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Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology
In this comprehensive history, inquiry, critique, and reference guide, Stuller argues that Superwomen, from Wonder Woman to Charlie’s Angels, are more than just love interests or sidekicks who stand by their supermen. She shows how the female hero in modern mythology has broken through the traditional boy's club barrier to reveal the pivotal role of high-heeled crimefighters in popular culture. Chapter topics include love and compassion, spies and sexuality, daddy’s girls, and the complicated roles of superwomen who are also mothers. The book also includes a glossary of modern mythic women, as well as a foreword by acclaimed cultural commentator Roz Kaveney, author of Superheroes! Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films.
http://www.ink-stainedamazon.com/
http://www.ink-stainedamazon.com/
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 3, 2023
Highly interesting look and analysis of the role of female heroines and their creators in the multimedia of the 20th and 21st centuries. Buffy, Alias, Wonder Woman, Honor Blackman, Heroes, Alien, Xena, Spoiler, Batgirl, Phoenix/Marvel Girl, Invisible Woman etc all get a look in. A sound Four Star, 8 out of 12, Four Star read.
2014 read
2014 read
August 4, 2010
As I read Ink-Stained Amazons, I found myself relapsing into grad school behaviors. I read with a pen in hand, annotating and underlining constantly. And I found myself wishing that I'd had this book while I was still in school, because Stuller's astute observations about tough women would have worked perfectly in the last paper I wrote, an examination of Zoe and Kaylee from Firefly as feminist heroes.
This isn't the usual type of book that we review here at TDF, but on the other hand, it's perfect. Most fangirls I'm friends with are big fans of strong female characters. I've even written about Hollywood's version of the tough woman here, and no matter what your stand is on the matter, I think it's important to be aware of the history and the issues at play when Hollywood and the comic book industry creates these superwomen.
Stuller's book serves as an excellent introduction to superwomen throughout entertainment's history, from Wonder Woman's early comic book days to television's relatively recent tough chicks, like Sydney Bristow and Dana Scully. Along with the useful history are a series of chapters about common issues in the portrayal of superwomen: redemption, collaboration, and compassion; superwomen and their fathers; and the maternal, filial, and mentoring relationships between women.
The idea of collaboration between women is of particular interest to me. Most of the male heroes we see are loners, but many of the women work within a team. Female superheroes are often members of teams, but you also have collaboration and female friendship featured prominently in some fandoms such as Xena and Buffy. I wrote about this in my Firefly paper: all four of the women of Serenity depend on each other as well as the male members of the crew as a family unit. As Stuller says, this kind of collaboration is common in the female hero "not because she is incapable of succeeding on her own, but because she is more successful when she recognizes, encourages, and utilizes the talents of others" (92). The crew of Serenity and the Scoobies stick together because they love each other, and they work better as a unit than they would as loners.
The third section of the book, "The Mythmakers," deals not only with female creators of popular culture and modern mythology, but also with fans stepping up and demanding better portrayals of women, such as the creation of Project Girl Wonder and Gail Simone's "Women in Refrigerators" observations.
This is a wonderful book if you're looking to dive into analysis of female characters in pop culture. I'm actually thinking about expanding my Firefly paper thanks to Stuller's fantastic book, tho
This isn't the usual type of book that we review here at TDF, but on the other hand, it's perfect. Most fangirls I'm friends with are big fans of strong female characters. I've even written about Hollywood's version of the tough woman here, and no matter what your stand is on the matter, I think it's important to be aware of the history and the issues at play when Hollywood and the comic book industry creates these superwomen.
Stuller's book serves as an excellent introduction to superwomen throughout entertainment's history, from Wonder Woman's early comic book days to television's relatively recent tough chicks, like Sydney Bristow and Dana Scully. Along with the useful history are a series of chapters about common issues in the portrayal of superwomen: redemption, collaboration, and compassion; superwomen and their fathers; and the maternal, filial, and mentoring relationships between women.
