Exploring the way race and gender are portrayed in popular culture, this text focuses on the representation of black women. It incorporates a discussion of the politics of representation in Britain and North America, and the shift from negative stereotypes to positive images to postmodern knowingness. The author pays particular attention to the reach of various race/gender literacies, most notably the impact of North American racial discourse on British conceptions of Asian and Afro-Caribbean femininity.

'Bhattacharyya blends biting wit, incisive social observation, critical theoretical analysis and imaginative story-telling to create an original hybrid style excels in her ability to pick apart the fabric of a story to reveal the multicoloured threads of obscured histories one of the most innovative, iconoclastic and daring voices emerging from British cultural studies today.' - Ethnic and Racial Studies, Volume 23, Number 2

Gargi Bhattacharyya is Lecturer in Cultural Studies and Sociology at the University of Birmingham.