Lecture, three hours; screenings, two hours. Limited to juniors/seniors. Conceptual tools and critical skills necessary to rigorously interrogate gender politics of popular culture in the U.S. context. Consideration of theories of popular culture and exploration of distinctive power and ideological force exerted by popular culture in American public life. Examination of specific representations of male and female bodies to understand visual vocabulary of gender in popular culture, as well as relationship between visual stereotypes and regimes of power. Consideration of debates concerning transformative potential of pop culture and exploration of capacity and limits of popular culture as agent of social change. Letter grading.