Feminist Media Studies and Entertainment

Feminist Media Studies scholars and Entertainment Studies scholars are often positioned as belonging to different research paradigms: one qualitatively oriented, highly theoretical, and lacking an empirical foundation (i.e., Feminist Media Studies), the other quantitatively oriented, empirically sound, but theoretically poor (i.e., Entertainment Studies, especially from a media psychological perspective). In this contribution, we concentrate on the overlap of interests, theoretical notions, and methodological approaches between the two disciplines, accumulating to a current struggle with intersectionality in both disciplines. We use the case of youth sexualisation within an Italian context to illustrate how arguments postulated by both disciplines can go in tandem. We conclude that the two disciplines not only overlap but are complementary and mutually informative and argue for the combination of both perspectives in favour of a holistic approach.