Includes bibliographical references (pages 208-223) and index.
Contents:
Funny peculiar: queering gender, comedy and television -- Gracie, Martha, Eve and Lucy: queering femininity in early American television comedy -- Back to the dollhouse? Queering postfeminism in contemporary American sitcom -- The Big Bang Theory: queering masculinity in American sitcom -- Smack the Pony: feminist negotiations in British sketch comedy -- Queering age: older women in British television comedy.
Summary:
"Can comedy on television harbour elements of gender transgression or subversion? If a man is permitted to be 'funny peculiar' - playing the underdog or misfit - does a woman seem stranger in his place? Mapping examples from British and American comedy television over the past 60 years, from I Love Lucy to The Big Bang Theory and Smack the Pony to Waiting For God, Television Comedy and Femininity asks: are particular forms of television comedy gendered in specific ways? Paying attention to series which have not been addressed in academic work, as well as more established shows, White offers fresh insights for the fields of television studies, gender and women's studies, cultural history and comedy"--Publisher's description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.