How Pop Culture Shapes the Stages of a Woman's Life: From Toddlers-in-Tiaras to Cougars-on-the-Prowl

Acknowledgments
Introduction. Funhouse Mirrors: Popular Culture's Distorted View of Girl/Womanhood
1. Becoming a Girl: Pop Culture's First Stage of Gender Training
2. Reading between the Lines: The Lessons Adolescent Girls Learn through Popular Young Adult Literature
3. The Gendered Self-Help Reel: How Romantic Comedies Instruct Women on Dating Dos and Don'ts
4. Selling Weddings and Producing Brides: Mediated Portrayals of that 'Perfect Day'
5. Love, American Style: Gendered Representations of Marriage in the Media
6. Nine Months of Fear & A Lifetime of Paranoia: The Hidden Effects of Pregnancy Manuals, Child Rearing Products & More
7. Changing the Playing (or Reading) Field: Reconceptualizing Motherhood through Humorous Parenting Texts
8. Pumas, and Cougars, and M.I.L.F.S., Oh My!: Popular Portrayals of Romance & Sexual Encounters Between 'The Older Woman' & Younger Man
9. Beyond the Hot Flashes: New Portrayals of Mature Women
Conclusion. Exiting the Funhouse: Challenging Society's Lessons One Stage at a Time
Bibliography