The idea of collaboration between women is of particular interest to me. Most of the male heroes we see are loners, but many of the women work within a team. Female superheroes are often members of teams, but you also have collaboration and female friendship featured prominently in some fandoms such as Xena and Buffy. I wrote about this in my Firefly paper: all four of the women of Serenity depend on each other as well as the male members of the crew as a family unit. As Stuller says, this kind of collaboration is common in the female hero "not because she is incapable of succeeding on her own, but because she is more successful when she recognizes, encourages, and utilizes the talents of others" (92). The crew of Serenity and the Scoobies stick together because they love each other, and they work better as a unit than they would as loners.
The third section of the book, "The Mythmakers," deals not only with female creators of popular culture and modern mythology, but also with fans stepping up and demanding better portrayals of women, such as the creation of Project Girl Wonder and Gail Simone's "Women in Refrigerators" observations.
This is a wonderful book if you're looking to dive into analysis of female characters in pop culture. I'm actually thinking about expanding my Firefly paper thanks to Stuller's fantastic book, tho
March 22, 2022
This book was recommended to me years ago and I finally got to it! Unfortunately, the parts praising Joss Whedon for his feminism haven't aged well, but the author clearly has a lot of love for Buffy and other Whedon characters (though some of the material on Buffy could've been cut to make room for exploring all the different sides of femininity in Firefly).
Stuller has meticulously detailed endnotes, bibliography, and media recommendations, and I took a lot of notes for what to read and watch - there are so many shows I missed out on in the 90s-00s! Now I can track it all down and fill in some of my female-hero-story gaps.
With analyses on Xena, Valeria, Red Sonja, Sarah Connor, Ripley, and so many others, it's fascinating to get a more nuanced understanding of exactly why I've always loved the movie and TV heroes I have, and their place in history and in feminist movements. It also helps better inform the way I'm writing female heroes in my own work.
Getting to see the history of feminist movements through the lens of entertainment media is uniquely fascinating to me, and for that I gladly recommend this book for that purpose. It does spend a LOT of time talking about Buffy while never even mentioning the women in Star Trek TNG (which had women in rare roles for the time), but one book can only hold so much.
Now to start chewing through all the recommended reading and watching! 😉
Stuller has meticulously detailed endnotes, bibliography, and media recommendations, and I took a lot of notes for what to read and watch - there are so many shows I missed out on in the 90s-00s! Now I can track it all down and fill in some of my female-hero-story gaps.
With analyses on Xena, Valeria, Red Sonja, Sarah Connor, Ripley, and so many others, it's fascinating to get a more nuanced understanding of exactly why I've always loved the movie and TV heroes I have, and their place in history and in feminist movements. It also helps better inform the way I'm writing female heroes in my own work.
Getting to see the history of feminist movements through the lens of entertainment media is uniquely fascinating to me, and for that I gladly recommend this book for that purpose. It does spend a LOT of time talking about Buffy while never even mentioning the women in Star Trek TNG (which had women in rare roles for the time), but one book can only hold so much.
Now to start chewing through all the recommended reading and watching! 😉
August 5, 2011
Are you a feminist? Are you a genre-TV-and-movie geek? Do you ever ask yourself 'what would Buffy do'? Then you need to read this book. Stuller concentrates on TV and graphic novels for the most part, and it is /kind/ of depressing that almost every show in this book has been cancelled...and we're now innundated with gossip girls and pretty little liars who are most spectacularly lame in the superpower department.Still, relive the glory days of Buffy, Xena, Dark Angel et al and hope some new blood is inspired to make women super again.
February 23, 2012
Ink-Stained Amazons is a very comprehensive study and critique on female superheroes of the past and present. As someone who has virtually no prior knowledge of comics at all, let alone the few involving female heroes, at times, the book was a little overwhelming; it was hard to keep track of who wrote what, and all the stories of the various characters discussed. That being said, it was an interesting read, since I am a female librarian and do worry about the portrayal (or lack thereof) of strong female characters in the various forms of media that I purchase.
