Diversity in Gender and Visual Representation

This book aims to encourage and develop understanding of the social category of gender, the concept of visual representation, and the relationship between the two, with contributions stimulating discussion within and between disciplines, research paradigms, and methods. By emphasising ‘real world’ issues, drawn from across the globe, the book aims to contribute towards and inspire broader feminist activism.

Inviting readers to approach in an interdisciplinary spirit, the contributions suspend assumptions, and ask us to accept conceptual contradictions and tensions as they may arise, aspiring to (re)centre the concept of representation when considering the social category of gender within our dynamic and changing digital age. This book will be of interest to academics, students, and practitioners from a range of disciplines with an interest in gender studies and in particular the visual representation of gender. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Gender Studies.

Russell Luyt is Deputy Head of the Department of Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, UK. His work is focused primarily on the social psychology of gender, looking at the cross-cultural intersection of gender, ‘race’ and social class; the critique of traditional masculinity, femininity and gender measurement; media representations; masculinities and aggression; masculinities, prejudice and sexual minority groups; and qualitative methodologies.

Christina Welch is a Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, and leads the Masters course in Death, Religion and Culture, at the University of Winchester, UK. She is an interdisciplinary scholar with a research interest in the intersection between religions and material/visual culture. Gender is central to much of her work.

Rosemary Lobban is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, UK. She has a background in both media and psychology, having studied and worked in both fields. Her specialisms include representations of gender in advertising, as well as masculinities and femininities from a critical, discursive perspective.