Focusing on women and girls, including transgender women, this course examines representations of gender, sexuality, race, class, dis/ability, and other intersecting axes of identity and power in the media. Students will consider issues of authorship, production, and spectatorship (audience) and how various media content (film, television, print journalism, advertising, and new and digital media) enables, facilitates, and challenges inequalities in society. Drawing from various media studies approaches, students will learn to interpret media in relation to its larger social, cultural, and historical contexts, conduct in-depth research, and have the option to create original media content. Recommended after Media Literacy, and at least one of: Television and Culture, American Cinema, American Popular Music in the 20th Century or Images of Women in Western Civilization, or Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.Students should have previous experience with some kind of media or cultural studies, the ability to write at an advanced level, and conduct scholarly research.