Erika Engstrom

From Barriers to Challenges: Career Perceptions of Women TV News Anchors

A survey of 128 local women anchors found that they rank concerns with their physical appearance, conflicts between the roles of wife/mother and newscaster, and difficulties in balancing career and family as their major career challenges. A comparison of this studys results with those of a 1986 study shows that women anchors today continue to perceive physical appearance as a major challenge in their work. However, their concerns about entry into the profession have shifted to issues related to the maintenance of career and family goals.

Unraveling The Knot Political Economy and Cultural Hegemony in Wedding Media

This article examines the hegemonic messages about weddings, gender roles, and consumption in modern society disseminated by The Knot, a bridal media company that claims to be the “#1 wedding website,” with brand extensions into magazines, books, and in partnership with the cable outlet Oxygen, the reality television program Real Weddings from The Knot. Analyses of The Knots media alliances and its reality television program illustrate that as an example of political economy of the media, The Knot and its media synergy create for its female audience the image of the perfect wedding, which maintains a status quo reinforcing femininity and consumerism.

Portrayal of Religion in Reality TV Programming: Hegemony and the Contemporary American Wedding

We examined the treatment of religion in reality TV programming, namely The Learning Channels A Wedding Story, by conducting a content analysis of 85 recently aired episodes. Results support a hegemonic portrayal regarding religion: most weddings were somewhat religious, Christian, held in a church, involved traditionally worded vows and few religious rituals, and included mention of the word God. We discuss the programs potential to provide viewers with more diverse religious portrayals.

Demon Hunters and Hegemony: Portrayal of Religion on the CW's Supernatural

The authors analyze the religious themes and portrayals in the television program Supernatural, aired on the CW television network since 2005. As fictional entertainment programming, Supernatural incorporates various religions and lore into its episodes, which feature its protagonists fighting monsters, demons, and the occasional evil human. Findings from a content analysis of 60 episodes from the first 3 seasons illustrate a religious hegemony that forwards Catholicism, in the form of weapons used to fight evil, such as holy water, and depictions of priests, as the main and most powerful opponent of evil. Non-Catholic, “other” religions, and their associated villainous characters, in contrast, serve as distractions for the protagonists, thus contributing even more to their marginal stature.

Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Young People's Unrealistic Expectations About Love and Marriage?

The current study examines the association between consumption of media messages by way of movie viewing and genre preference and endorsement of ideals and expectations concerning romantic relationships. A survey of young adults found that viewing preference for both romantic comedies and dramas was significantly and positively correlated with idealized notions of faith that love conquers all, greater expectations for intimacy, and endorsement of the eros love style. However, participants who frequently watched romantic movies did not endorse beliefs in sexual perfection, mindreading, or disagreement disallowance. Results suggest that more mythic romantic ideals may tend to supersede other relational demands.

Alternative Feminist Media on the Airwaves: Radio and Women's Music

The author examines radio programs produced by women in the U.S. that feature music by women. Womens music programming offers a variety of music genres and presentation styles. Criteria of music selection also vary, with some programs concentrating solely on womens contributions and musical works, and others that play music by mixed-sex groups and even featuring a male vocal. However, the commonality of all these programs lies in their dedication to highlighting women artists and giving voice to those who would otherwise not be heard. As media artifacts, womens music radio programs offer multiple layers of feminist inquiry.

Selling with Sex in Sin City: The Case of the Hard Rock Hotel Casino

SUMMARY The author presents a case study of the sexual appeals used in several billboards for the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2004, the Hard Rock paid a

Effects of Sex and Seating Arrangement on Selection of Leader

100,000 settlement with the Nevada Gaming Commission for advertising deemed “inappropriate.” The author analyzes the messages concerning female nudity and implied sexual activity contained in two billboards cited in the formal complaint, and another billboard that used female same-sex eroticism to promote the Hard Rock as an entertainment experience. The article concludes with a discussion of the deontological concerns warranted by overtly sexual advertising.

Religion and the Representative Anecdote: Replacement and Revenge in AMC’s The Walking Dead

Effects of a persons sex and seating arrangement were tested with 310 participants (151 men and 159 women; M age = 20.0, SD = 3.3) from a large southwestern U.S. university who were asked to select a leader from among five persons depicted around a rectangular table. Participants chose a person shown seated at the head of the table as the leader of a group, regardless of that persons sex. This conflicts with prior research indicating gender bias against women as leaders.

Review and Criticism: Book Review—What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s

ABSTRACT The current study examines how the horror-based AMC television series The Walking Dead portrays religion in terms of a reframing of the role, if any, of faith in a higher power, and the portrayal of the faithful. The religious-themed discourse of this highly successful story about survivors of a zombie apocalypse as presented through dialogic and visual imagery serves as the text analyzed here; specifically, related episodes set in churches at two separate points in the series that combine to offer a metaphor of “structure” used to disassemble and reconstruct the role of religion. These episodes interlace religious themes to develop an overarching message that forms a representative anecdote of replacement in which the notion of “faith” becomes redefined.