Covering from 1900 to the present day, this book highlights how female artists, actors, writers, and activists were involved in the fight for women’s rights, with a focus on popular culture that includes film, literature, music, television, the news, and online media.

Women’s Rights: Reflections in Popular Culture offers a succinct yet thorough resource for anyone interested in the relationship between feminism, women’s rights, and media. It is ideally suited for students researching popular culture’s role in the modern history of women’s rights and representation of women, women’s rights, and feminism in popular culture. This insightful book highlights of some of the most important moments of women taking a stand for women throughout popular culture history.

Each section focuses on an aspect of popular culture. The television section covers important benchmarks, such as Julia, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Roseanne, Murphy Brown, and Ellen. Coverage of films includes Christopher Strong, Foxy Brown, and Thelma & Louise; the literature section features the work of influential individuals such as Virginia Woolf, Zora Neale Hurston, and Toni Morrison. The book celebrates early musical ground-breakers like Gertrude Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith as well as contemporary artists Janelle Monae and Pussy Riot. The work of key women activists-including Margaret Sanger, Angela Davis, and Winona LaDuke-is recognized, along with the unique ways women have used the power of the web in their continued effort to push for women’s equality.

Provides readers with a unique collection of feminist moments across a variety of mediated forms

Highlights female artists, writers, performers, athletes, and activists involved in the fight for women’s rights over the course of more than a century

Presents an interesting and succinct guide for some of the most important moments in media history when women asserted themselves in the quest for equal rights

Addresses topics represented in the media, including equal pay, birth control, sexism, and racism