Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Anthea Taylor

   Pages 1-24

3. ‘Blockbuster’ Feminism and Celebrification

   • Anthea Taylor

   Pages 25-58

4. Erratum to: Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster

   • Anthea Taylor

   Pages E1-E4

5. Part I

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 59-61

      PDF

   2. Helen Gurley Brown: Prototypical Celebrity Feminism, Cultural Intermediaries, and Agency

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 63-92

   3. Betty Friedan: The ‘Mother’ of Feminism, Self-fashioning, and the Celebrity Mystique

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 93-125

   4. Germaine Greer: ‘The Star Feminism Had to Have’, Unruliness, and Adaptable Celebrity

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 127-160

6. Part II

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 161-163

      PDF

   2. Naomi Wolf: Twitter and the Transformation of a ‘Third wave’ Celebrity

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 165-195

   3. Sheryl Sandberg and Roxane Gay: The Limits and Possibilities of Contemporary Blockbuster Feminism

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 197-233

   4. Amy Poehler and Lena Dunham: Celebrity Memoirs, Comedy, and Digital Activism

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 235-270

   5. Conclusion: The Future of Celebrity Feminism—Contemporary Celebrity Culture, the Blockbuster, and Feminist Star Studies

      • Anthea Taylor

      Pages 271-299

7. Back Matter

   Pages 301-306

   PDF

In the first book-length study of celebrity feminism, Anthea Taylor convincingly argues that the most visible feminists in the mediasphere have been authors of bestselling works of non-fiction: feminist ‘blockbusters’. Celebrity and The Feminist Blockbuster explores how the authors of these popular feminist books have shaped the public identity of modern feminism, in some cases over many decades. Maintaining a distinction between women who are famous because of their feminism and those who later add feminism to their ‘brand’, Taylor contends that Western celebrity feminism, as a political mode of public subjectivity, cannot in any simple way be seen as homologous with other forms of stardom. Moving deftly from the 1960s to the present, focusing on how feminist authors have actively worked to manufacture their public personas, she demonstrates that the blockbuster remains crucial to feminist celebrification but is now often augmented with digital media. Advancing celebrity studies by placing the figure of the feminist front and centre, Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster is essential reading for all those interested in gender, popular feminism, and the politics of renown. 

• celebrity feminism
• popular feminism
• second-wave feminism
• third-wave feminism
• publishing
• popular feminist books
• Germaine Greer
• Helen Gurley Brown
• Betty Friedan
• Lena Dunham
• Naomi Wolf
• Amy Poehler
• Sheryl Sandberg
• Roxane Gay
• The Female Eunuch
• Sex and the Single Girl
• The Feminine Mystique
• Vagina
• Bad Feminist
• social media

“I highly recommend this empirically rich book which takes the novel approach of adapting a celebrity studies lens to these well-known feminist figures. Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster would be suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of celebrity studies, media and cultural studies, feminist and gender studies, and English.” (Kaitlynn Mendes, Celebrity Studies, Vol. 9 (03), 2018)

“Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster makes an important contribution to current debates about the media’s role in the construction of feminism and the popular appeal and celebritisation of female public intellectuals. The arguments made in this bold and engaging book require us to think again and think harder about both the values and the impact of celebrity feminism.” (Anita Biressi, University of Roehampton, UK)

• Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

  Anthea Taylor

Anthea Taylor lectures in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Mediating Australian Feminism (2008) and Single Women in Popular Culture: The Limits of Postfeminism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), as well as numerous journal articles in feminist media and cultural studies.