The globalization of gender

Abstract

This article looks at the American TV series Ally McBeal and the meaning of the lead character for young college audiences in post-socialist Slovenia. Critical examinations of the series have pointed to the problematic construction of the character's gender identity based on the notion of liberated femininity. This notion has been seen as especially problematic with reference to feminist politics. When discussing the character and its social portrait with sociology undergraduate students in Slovenia, however, the series' construction of the post-feminist character attracts a different set of meanings. Rather than engaging in the debate with western feminism, the analysis suggests, Ally’s popularity in Slovenia may be understood from the way in which the character and the series allow local audiences, and women's audiences in particular, to come to terms with their own social biographies in the period of transition.