Redesigning Women

In the 1990s, American televison audiences witnessed anunprecedented rise in programming devoted explicitly to women. Cablenetworks such as Oxygen Media, Women's Entertainment Network, and Lifetime targeted a female audience, and prime_time dramaticseries such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Judging Amy, Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, and Ally McBeal empowered heroines, single careerwomen, and professionals struggling with family commitments andoccupational demands. After establishing this phenomenon'ssignificance, Amanda D. Lotz explores the audience profile, the types ofnarrative and characters that recur, and changes to the industrylandscape in the wake of media consolidation and a profusion ofchannel