Where the Girls Are: Growing up Female with the Mass Media by Susan J. Douglas
This is an examination of the images of women in the American mass media, ranging from cinema and TV soaps to pop music, advertising, magazines and news coverage. The book seeks to show that women are confronted with contradictory images from the dizzy blonde to images of what a "good" desirable wife should be. Women are simultaneously encouraged both to rebel and conform with all the resulting confusion. The author conducts a study of four decades from the 1960s to the present day reflecting current, unresolved concerns and controversy over the place of women in society.