Encyclopedia of Sexism in American Films

Salvador Jimenéz Murguía, Ph.D., is an associate professor of sociology. He is the co-editor of Encyclopedia of Spanish Cinema (2018) and A Cuban Cinema Companion (2019) as well as the editor of Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films (2016) and Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films (2018), all published by Rowman & Littlefield. Erica Joan Dymond, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at East Stroudsburg University and a consulting editor for the academic journal The Explicator. Her research has been published in The Journal of Popular Culture as well numerous books such as The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films and TheEncyclopedia of Cuban Cinema.Dr. Kristina Fennelly teaches at Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. She has served as a book reviewer for Composition Studies, as an associate editor to The Best of the Independent Journals in Rhetoric and Composition, and as a contributor to the professional blog The Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning.

The #MeToo movement has brought with it increased interest in sexism portrayed on film. In the Encyclopedia of Sexism in American Films, the editors try to convey some of the inequalities that have been expressed within the motion picture industry through sex, gender, and sexuality. To accomplish this task the contributors considered eight broad categories of sexism, among them the male gaze, diversity, overall ideas of beauty, and use of violence. Alphabetically arranged by film title—in most cases just one film, though a few entries take on multiple works (e.g., "Pixar Films," "Kill Bill Films," "X-Men Franchise")—entries offer not just information about the film at hand (i.e., title, year, director, screenplay) but also other useful sources (including those used by the author for that entry) and see also references to films that are similar in nature. Readers may be surprised by some of the films included and less so by others. This is a timely work in an era that should look at this aspect of filmmaking with newly aware eyes. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.