Where the aunts are
Subtitle: family, feminism, and kinship in popular culture
By: Patricia J. Sotirin and Laura L. Ellingson
Contributors: Ellingson, Laura L.
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Waco, Tex
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9781602583306
Subjects: Aunts; Women in popular culture; Families in mass media; Women in mass media
Description: While the aunt is one of the most iconic and beloved figures in popular culture, the societal role and import of real-life contemporary aunts are difficult to pin down. In some settings, she is the sole supporter, caregiver, or surrogate mother and exceeds her familial function as an aunt. In others, she subtly -- or not so subtly -- transgresses the assumed narrative of feminine identity. Surveying characters from Aunt Bee and Auntie Em to 'Bernie Mac's Aunt Wanda' and 'House of Payne's Aunt Ella' and countless living, breathing aunts across the country, 'Where the Aunts Are' re-visions the ideals of family, femininity, and kinship and, in the process, offers a hopeful and progressive recognition of the multiple possibilities of womanhood in modern culture.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Black and white maternal aunts: (not) like a mother; title: "Othered" aunting: race, class, and institutionalized misogyny; title: Like a (bad) mother: neotraditional and malevolent aunts; title: Wisdom and witchcraft: magical aunts and nieces; title: Eccentric aunts sanity, sexuality, and spectacle; title: Commodifying the aunt online; title: Conclusion: the impact of aunts.