On the 5^th September the Centre, together with the British Sociological Association Sociology of Media Study Group, co-hosted a very successful and stimulating day workshop on the theme of Gender and Media. Around 20 participants from Warwick and beyond attended, including postgraduates.

Anne-Marie Kramer, of the Centre and Sociology, Warwick opened proceedings with her paper on ‘Women’s rights, medical responsibility and the assessment of risk: Pre-natal testing in the Polish press’. This problematised the participation of the medical profession in pre-natal testing debate and considered the gendered impact of such. Ros Gill, LSE, meanwhile, contributed a fascinating paper, ‘Rewriting the Romance? Chick lit and postfeminism’. This interrogated whether chick lit reproduces or subverts ‘traditional’ popular romance, prompting a lively discussion around the emergence of ‘dad’s lit’ and ‘mum’s lit’. After a relaxing and enjoyable lunch at EAT, Stuart Price (DMU) offered the last paper of the day, ‘Action, Utterance & Agency: Representations of Gendered Behaviour in Contemporary Film and Television’. Stuart offered a very interesting gendered reading of the relationship between the protagonist of the Bourne Identity and his female assistant, which was complemented by some film viewing! The day also allowed plenty of time for networking, and a friendly and engaged atmosphere prevailed throughout.

We hope that the event but marks the beginning of a successful partnership between the Centre and the BSA Sociology of Media study group. Many thanks to Cath Lambert and Karen Throsby for chairing papers, and to Amy Evans for providing administrative support.

Anne-Marie Kramer

(co-organiser)

Sociology