Table of Contents

Table of Contents Foreword by Roz Kaveney Introduction by Author Section One Standing on the Shoulders of Amazons Chapter One The Birth of Modern Myth and the Mother of Female Su- perheroes Chapter Two Modern Myth Meets Feminism Chapter Three Women of Steel: The Buff and the Backlash Chapter Four Super Grrrl Power at the Turn of the Century Section Two Journey of the Female Hero Chapter Five Love Will Bring You To Your Gift: On Compassion and Collaboration Chapter Six Who’s Your Daddy?: Law Enforcing Fathers and Crime Fighting Daughters Chapter Seven Always the Mother, Never the Messiah Chapter Eight Spies Like Us: Fighting Crime Backwards and in High Heels Section Three Mythmakers Chapter Nine A Hero of Her Own: Women Making Myth Conclusion Where Do We Go From Here?: The Future of Superwomen Appendix Glossary: From (A)eon to (Z)oë Internet Resources Bibliography Filmography Index

Promotional Information

From Wonder Woman to Buffy Summers, "Charlie's Angels" to "The Powerpuff Girls", Superwomen are more than just sidekicks who stand by their Supermen. Featuring spies and sexuality, daddy's girls and super-mothers, this is a guide to female detectives, meta-humans and action heroines, as well as their creators, directors, performers, and consumers.

About the Author

Jennifer K. Stuller is a writer and journalist, specializing in gender and sexuality in popular culture. She has been researching and speaking internationally on superwomen for over a decade. In 'Ink-stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors', author Jennifer Stuller looks at the role of superwomen in modern mythology, tracing their development in comics, in films and on television over the course of the past seven decades.

Reviews

"Blogging as Ink-Stained Amazon in the Bitch blogs, Jennifer Stuller took on Barbarella, Lois Lane, and Tura Satana with her blog Girl on Film. With her new book, Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors, you can find even more on kick-ass women in popular culture."
--Kjerstin Johnson, Bitch Magazine (online)"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 then their personalities. Now along comes Jennifer Stuller, with her very entertaining book, Ink-Stained Amazons, 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 From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of Women's Comics from Teens to Zines