Girls' Hairstories

Fiona Handyside is Associate Professor of Film Studies in the department of Communications, Drama and Film at the University of Exeter. She is the author of Sofia Coppola: A Cinema of Girlhood (2017) and the co-editor of International Cinema and the Girl: Local Issues, Transnational Contexts (2016). She has also written Cinema at the Shore: The Beach in French Cinema (2014) and edited Eric Rohmer: Interviews (2013).

• List of FiguresAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The New Postfeminism, Girls and Hair1. Power-Plaits2. Rebellious Redheads3. Black Girls and the Racial Politics of Hair4. Hair Cuts and Short Hair5. Hair Accessories: Bows, Clips and Slides6. Long Loose Hair and the VeilConclusionAppendix: SoundtrackReferencesIndex

This fascinating book examines the significance of girls’ hair styles within the context of gendered, class-based, and racialised identities on screen (and off). Arguing for the importance of the apparently trivial, Handyside’s analysis offers new insights for film/media studies, cultural studies, and gender studies. A sparkling contribution to scholarship.