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Continuity/Familiarity of Cold War-Era Tropes of Russian, East European, and Soviet Womanhood in Early Twenty-First-Century Popular Culture Artifacts
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Abstract
American and Western audiences have long come to understand Soviet and Russian womanhood, and thus US womanhood, from representations in popular televisual texts. While there is a long history of popular culture presenting the “othered” women of Eastern Europe, for example as temptress “Bond girls” during the Cold War, these narratives have continued onscreen into the twenty-first century. We examine the myriad representations from both the Cold War and post-Cold War period, noting the typical narrative constructions that focus on femme fatales, psychological and sexual trauma, and economic precarity, and how these have continued in contemporary popular culture to shore up notions of Western cultural and political superiority. The characters and the situations in which they find themselves, as spies, assassins, and double agents, continue to send messages about danger and dominance regarding both gender and geopolitics.
Contributor Notes
Lilly J. Goren is professor of political science and global studies at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Her research often integrates popular culture, literature, and film as a means to understanding politics. Her published books include Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (co-edited with Linda Beail, 2015), Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (co-edited with Justin Vaughn, 2012), You've Come a Long Way, Baby: Women, Politics, and Popular Culture (2009), and Not in My District: The Politics of Military Base Closures (2003), as well as articles in Society, Political Research Quarterly, White House Studies, and The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. Email: lgoren@carrollu.edu
Linda Beail is professor of political science at Point Loma Nazarene University. Her research interests include theorizing about postfeminism, the politics of popular culture, and gender and religion in American politics. Her most recent book is Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (co-edited with Lilly Goren, 2015). Her current research is on pleasure and anxiety in the pop culture representations of political women, with recent book chapters on Black Widow and gender in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and gender in presidential elections. Email: lindabeail@pointloma.edu