Dolls of The Twilight Zone: Representations of Gender and Female Agency During the Cold War Era

Authors

• Josie DiCapua, University of South AlabamaFollow

Files

Description

Not many shows live in perpetual popularity as The Twilight Zone does. It is one of the few shows from the 1960s that lives on in the modern age, thriving beyond today's cultural weariness for black-and-white media, and undoubtedly a significant part of the cultural zeitgeist to date. There has been countless scholarship on the series, 156 episodes spanning across four seasons. Not every installment was a hit, but plenty of them were memorable enough for people to also dedicate time to study the cultural microcosm of post-war politics. The show uses the science fiction and horror genre to discuss all aspects of contemporary American society. That being said, there is a disheartening pattern present in the conversations around the series: the feminist lens is lacking. This is not because The Twilight Zone had nothing to say, intentional or not, because the Cold War represents an unstable period for gender politics. My project specifically focuses on women who find themselves in the twilight zone, working through the complexities of gender.

Publication Date

5-2026

Disciplines

Film and Media Studies | Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Women's Studies

Recommended Citation

DiCapua, Josie, "Dolls of The Twilight Zone: Representations of Gender and Female Agency During the Cold War Era" (2026). Poster Presentations. 61.
https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/honors_college_posters/61