Ink-stained Amazons And Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen In Modern Mythology

INK-STAINED AMAZONS AND CINEMATIC WARRIORS “Female heroes abound in literature, film and all walks of life, although most people don’t know that they do. Not surprising given how much they challenge the gender roles in which women and girls have historically been confined. This wonderful book shows female heroes breaking out of gender boxes left and right and illuminates new possibilities for the indomitable hero in all of us.” —Kathleen Noble, Ph.D., author of The Sound of the Silver Horn: Reclaiming the heroism in contemporary women’s lives “Once upon a time—only a few years ago, actually—women could turn on their TV sets and glory in the adventures of Buffy, Xena, Sydney Bristow, Dana Scully, and many more strong, ass-kicking women. Today there is not one show on the small screen that stars a female action hero. What happened? Comics are not much better. Aside from the occasional exception (for which we are grateful) like Birds of Prey, and women writers like Ivory Madison (The Huntress) and Gail Simone’s newly feminist interpretation of Wonder Woman, most comic book action heroines continue to be male-written and drawn creations whose breasts are bigger than their personalities. Now along comes Jennifer Stuller, with her very entertaining book, Ink-stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors, to explore the whys and wherefores of pop culture super women, and perhaps jolt us all into demanding more and stronger women characters. Thank you, Jennifer. We need those role models!” —Trina Robbins, author of The Great American Superheroines INK-STAINED AMAZONS AND CINEMATIC WARRIORS Superwomen in Modern Mythology Jennifer K. Stuller Published in 2010 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © 2010 Jennifer K. Stuller The right of Jennifer K. Stuller to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978 1 84511 965 2 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Typeset in AGaramond by Macmillan Publishing Solutions Printed and bound in India by Thomson Press India Ltd For Ryan You are the Superman to my Superwoman This page intentionally left blank Contents Foreword by Roz Kaveney ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 SECTION I 1 Standing on the Shoulders of Amazons The Birth of Modern Mythology