In terms of it's appeal to the YA reader, unless the reader has a passion for the topic, I don't think he/she would get through the whole book. To me, the book reads more like a text for a college class in gender studies, rather than something that a teen would just pick up to read through in their free time. It's not poorly written; it's just too much.
In terms of it's appeal to the YA reader, unless the reader has a passion for the topic, I don't think he/she would get through the whole book. To me, the book reads more like a text for a college class in gender studies, rather than something that a teen would just pick up to read through in their free time. It's not poorly written; it's just too much.
June 30, 2017
Most of the discussions in this book are other in others I've read before. However, I still enjoyed reading it, and was able to add a few new movies and shows to my 'to-watch' list. If you are looking for a book about this topic and haven't read any others, I would definitely recommend this one.
September 21, 2019
It's kind of old (10 years) so the TV/film/comics landscape has changed a bit since that series of essay was released but I nonetheless enjoyed the analysis of the superwoman's (lack of) presence in entertainment.
December 28, 2015
Pretty standard. Mostly history, with a few insights into thematic concerns (no discussion of form at all).
January 1, 2018
For a geek and female superhero fan and reader, this book was a very exciting amd entertaining compilation of the reasons why more female leads are needed. As a Latin American woman, the validation that more characters like me should be developed for the sake of diversity and equality is testament of how much farther we need to drive the feminism and civil rights movements to successfully change social norms amd expectations. The book has many examples of superwomen in modern films, TV shows and literature, especially comics, and presents a cohesive argument in regards to the value and meaning of all the heroines described in its chapters. This is a must read for women interested in the genres mentioned above and for those who want to be introduced to the history of female super or extraordinary characters. Highly recommended for men who want to understand how sexism and violence affecta comics and why the medium is also a "girl" thing.
February 16, 2024
Noting my rating - will come back to update the review.
Book was good and I enjoyed the read but some of the concepts I have read before so this was not new to me. Plus the book’s focus on the shows and media was a little narrow for me so seemed like a missed opportunity. Using Wonder Woman, Buffy, Xena etc are fine but also easy. Some counter factual would have been appreciated. Further, there was nothing outside of American TV / movies. And not enough discussion of animation - like nothing on 80s cartoons?
Given the length of the book, I understand why the focus was so narrow but I could have used another 50 pages. Worth reading though if this is an introduction to the topic for you.
Book was good and I enjoyed the read but some of the concepts I have read before so this was not new to me. Plus the book’s focus on the shows and media was a little narrow for me so seemed like a missed opportunity. Using Wonder Woman, Buffy, Xena etc are fine but also easy. Some counter factual would have been appreciated. Further, there was nothing outside of American TV / movies. And not enough discussion of animation - like nothing on 80s cartoons?
Given the length of the book, I understand why the focus was so narrow but I could have used another 50 pages. Worth reading though if this is an introduction to the topic for you.
May 17, 2020
It was OK. No new insights.
December 5, 2021
This was a fun read! If you like pop culture and reflections on gender representation in media this could be for you!
September 11, 2014
Enjoyable if fairly light reading. It's somewhat lopsided, spending a lot more time on certain media and characters while others are barely - if at all - touched upon: it primarily examines super-powered female characters in mainstream film, television, and "big two" comic books, with very little attention to literature and none to theater or video games. That's to be expected from a book taking on such a huge topic and can hardly be considered a flaw, except perhaps one of misrepresentation.
In point of fact, I believe the book could've benefited from an even tighter focus. This stems from my concern that some of the historical information is brief to the point of being pointless, misleading, or worse. Most glaring to me, having just read a history of Wonder Woman, is the description of the events of 1972 involving the character and Ms. Magazine. The depiction of these events is both heavily biased and factually inaccurate. While the rest of the historical information is correct as far as I know, it is spartan to the point of uselessness.
