{"id":12941,"date":"2024-02-28T12:08:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T12:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/?p=12941"},"modified":"2024-03-19T09:49:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T09:49:46","slug":"anja-louis-inaugural-lecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/anja-louis-inaugural-lecture\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Anja Louis’ Inaugural Lecture – “The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful: Women, Law and Pop Culture”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Anja Louis’ Professorial Inaugural Lecture<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful: Women, Law and Pop Culture”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sign up\u00a0<\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>! All welcome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1800 – 2030, Wednesday 06 March 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sheffield Hallam University – Peak Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Owen Building, City Campus, Hallam Square, Sheffield, S1 2LX<\/p>\n

As an early celebration of International Women\u2019s Day (8 March), this interactive professorial lecture looks at the relationship between gender, law and popular culture.<\/p>\n

Professor Anja Louis<\/a>\u00a0will draw on her research and lived experience. She will explore how much power law and culture have in terms of women, and what we can learn from it.<\/p>\n

But how can this knowledge transform our lives? Will a film turn us into activists? Will a fictional role model help us find our own form of success? Does reading books make you a better person? Do we learn something when watching television and if so, are we aware and critical of it?<\/p>\n

During the lecture, Anja will explore common themes in law and popular culture from early 20th-century feminist writings to 21st-century film and television. She will look at so-called \u2018difficult\u2019 and \u2018ditsy\u2019 women, pretty professionals and action heroines. Anja will also discuss female writers, female genres, feminist issues, feminist humour, and female footballers.<\/p>\n

Come and join Anja to celebrate women!<\/p>\n

Anja’s Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anja Louis is Professor of Transnational Popular Culture at Sheffield Hallam University, where she is REF coordinator and member of various research leadership teams. She has published widely in the fields of gender studies and popular culture. Her monograph\u00a0Women and the Law: Carmen de Burgos, an Early Feminist<\/i>\u00a0is a seminal study on the Spanish feminist Carmen de Burgos.<\/p>\n

Recent research projects examine the representation of female lawyers and law enforcement officers in Spanish film and television. She is currently working on a monograph on \u2018Femininity and Feminism in Spanish TV drama<\/em>\u2019 and is co-editing a book on \u2018Gender and TV in Iberia and Latin America<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Agenda<\/strong><\/p>\n

18:00 – Guests arrive<\/strong><\/p>\n

18:30 –\u00a0Professorial lecture and Q&A<\/strong><\/p>\n

19:30 – Drinks reception<\/strong><\/p>\n

20:30 – Event close<\/strong><\/p>\n

Book your place by filling in the form here<\/a> or on the Welcome to Sheffield\u00a0<\/em>website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Privacy and GDPR<\/a><\/p>\n

Event Organised by\u00a0Sheffield Hallam University (events@shu.ac.uk)<\/em>
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Below is an excerpt from a recent Q&A featuring Anja, produced by the Sheffield Hallam University Media Team:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Most of us enjoy TV, drama, literature, films and plays – many, of course, featuring characters identifying as women.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But how far has pop culture evolved from the age-old female stereotypes of \u2018damsel in distress\u2019, \u2018mother figure\u2019, \u2018ditsy girl\u2019, and \u2018difficult woman\u2019, for instance?<\/span><\/p>\n

Hallam’s\u00a0<\/span>Professor Anja Louis<\/span><\/a>, an expert in women in popular culture and its relationship to societal change, explains\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What are some of the ways that women are portrayed in films and TV drama?<\/strong><\/span>Think of your favourite characters. Are they to be found in\u00a0Game of Thrones, The Devil wears Prada, Murder She Wrote, Killing Eve, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Wonder Woman, The Good Wife,\u00a0<\/i>or\u00a0Gentleman Jack<\/i>, for instance?<\/p>\n

My favourite characters are Jessica Fletcher in\u00a0Murder, She Wrote;<\/i>\u00a0Alicia Florrick in\u00a0The Good Wife<\/i>,\u00a0Wonder Woman,\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0Gentleman Jack<\/i>. That tells us something about me.<\/p>\n

Once we start analysing these portrayals in detail, we realise that there are patterns and stereotypes: there are \u2018difficult\u2019 women, \u2018ditsy\u2019 women, \u2018action babes\u2019, unmarried women, wives, mothers, daughters and so on. What interests me is why and how women are often \u2018framed\u2019 by the storytelling and the camerawork.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018Social change is slow, bumpy and hard work for those who try to bring it about.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Could the Bechdel Test help us become more aware of this issue, as viewers?<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Bechdel Test, or more precisely the\u00a0Bechdel-Wallace test, was created by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in 1985, but only gained wider use in the early 2000s. It’s a simple way to see how women are portrayed in a particular film or drama. To pass the test, the production must have:<\/p>\n