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.

Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction “Boxing Gloves and Bustiers”: New Images of Tough Women......Page 12 Part I Changing Images of the Female Action Hero......Page 30 1 Lara’s Lethal and Loaded Mission: Transposing Reproduction and Destruction......Page 32 2 Gender, Sexuality, and Toughness: The Bad Girls of Action Film and Comic Books......Page 58 3 “It’s a Girl Thing”: Tough Female Action Figures in the Toy Store......Page 86 4 Embodying an Image: Gender, Race, and Sexuality in La Femme Nikita......Page 106 5 Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Defiant Women, Decadent Men, Objects of Power, and Witchblade......Page 134 6 The Cruelest Season: Female Heroes Snapped into Sacrificial Heroines......Page 164 Part II New Images of Toughness......Page 190 7 No Cage Can Hold Her Rage? Gender, Transgression, and the World Wrestling Federation’s Chyna......Page 192 8 Tough Love: Mamas, Molls, and Mob Wives......Page 218 9 “Tough Enough”: Female Friendship and Heroism in Xena and Buffy......Page 242 10 Little Miss Tough Chick of the Universe: Farscape’s Inverted Sexual Dynamics......Page 268 Notes on Contributors......Page 294 B......Page 298 E......Page 299 H......Page 300 M......Page 301 S......Page 302 V......Page 303 Z......Page 304 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.