A01=Kristen Hoerl
Alice Braga
american history
american sitcom
american studies
Amy Poehler
Amy Sherman-Palladino
Ann Perkins
Anya Taylor-Joy
April Ludgate
arya stark
Aubrey Plaza
Author_Kristen Hoerl
BAFTA award
Beth Harmon
Category=ATJ
Category=ATY
Category=JBCC1
Category=JBCT
Category=JBSF11
cersei lannister
communications
communications studies
contemporary feminism
daenerys targaryen
Ellie Kemper
Emmy Award
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eq_bestseller
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female leaders
female leads
feminism
feminist
feminist futures
feminist politics
film
film history
film industry
film studies
Game of Thrones
gender studies
George R. R. Martin
Golden Globe Awards
Golden Globes
GOT
Kimmy Schmidt
Kristen Hoerl
Leslie Knope
matriarchy
media
media industry
media studies
Miriam Maisel
misogyny
Mockumentary
neoliberal individualism
Netflix
Parks and Rec
Parks and Recreation
patriarchy
pop culture
popular culture
Primetime Emmy Award
Queen of the South
Queen of the South Netflix
Rachel Brosnahan
racism
Rashida Jones
sexism
sexist realism
sitcoms
television
television history
Teresa Mendoza
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The Queen's Gambit
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tina Fey
tv
tv history
us histories
us studies
woman
women
women's history
womens studies
Product details
- ISBN 9781978842526
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 11 Nov 2025
- Publisher: Rutgers University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Although it may seem like the proliferation of strong women on television is a feminist achievement, a deeper look into their stories tells us otherwise. The Impossible Woman examines a variety of scripted US television series across multiple genres to show how the cultural value of television’s extraordinarily talented female characters often rests upon their ability to endure—but not overcome—sexism. Looking at Parks and Recreation, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Queen’s Gambit, Game of Thrones, and Queen of the South, Hoerl argues that these series contribute to sexist realism, or the cultural assumption that there is no alternative to patriarchy. Situating impossible women’s struggles in the context of contemporary feminist politics, Hoerl explains how the problems facing television’s strongest women illustrate mainstream feminism’s paradoxical dependence upon on cultural misogyny, neoliberal individualism, and racism. The Impossible Woman encourages readers to seek out alternative stories that might help them envision more just feminist futures.
KRISTEN HOERL is an associate professor of rhetoric and public culture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is the author of The Bad Sixties: Hollywood Memories of the Counterculture, Antiwar, and Black Power Movements.
