This study aims to provide a critical introduction to the relations between gender, media and culture. Feminists have long recognized the significance of the media as a site for the expression of - or challenges to - existing gender relations. This broad-ranging analysis explores the ways in which feminist theory and feminist research contribute to a fuller understanding of the multiple roles of the media in the construction of gender in contemporary societies. The text intially outlines some major themes in feminist media studies and the ways in which they offer specific models for understanding the media. It goes on to examine key questions posed by a gender approach within communication and cultural studies. Other issues explored include: theories of transmission, representation, construction and discourse; structure of media organization and production; interpreting media representation though content analysis and semiotics; contradictions of the gendered image as spectacle; new approaches to understanding the audience and the politics of media reception; and the potential of feminist and interpretive researtch strategies. Providing a synthesis of theoretical and empirical work, this book should be of interest to students of communications, cultural studies and women's studies.