Allison T. Butler is a Senior Lecturer, Associate Chair of Undergraduate Advising, and the Director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program in the Department of Communications at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also served as the Vice President of the Media Freedom Foundation, which fosters work in independent media. Butler is the author of multiple books on media literacy and education, including the book the Judgement of Gender: How Women are Centered and Silenced in Pop Culture. Recently, I attended a discussion at Buffalo Street Books in Downtown Ithaca about her book and learned more about her work. Butler was joined by Mickey Huff, the director of the Park Center for Independent Media and Project Censored. 

After a brief introduction, Allison as she led the conversation, but made it clear, “I don’t really wanna talk at you.” This opened the door for great dialogue for the remainder of the night. She began by prompting the audience with, “If we look at the history of pop culture, we see women a lot… sitcoms often have the reliable mom and sibling rivalry, we have a lot of women musical artists… movies…” “Women’s stories are told for them and about them, especially in non-fiction cases.” This set the stage for thinking about the authentic voices of women in society, whose stories are often told for them, but not by them. Allison spoke about how things change when women tell their own story. “We know Britney Spears from releasing her conservative shit, but what got her in that in the beginning?” 

Highlighting different feminine figures such as Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Monica Lewinsky, and Anita Hill revealed vast differences in how we perceive women and their stories. Many viewed Dolly as perfect, but this is likely because she operated “under the radar” despite her larger-than-life presence. Audience members sought perspective on Taylor Swift, since she is such a controversial figure. With two private planes, Allison quipped that she certainly is “great at being a capitalist.” Allison noted that society is often more comfortable with men holding the higher position of financial power. One individual asked whether Allison had found any trends in how people gain more control of their story. “For Britney Spears, it was after the dissolution of her conservatorship that she was able to publish her memoir… She was a terrible teen, but she had incredible fans that were pushing for support.” 

“You can only be as complicated as people like you.” This statement gave those of us attending much to think about. Women who are liked, pretty, compliant, or deemed likeable in some ways tend to be treated differently. Those that are more complex often reach a tipping point with society’s judgement and grace. I suppose this can be true for all humans in the public eye, but the dialogue really focused on women’s intersection with society’s generalization or condemnation of them. Chipping away at patriarchy means building a co-equal, collaborative community, not simply replacing men with women.

Allison didn’t spend much time in a lecture format, and she did a great job answering questions from the audience about women in popular culture. This open forum format was refreshing and really kept the audience engaged. Everyone seemed to have insightful questions, and I was able to learn so much more about women in pop culture. I was even inspired to grab her book and have her sign it. I am trying to learn more about current media, especially how I can be a supportive voice for women. I’m learning to think more critically about the way women are treated in pop culture, and this talk was great to begin that dialogue within myself. The message that the goal of critical media literacy is not to stop consuming, but to engage more dimensionally, really resonated with me.  I hope that everyone who was there enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Writer: Hannah Letwinsky

Writing for Film, TV and Emerging Media Major

Graphic Design and Media Literacy Minor 

2027