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Unit of study_
WMST6903: Gender, Media and Consumer Societies
2026 unit information
This unit examines theories of consumption in regards to cultural and media products and practices, with a specific focus on gender. Drawing upon a wide range of feminist media and cultural theories, we will critically analyse different forms of belonging and identity that are created through these practices. We will also pay close attention to the critiques of globalisation and consumption, theories of the 'citizen consumer' and the realities of geo-political and economic inequalities that underpin many forms of consumption.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Gender and Cultural Studies |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Develop critical and creative approaches for understanding media consumption both as a theoretical concept and as lived practice in various cultural contexts.
- LO2. Critically examine various media forms and practices in terms of how they shape understandings of gender in culturally specific ways.
- LO3. Apply relevant cultural theories about gender, media and consumption and relate them to those of transnationalism, identity and difference
- LO4. Discuss how changes in media, especially in light of technological developments, have changed the nature of both production and consumption.
- LO5. Evaluate how audiences actively make meaning of various media texts and understand media and popular culture as sites of contestation in terms of gender
- LO6. Analyse media representations of gender through an intersectional lens.
- LO7. Explain the various methods that can be used to analyse gender, media and consumption
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