This open access book examines the conversations around gendered mental health in contemporary Western media culture. While early 21st century-media was marked by a distinct focus on happiness, productivity and success, during the 2010s negative feelings and discussions around mental health have become increasingly common in that same media landscape. This book traces this turn to sadness in women’s media culture and shows that it emerged indirectly as a result of a culture overtly focused on happiness. By tracing the coverage of mental health issues in magazines, among female celebrities, and on social media this book shows how an increasingly intimate media environment has made way for a profitable vulnerability, that takes the shape of marketable and brand-friendly mental illness awareness that strengthens the authenticity of those who embrace it. But at the same time sad girl cultures are proliferating on social media platforms, creating radically honest spaces where those who suffer get support, and more capacious ways of feeling bad are formed. Using discourse analysis and digital ethnography to study contemporary representations of mental illness and sadness in Western popular media and social media, this book takes a feminist media studies approach to popular discourse, understanding the conversations happening around mental health in these sites to function as scripts for how to think about and experience mental illness and sadness

Internet-based technologies prevail in most of the world. Along with the positive features of digital technologies that permeate our lives in almost every area, including lifestyles and daily practices, the traces of negative aspects have also become evident. Digital addiction is among the most important of these aspects. It is obvious that communication, which has been maintained in various forms since the beginning of humanity, has been shaped by the period in which it is lived. The technology-based transformation has transformed communication, which has been adopted to the "internet" in the world, into a completely different form. Communication, which has become sustainable at any time and anywhere, regardless of location, led by the never-ending elements of "continuity" and "interaction," has turned into an indispensable form. Perspectives on Society and Technology Addiction examines every subject of digital addiction in an interdisciplinary way. It discusses the issues about what technology addiction is, how to deal with this addiction, how to use the existing technology in a positive way, how to deal with this technology for disadvantaged groups, and concerns in the fields of social science and communication science. Covering topics such as Consumer 5.0, experience design, and information markets, this premier reference source is an essential resource for sociologists, policymakers, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

Provoking an ethical reconsideration of what we do, or do not do, with excess data, this is a call to action for researchers and scholars to rethink how they conduct their research as the consequences of datafication grow ever more central to both our academic endeavours and our lives.

Exploring gender through the lens of field theory, Gender Fields proposes a new framework for understanding the social organisation of gender identity. In conversation with Pierre Bourdieu's field theory, the book conceptualises under-theorised situated dimensions of gender, bridging the gap between macro and micro theories of gender. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted over five years in several countries in Europe and beyond, the authors situate gender as a critical site of autonomous socio-political struggle and highlight the centrality of the transgender experience in redefining gendered personhood and freedom. Increased trans visibility catalysed new social and political arenas of contestation that expanded the potential for reimagining gender norms and identities. The authors examine political and legal arenas, the medical field and health markets, gender naming, individual practices, and material-discursive embodiments, offering new insights into gender change. While numerous explanations have been proposed, this book offers a fresh perspective on these revolutionary developments. Gender Fields characterises gender as a field of struggle through a set of basic tools that can be usefully applied to studies in diverse settings. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with an interest in issues of gender, social theory and identity.

The Routledge Companion to Media Audiences captures the ways in which audiences and audience researchers are adapting to emerging social, cultural, market, technical and environmental conditions. Bringing together 40 original essays, this anthology explores how our constantly changing encounters with media are complex, contradictory and increasingly commercialized in the modern world. Each specially commissioned chapter by both early-career and experienced international scholars surveys new conceptualizations and constitutions of audiences, and assesses key issues, themes and developments within the field. As such, this companion cements itself as an indispensable guide for students and researchers who seek a comprehensive overview and source of inspiration for a diverse range of topics in media audiences. The Routledge Companion to Media Audiences is an accessible, landmark tool which enhances our understanding of how media is utilized through advanced empirical research and methodological enquiry. It is a must-read for media studies, communication studies, cultural studies, humanities and social science scholars and students.

This book offers research-based evidence for considering the next generation of trans*+ individuals and for making classrooms, healthcare facilities, and clinics affirming spaces for people of all genders. Brazenly challenging what once may have seemed standard, it presents the findings of a large-scale mixed-methods research project. The text offers a deep dive into the literature surrounding trans*+ topics and controversies in media, medicine, and mental health. Introducing a new addition to ‘LGBTQIA’, ‘Thisgender’, the book approaches trans*+ studies with provocative questions and illuminating answers.