracy and the world's sexiest dwarf -- Danny Trejo : Latino action stardom and the shifting borders of whiteness -- Betty White : bawdy grandmas, aging in America, and "prefeminist" fantasies -- Conclusion : Laverne Cox, trans women, and the limits of neoliberal citizenship.

Call Number

JFE 17-6024

ISBN

• 9781477311806
• 1477311807
• 9781477311813
• 1477311815

LCCN

2016027781

OCLC

956947588

Author

Meeuf, Russell, 1981- author.

Title

Rebellious bodies : stardom, citizenship, and the new body politics / Russell Meeuf.

Publisher

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2017.

Copyright Date

©2017

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 17-6024