Full Description
The intrepid team of researchers who brought you Custard, Culverts and Cake: Academics on Life in The Archers return with a hard-hitting exposé on the lives of the women of Ambridge. In this new book, the Archers Academics are joined by former The Archers editor, Alison Hindell and real-life Academic Archer Dr Charlotte Connor (a.k.a. Susan Carter), to examine the power of gossip in Ambridge, portrayals of love, marriage, and motherhood, female education and career expectations, women's mental health and the hard-won right of women to play cricket.
Gender, Sex and Gossip in Ambridge gives the reader a deeper understanding of the real life issues covered in the programme, an insight into the residents of Ambridge, and validation that hours of listening to The Archers is, in fact, academic research.
Contents
Preface: What are the Women of Ambridge Telling us?; Nicola Headlam and Cara Courage
Section One - Inside Ambridge
Chapter 1. In Conversation with Alison Hindell; Nicola Headlam and Cara Courage
Chapter 2. 'I'm Not One to Gossip': Roots, Rumour and Mental Well-Being in Ambridge; Charlotte Connor, The University of Warwick, Aka Charlotte Martin, Actor, Susan Carter in BBC Radio 4 The Archers
Section Two - Women's Talk: Informal Information Networks that Sustain the Village
Chapter 3. Neighbourhood Watch: Gossip, Power and the Working-Class Matriarch in The Archers; Claire Mortimer
Chapter 4. In Praise of Gossip - Why Tongue-Wagging and the Rumour Mill are Important in Ambridge; Louise Gillies
Chapter 5. 'Almost Without Exception they are Shown in their Relation to Men': Ambridge Women and their Conversations; Sarah Kate Merry
Chapter 6. Foucault, Freda Fry and the Power of Silent Characters on the Radio; Rebecca Wood
Section Three - Gendered Expectations: Within the Home
Chapter 7. 'This Isn't About Curry, Alistair': Shula Hebden-Lloyd and Iris Murdoch on Love; Hannah Marije Altorf
Chapter 8. Oh Baby! Unplanned Pregnancy and a Woman's Right to Choose; Carolynne Henshaw
Chapter 9. Women's Work?: Civil Society Networks for Social Stability or Social Change in Ambridge; Nicola Headlam
Chapter 10. Strong or Silenced? The Under-Representation of Mental Health Problems in Ambridge's Women; Elizabeth Campion
Section Four - Gendered Expectations: Beyond the Home
Chapter 11. 'What Would the Neighbours Say?': Gender and Sexual Diversity in The Archers; William Pitt
Chapter 12. Ambridge: Keeping The Pipeline of Uk Female Scientists Flowing; Jane Turner and Clare Warren
Chapter 13. I Am Woman Hear Me Roar - And Now Watch Me Play Cricket; Katharine Hoskyn
Chapter 14 - Sow's Ears and Silk Purses: Upcycling and The Archers; Madeleine Lefebvre
