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Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action heroines, gender, fetishism, and popular culture. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2011. 
Added by: joachim (05/09/2011, 11:44)   
Resource type: Book
Language: en: English
ID no. (ISBN etc.): 978-1-60473-714-1
BibTeX citation key: Brown2011a
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 Categories: General
Keywords: "Wonder Woman", Gender, Superhero, USA
Creators: Brown
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi (Jackson)		 Views: 9/670
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Abstract
Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture addresses the conflicted meanings associated with the figure of the action heroine as she has evolved in various media forms since the late 1980s. Jeffrey A. Brown discusses this immensely popular character type as an example of, and challenge to, existing theories about gender as a performance identity. Her assumption of heroic masculine traits combined with her sexualized physical depiction demonstrates the ambiguous nature of traditional gender expectations and indicates a growing awareness of more aggressive and violent roles for women.
The excessive sexual fetishization of the action heroines is a central theme throughout. The topic is analyzed as an insight into many manifestations of the transgressive image of the dominatrix, as the action heroine a reflection of the shift in popular feminism from second-wave politics to third-wave and post-feminist pleasures, and as a form of patriarchal backlash that facilitates a masculine fantasy of controlling strong female characters. Brown interprets the action heroine as a representation of changing gender dynamics that balances the sexual objectification of women with progressive models of female strength. While the primary focus of this study is the action heroine as represented in Hollywood film and television, the book also includes the action heroine’s emergence in contemporary popular literature, comic books, cartoons, and video games.

Table of Contents

Introduction: “Where All Women Wear Spandex and Know Kung Fu” (3)

1. Gender and the Action Heroine. Hardbodies and the Point of No Return (20)
2. Gender, Sexuality, and Toughness. The Bad Girls of Action Film and Comic Books (43)
3. Alias, Fetishism, and Pygmalion Fantasies (63)
4. “Play with Me”. Sexy Cyborgs, Game Girls, and Digital Babes (93)
5. If Looks Could Kill. Power, Revenge, and Stripper Movies (120)
6. “She Can Do Anything!”. The Action Heroine and the Modern (Post-Feminist) Girl (141)
7. “Exotic Beauties”. Ethnicity and Comic Book Superheroines (168)
8. Kinky Vampires and Action Heroines (185)
9. When the Action Heroine Looks (208)

Conclusion: Wondering about Wonder Woman: Action Heroines as Multi-Fetish (233)

Works Cited (247)
Index (257)


Added by: joachim  Last edited by: joachim
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