I have two other complaints about this book that are worth mentioning. First, there's a failure to communicate the scale and relative importance of the various works and characters in relation to each other and the culture at large. In future years I suspect the devotion of nearly an entire chapter to the show Heroes will be particularly puzzling. Secondly, the book seems to swing back and forth from promoting a particular kind of feminine heroism and longing for a more gender-neutral vision of heroic character and behavior. While these ideas are not necessarily contradictory, I did find the switching between the two confusing.
All told, I do like this book, despite my disappointment with some aspects of it. I particularly enjoyed revisiting the supernatural heroines who populated turn of the century pop culture and the investigation into the meaning of heroism is thoughtful if not provocative. It would be a wonderful text for an Introduction to Women's Studies or Women in Pop Culture course for college or older high school students. Hardly an exhaustive discussion of the topic but a good place to start.
In point of fact, I believe the book could've benefited from an even tighter focus. This stems from my concern that some of the historical information is brief to the point of being pointless, misleading, or worse. Most glaring to me, having just read a history of Wonder Woman, is the description of the events of 1972 involving the character and Ms. Magazine. The depiction of these events is both heavily biased and factually inaccurate. While the rest of the historical information is correct as far as I know, it is spartan to the point of uselessness.
I have two other complaints about this book that are worth mentioning. First, there's a failure to communicate the scale and relative importance of the various works and characters in relation to each other and the culture at large. In future years I suspect the devotion of nearly an entire chapter to the show Heroes will be particularly puzzling. Secondly, the book seems to swing back and forth from promoting a particular kind of feminine heroism and longing for a more gender-neutral vision of heroic character and behavior. While these ideas are not necessarily contradictory, I did find the switching between the two confusing.
All told, I do like this book, despite my disappointment with some aspects of it. I particularly enjoyed revisiting the supernatural heroines who populated turn of the century pop culture and the investigation into the meaning of heroism is thoughtful if not provocative. It would be a wonderful text for an Introduction to Women's Studies or Women in Pop Culture course for college or older high school students. Hardly an exhaustive discussion of the topic but a good place to start.
September 4, 2012
Too often in popular culture the heroes who are meant to inspire us are men, while women are relegated to being the sidekick, the moral support, or the damsel in dis-damn-dress. But fear not! In Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology, Jennifer K. Stuller explores what makes women heroic, the tropes that plague superwomen, and the many real-life superladies who are changing things for women in pop culture.
...
Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors is an excellent book to get you thinking about the superladies you admire and what makes them rock (and sometimes about how they could rock harder). It may also introduce you to some feminist icons you’ve been missing out on, such as Modesty Blaise and Dr. Catherine Gale, and it will definitely get you going on a wild ride through comics history.
Complete Review: http://www.paperdroids.com/2012/08/30...
...
Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors is an excellent book to get you thinking about the superladies you admire and what makes them rock (and sometimes about how they could rock harder). It may also introduce you to some feminist icons you’ve been missing out on, such as Modesty Blaise and Dr. Catherine Gale, and it will definitely get you going on a wild ride through comics history.
Complete Review: http://www.paperdroids.com/2012/08/30...
May 24, 2015
I really enjoyed this book, which was about the role of female superheroes in pop culture throughout the 20th and 21st century. It discussed the comics, movies, and TV shows in which female heroes are portrayed well and those in which the portrayals are needlessly demeaning, infantilizing, objectifying, or violent, and has given me a long list of new shows I want to watch! It has also made me interested in reading comics now, so that I can examine the way women are portrayed in the different stories. I think the new "Mad Max" movie would have met with this author's approval in terms of its portrayal of strong female characters. While not a page-turner by any means, this was a nice, thought-provoking break from novels to engaging non-fiction. Those of you who have ever watched "Wonder Woman," "Xena," "Buffy," or "Alias" will be particularly interested in the author's lengthy analyses of these shows.
January 10, 2013
Okay, let me just say that this book was absolutely fantastic. I loved reading about the history of heroes like Wonder Woman, and I loved exploring with the author the way more modern heroes - like Buffy Summers, Max Guevara, Barbara Gordon, etc - help us define heroic meaning in our own lives. I grew up watching shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess, but I was too young then to put together how formative these influences were in my feminist leanings, or how they've influenced me just as a person. It was incredible to read about how groundbreaking these shows were and continue to be, and I'm so pleased with this book that I actually keep misspelling things because I'm too excited.
