Violence against Women as Reflected in the Polish Television Series "A Second Chance"

Aleksandra M.  Różalska

doi:10.18778/1733-8069.16.1.03

Authors

Aleksandra M. Różalska Department of American Studies and Mass Media, Women’s Studies Centre, Faculty of International and Political Studies, University of Lodz https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7725-3573

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.16.1.03

Keywords:

violence, women, television, sexual harassment, victim, perpetrator, „A Second Chance”

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a critical reflection on contemporary Polish television series, in particular the ways in which they tackle narratives that include instances of violence against women (VAW). The analysis is based on the example of the show titled Druga szansa (A Second Chance), broadcast in 2016-2018 by a commercial network TVN. Recent research shows that there are some common, repetitive ways in which media represent violence against women, its circumstances and reasons, as well as the portrayals of victims and perpetrators. The author looks at VAW in the selected television series in the context of the #MeToo movement and of the gender-related debates in Poland. The conclusion is that the chosen television series considers VAW as a serious social problem and has the potential to sensitize audiences by representing it in an unbiased, complex, and nuanced way. However, it fails to address its wider socio-cultural aspect resulting from patriarchal structures and gender inequality.

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Author Biography

Aleksandra M. Różalska, Department of American Studies and Mass Media, Women’s Studies Centre, Faculty of International and Political Studies, University of Lodz

Dr. Aleksandra M. Różalska is an Assistant Professor at the Department of American Studies and Mass Media and Head of the Women Studies Centre, University of Lodz. She is a local coordinator of Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree in Women’s and Gender Studies (GEMMA). In 2015-2019, she was Principal Investigator
for the Horizon 2020 project Gender and Cultures of Equality in Europe (GRACE). In 2005-2006, she was a Fulbright fellow at the American University, Washington DC. She lectured at various European and American universities, among others at Roehampton University (UK), University of Oviedo (Spain) and Primorska University in Koper (Slovenia), Florida International University (Miami, USA), Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA), and Wittenberg University (Ohio, USA). Apart from studies on media discourses and minorities in Europe and in the US, her research interests include: media and intercultural education of disadvantaged groups; education through art; intersections of gender, race, and religion in the media; relationships between the media and politics; narratives of 9/11 and the war on terror; and media representations of refugees and migrants. She has published on images of minorities and women in (American and Polish) film and television as well as on cultural representations of 9/11 and its aftermath. She co-edited four volumes devoted to feminisms in various cultural contexts as well as on contemporary perceptions of subjectivity and difference in Europe and the US. Currently, she is working on a book on the post-9/11 television discourses from postcolonial and feminist perspectives, as well as on a journal article about television representations
of abortion in Poland and the US.

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