This study entails a qualitative cultural film analysis of single women characters in six contemporary US-American movies released between 1999 and 2008. On the one hand, the focal point is the assessment of character portrayals and their embedding into their everyday lives. On the other, it focuses on the correlation between age, gender, and marital status. Results show that an acknowledgement of different kinds of single older women seems prevalent, yet also reveal a dominance of hetero-normativity. It is concluded that Hollywood offers a so called counter world of single women and aging, particularly with regard to socio-economic strains, health, and an active aging process where one can look 'younger'.

Autorentext

Charlotte Christina Fink, born and raised in Austria, has been educated in the fields of Sociology and English as well as Media and American Cultural Studies. She was a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant in the year 2005-2006, and an adjunct lecturer at The City College of New York from 2008 to 2011. Currently, she is an independent scholar situated in her hometown of Graz.

Inhalt

Contents: What it means to be older: In search of a definition - Film Analysis and (American) Cultural Studies - Intergenerational Harmony and the Affirmation of the Female - Single Women's Attractiveness and Sexuality meet Age - Single Older Women in Mid-Life - Spinsters Reloaded and Relaunched.