Please, please read this book. It's easy to read, accessible, informative and above all, fun.
Please, please read this book. It's easy to read, accessible, informative and above all, fun.
August 8, 2011
All the "geek girl" furor pre- and post Comic Con has gotten into my brain. This book was an interesting study on on the representation of "super women" - in comics, movies, and on television. It was fascinating to see some of the examples of how things have changed over time, with an ebb and flow in both positive and negative directions.
I have a lot of "feminist" thoughts churning around in my brain, and eventually they'll make it into some posts. Hopefully, that will also lead me to be a better role model for my students and my sons.
Do girls read comics? Seems like the answer is yes. And maybe if they start to (or continue to) write more female leads that we can respect and look up to, we'd read them more.
I have a lot of "feminist" thoughts churning around in my brain, and eventually they'll make it into some posts. Hopefully, that will also lead me to be a better role model for my students and my sons.
Do girls read comics? Seems like the answer is yes. And maybe if they start to (or continue to) write more female leads that we can respect and look up to, we'd read them more.
November 13, 2011
This book is a survey and review of the female super-hero's development throughout pop culture (mainly TV, movies and comics), thought the 20th and 21st Century. It does a good just discussing a lot of the problematic aspects of a lot of female heroic characters (or lack there-of). It highlights characters, works and authors that to particularly good jobs at creating heroic women, and gives you a long list of potential new media to consume. Really enjoyable, sheds some interesting light on things I hadn't considered before. My only criticism is that the book very much focuses on breadth instead of dept.
July 15, 2010
Stuller traces the appearance of superwomen in the modern mythologies of popular media (TV, film, and comics), starting with Wonder Woman's 1941 debut. Not just a trip down memory lane, Ink-Stained Amazons critiques as well as cataloging, telling a story of the ebb flow of feminist ideals in popular culture, suggesting (not always explicitly) an overarching understanding of the role of myth in self-making and the formation of ideals, and calling for an evolution in our understanding and representation of heroism. A good, fun, read that gives lots to think about.
January 20, 2011
Stuller's book is both fascinating and insightful. This is a topic a wrestle with, myself as someone who fancies himself a writer and it gave me a lot to think about. If I had any complaints, it would be that Stuller spends a more of time with Superwomen of television and movies than she does with comics. I really would have liked her to have gone deeper into comics, where I feel a lot of less-well known characters could have gotten the nod so often denied them.
October 23, 2011
Awesome!!!! Only disappointment so far is that they don't mention Erin Soong from "Farscape".
Finished today & wow. Can't say enough about how inspiring it was. Her analysis was deep w/o being so heady you couldn't follow. I found myself nostalgic for some of the shows and characters she talked about, at the same time I became curious snout shows and characters i'd never before considered. this will be on my year end list of favorite books I'be read this year.
Finished today & wow. Can't say enough about how inspiring it was. Her analysis was deep w/o being so heady you couldn't follow. I found myself nostalgic for some of the shows and characters she talked about, at the same time I became curious snout shows and characters i'd never before considered. this will be on my year end list of favorite books I'be read this year.
July 24, 2011
I loved this book. It's a feminist critique of the genre of Sci Fi. While there are a few gaps (where was Hermione Granger?, for instance), it was an excellent primer to the language of superwomen. (I loved the Sarah-Jane Smith shout-out, too.)
March 30, 2012
An interesting read with some fascinating points and information. But I found the tone a bit... belligerent, I guess is the word. As if the author is daring you to disagree with her definitions of feminism. Which I did, on occasion, but that's ok too. That's how good conversations get started.
July 21, 2016
If you like Buffy and other powerful women, this book is a great read. It was a great set up for me seeing Ghostbusters (2016)!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews