Action Chicks : New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture

Xena, Buffy, Lara Croft. WWF, The Sopranos, Witchblade, La Femme Nikita. The women of pop culture are center stage and as tough as ever. Action Chicks is a groundbreaking collection highlighting the heroines we've grown to worship. What can they tell us about women in the Twent-first-century? What can they tell us about how popular culture depicts women? Do the characters escape traditional gender role expectations? Or do they adhere to sexual, racial, ethnic, and class stereotypes? The essays in Action Chicks provide fans with a new look at their favourite icons and their relationship to the popular media machine. A fascinating collection that's bound to stir up some excitement.

Innes (English, Miami U.) introduces ten essays with illustrations that analyze the recent trend—sometimes liberating, sometimes reactionary—toward tough females, from virtual heroines to Xena: Warrior Princess. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

Lights! Camera! Action chicks! Lara Croft, Xena, and Buffy are but a few of the larger-than-life fictional action heroines of today. In this collection of ten essays, scholars address the prevalence and significance of female action stars in a variety of media. Edited by Inness (English, Miami Univ.; The Lesbian Menace), the essays take a look at how recent depictions of women in action films, TV shows, comic books, and video games reflect a changing acceptance of women in traditionally male heroic or tough-guy roles. One intriguing example is the essay by Marilyn Yaquinto, which explores the morphing roles of mob wives and girlfriends from innocent, passive bystanders (e.g., The Godfather movies) to aggressive, sassy partners-in-crime (e.g., The Sopranos). Inness's own essay considers the increasing number of female action figures available in toy stores, which may indicate a change in media stereotypes about women. While many of the essays study well-known figures, some discuss more esoteric characters from short-lived TV shows, which may limit the book's appeal. This highly specialized and scholarly study is suitable for university libraries, especially those with gender and media studies collections.-Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-17 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 Lara’s Lethal and Loaded Mission: Transposing Reproduction and Destruction....Pages 21-45 Gender, Sexuality, and Toughness: The Bad Girls of Action Film and Comic Books....Pages 47-74 “It’s a Girl Thing”: Tough Female Action Figures in the Toy Store....Pages 75-94 Embodying an Image: Gender, Race, and Sexuality in La Femme Nikita....Pages 95-121 Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Defiant Women, Decadent Men, Objects of Power, and Witchblade....Pages 123-151 The Cruelest Season: Female Heroes Snapped into Sacrificial Heroines....Pages 153-178 Front Matter....Pages 179-179 No Cage Can Hold Her Rage? Gender, Transgression, and the World Wrestling Federation’s Chyna....Pages 181-206 Tough Love: Mamas, Molls, and Mob Wives....Pages 207-229 “Tough Enough”: Female Friendship and Heroism in Xena and Buffy....Pages 231-255 Little Miss Tough Chick of the Universe: Farscape’s Inverted Sexual Dynamics....Pages 257-281 Back Matter....Pages 283-293 Xena, Buffy, Lara Croft. WWF, The Sopranos, Witchblade, La Femme Nikita. The women of pop culture are center stage and as tough as ever. Action Chicks is a groundbreaking collection highlighting the heroines we've grown to worship. What can they tell us about women in 2003? What can they tell us about how popular culture depicts women? Do the characters escape traditional gender role expectations? Or do they adhere to sexual, racial, ethnic, and class stereotypes? The essays in Action Chicks provide fans with a new look at their favorite icons and their relationship to the popular media machine. A fascinating collection that's bound to stir up some excitement. --Publisher
Xena, Buffy, Lara Croft, La Femme Nikita. The women of pop culture are center stage and tougher than ever. Action Chicks is a groundbreaking collection highlighting the heroines who fascinate us. What can they tell us about how popular culture depicts women? Do the characters escape traditional gender role expectations? Or do they adhere to sexual, racial, ethnic, and class stereotypes? The essays in Action Chicks provide a new look at these icons and their relationship to the popular media machine. This is a thought-provoking anthology that is bound to change how we think about gender and toughness.
Xena, Buffy, Lara Croft. WWF, The Sopranos, Witchblade, La Femme Nikita. The women of pop culture are center stage and as tough as ever. "Action Chicks" is a collection highlighting the heroines we've grown to worship. What can they tell us about women in the 21st century? What can they tell us about how popular culture depicts women? Do the characters escape traditional gender role expectations? Or do they adhere to sexual, racial, ethnic and class stereotypes? The essays in "Action Chicks" provide fans with a new look at their favorite icons and their relationship to the popular media machine The women of pop culture are center stage and tougher than ever. Action Chicks is a groundbreaking collection highlighting the heroines who fascinate us. What can they tell us about how popular culture depicts women? Do the characters escope traditional gender role expectations? Or do they adhere to sexual, racial, ethnic, and class stereotypes? The essays in Action Chicks provide a new look at these icons and their relationship to the popular media machine. This is a thought-provoking anthology that is bound to change how we think about gender and toughness. Xena, Buffy, Lara Croft. WWF, The Sopranos, Witchblade, La Femme Nikita. "Action Chicks" is a collection highlighting the heroines we've grown to worship. It provides fans with a new look at their favorite icons and their relationship to the popular media machine In 1962 a young computer programmer at MIT designed the first computer game, called Spacewar.