Anti-Heroine on Contemporary Television

<P>In <I>The Anti-Heroine on Contemporary Television: Transgressive Women</I> Molly Brost explores the various applications and definitions of the term <I>anti-heroine</I> showing that it has been applied to a wide variety of female characters on television that have little in common beyond their failure to behave in morally “correct” and traditionally feminine ways. Rather than dismiss the term altogether Brost employs the term to examine what types of behaviors and characteristics cause female characters to be labeled anti-heroines how those qualities and behaviors differ from those that cause men to be labeled anti-heroes and how the label reflects society’s attitudes toward and beliefs about women. Using popular television series such as <I>Jessica Jones</I> <I>Scandal</I> and<I> The Good Place</I> Brost acknowledges the problematic nature of the term <I>anti-heroine</I> and uses it as a starting point to study the complex women on television analyzing how the broadening spectrum of character types has allowed more nuanced portrayals of women’s lives on television.</P>