The Anti-Heroine on Contemporary Television: Transgressive Women

Molly J. Brost

doi:10.5771/9781498596732

Summary

In The Anti-Heroine on Contemporary Television: Transgressive Women, Molly Brost explores the various applications and definitions of the term anti-heroine, showing that it has been applied to a wide variety of female characters on television that have little in common beyond their failure to behave in morally “correct” and traditionally feminine ways. Rather than dismiss the term altogether, Brost employs the term to examine what types of behaviors and characteristics cause female characters to be labeled anti-heroines, how those qualities and behaviors differ from those that cause men to be labeled anti-heroes, and how the label reflects society’s attitudes toward and beliefs about women. Using popular television series such as Jessica Jones, Scandal, and The Good Place, Brost acknowledges the problematic nature of the term anti-heroine and uses it as a starting point to study the complex women on television, analyzing how the broadening spectrum of character types has allowed more nuanced portrayals of women’s lives on television.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2020
Copyright Year: 2020
ISBN-Print: 978-1-4985-9672-5
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4985-9673-2
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 116
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 16
Chapter 1 Jessica Jones Redefines the Action/Noir Heroine No access Pages 17 - 32
Chapter 2 Scandal’s Olivia Pope and The Good Place’s Eleanor Shellstrop Choose Good No access Pages 33 - 48
Chapter 3 Girls, Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, and the Question of Likability No access Pages 49 - 70
Chapter 4 UnREAL, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, You’re the Worst, and Mental Illness Stigma No access Pages 71 - 90
Conclusion No access Pages 91 - 96
Bibliography No access Pages 97 - 108
Index No access Pages 109 - 114
About the Author No access Pages 115 - 116