Independent women: from film to television

Abstract

"Independent Women: From Film to Television" explores the significance for feminism of the increasing representation of women on and behind the screen in television contexts around the world. "Independent" has functioned throughout film and television history as an important euphemism for "feminist," and this special issue investigates how this connection plays out in a contemporary environment that popular feminist discourse is constructing as a golden age of television for women. The original essays offer keen insight into how post-network television is being valued as a new site of independent production for women, and examine how the connotations of creative control that attend this orients perceptions of both female creators and their content as feminist. Together, they provide a compelling perspective on the feminist consequences of how independence and "indie" have intensified as cultural sensibilities that coincide and engage with the digital transformation of television over the past decade. KEYWORDS Television; feminism; independence; independent film; gender and media This special issue of Feminist Media Studies is motivated by our observation of a critical shift in the profile of women's television work over the course of the twenty-first century's second decade. In conjunction with the well-documented transformation of television to a non-linear, internet-delivered medium governed by the logic of the

‘She is like a Yakshini’

“…The successful representation of pōlà nǚ reflects the increasing visibility of groups of independent, powerful and educated females in modern China. This is also in line with the changing landscape in television contexts across the world, where independent and strong women have been increasingly represented, and the rise of "womencentric" roles and shows in global media (Perkins & Schreiber 2019).…”

“…Ten years later, Yifei was still considered the most popular female character of all five seasons of Ipartment, according to the Baidu Index 2020. 2 The TV viewers' positive reception of Yifei reinforces the idea that characters are popular because they are visible; and the more visible they become, the more selfevident the feminist content of their work is made to appear (Perkins & Schreiber 2019).…”

Analyzing Gender Bias within Narrative Tropes

“…Lauzen (2019) provides valuable insight into representation among film writers, directors, crew members, etc. Perkins and Schreiber (2019) study an ongoing increase in the representation of women in independent productions on television, many of which focus on feminist content.…”

What to Make of Women-Led Crime Dramas?: An Interrogation of the Female Characters in Contemporary Crime Dramas

“…Such shows and films seemingly depict the female empowernment agendas but also the pursuit of romance and feminine qualities still takes women's centered narratives. As elsewhere argued that towards the globalisation and digitally proliferation of entertainment televison, women's centered entertainment not only enjoyed relatively positive representation but also those behind the cameras (Perkins and Schreiber 2019). However, the way in which female issues are taken into consideration when making such movies or shows need to be analysed whether or not such representation illuminate and put forward the feminist agenda.…”