a DIACHRONIC study of the IMAGE of the POWERFUL FEMALE in POPULAR (and maybe other) CULTURES
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
FROM SHEENA TO XENA
Well, I have enough material to keep taking shots at THE BEAT from now till eternity, but Her Majesty (note the initials) isn't likely to respond either way. And the joke's played out now anyway.
What I would want hypothetical readers to take away from this blog is not just that I Gene Phillips was irritated at something THE BEAT said, but this:
FEMALE CHARACTERS IN COMICS ARE NOT WITHOUT 'AGENCY'
Critics of same can carp all they like about how most of the women featured are astoundingly hot (in contrast, one presumes, to women's depiction in other media). or how There Just Aren't Enough Female Creators In Popular Media.
But when you talk "agency," it's obvious that female genre-characters are given far more in fiction than real women have in the real world.
Whether the real-world status is due to society, biology, or some combination thereof is up for debate.
But the demonstrable pervasiveness of the Amazon Archetype is a significant datum that I plan to explore here on a regular basis.
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