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Pepsi and the Pill
Motherhood, Politics and Film in Britain and France, 1958–1969
Melissa Oliver-Powell
324 pages, bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-80073-691-7 $135.00/£99.00 / Hb / Published (November 2022)
eISBN 978-1-80073-692-4 eBook
Reviews
“This is a beautifully written and meticulous work of research. Melissa Oliver-Powell excavates and gives voice to the repressed feminine of two determinedly priapic cinematic histories (British and French new waves); by offering compassionate and assiduous attention to the figure of the mother, Pepsi and The Pill renders apparent the political and social narratives that underpin and inform our conceptions of motherhood – as social construction and institution – in vehemently patriarchal societies and cultures.” • Anna Backman Rogers, University Gothenburg, Sweden
Description
The 1960s was a decade of massive political and cultural change in Western Europe, as seismic shifts took place in in attitudes towards sexuality, gender, and motherhood in everyday life. Through case studies of British and French films, Pepsi and the Pill offers a fresh vision of a pivotal moment in European culture, exploring the many ways in which political activity and celebrated film movements mutually shaped each other in their views on gender, sexuality, and domesticity. As the specter of popular nationalism once again looms across Europe, this book offers a timely account of the legacy of crucial debates over issues including reproductive rights, migration, and reproductive nationalism at the intersection of political discourse, protest, and film.
Melissa Oliver-Powell is a lecturer in Film and Literature in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York. She has previously lectured at the University of Exeter, and taught within film, literature and gender studies at UCL, where she received her PhD in 2018.
Subject: Film and Television StudiesCultural Studies (General)Gender Studies and Sexuality
Area: Europe
Contents
Download ToC (PDF)