Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology

From Wonder Woman to Buffy Summers, Emma Peel to Sydney Bristow, Charlie’s Angels to The Powerpuff Girls, Superwomen are more than just love interests or sidekicks who stand by their Supermen. Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology shows how the female hero in modern mythology has broken through the boy's club barrier of tradition and reveals the pivotal role of high-heeled crimefighters in popular culture. Featuring spies and sexuality, daddy's girls and super-mothers, this is a comprehensive, engaging and thought-provoking guide to female detectives, meta-humans and action heroines, as well as their creators, directors, performers, and consumers. The book also includes a glossary of modern mythic women, from Aeon to Zoë, as well as a foreword by acclaimed cultural commentator Roz Kaveney, author of Superheroes! Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films (published by I.B.Tauris, 2008).

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. Stuller maintains a blog at www.ink-stainedamazon.com.

Advance Praise

“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

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Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology is published by I.B. Tauris, and distributed throughout North America by Palgrave Macmillan USA.

It is available for purchase through Amazon.com.