ABSTRACT
Central to van Zoonen’s feminist concerns is the idea that culture – art, film, literature, the media, etc. – plays a crucial role in informing audiences, both past and present, of the gender-based roles that they ought to assume. Her concern in investigating contemporary culture is to isolate the processes that have allowed patriarchal ideals to become the dominant ideological force that shapes gender expectations today – a force, van Zoonen argues, that has resulted in the widespread subjugation of women across society.
