Action heroines in the 21st century : sisters in arms / edited by Fran Pheasant-Kelly and Christa Van Raalte

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pheasant-Kelly, Frances, 1960- editor.

Van Raalte, Christa, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Violence against.

Women.

Women in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 326 pages) : illustrations

Other Title:

Action heroines in the twenty-first century

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Action Heroines in the Twenty-First Century highlights the changing representation of female protagonists in recent action-led genres. It responds to an upturn in women-centred narratives over the past two decades, specifically, those that involve groups of women in action. The work demonstrates how this collective agency reflects an increasingly global rejection of violence towards women (illustrated through initiatives such as the #MeToo movement, and the united reactions to the deaths of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and the deaths of young Iranian women detained by security forces in Iran in 2022). It is against this backdrop that an escalating number of action films released over recent years counter contemporaneous perceptions of women as victims in the face of threat and enable progressive media representations of women. ​​​​​​​This book charts such representations from a diverse range of national cinemas and genres, moving from remakes of Charlie’s Angels through to the Western, eco-activism, action-comedy and Marvel’s superheroines, thus providing a broad platform for its argument and highlighting the growing significance of action heroines operating collectively"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Sisters in arms, or how collectivity facilitates an individual’s agency / Alicja Bemben

Agency and sisterhood in the revisionist western : the missing, the keeping room and godless as feminist westerns / Fran Pheasant-Kelly

Gangs or vigilantes : locating action and the ‘angry young women’ of bollywood in Gulaab Gang / Gauri D. Chakraborty

The ‘mountain woman’ in woman at war : an eco-activist action heroine and her sister(s)-in-arms / Lavinia Brydon

‘Once upon a time there were three little girls’ : violence, glamour and working women in Charlie’s Angels / Lucy Bolton

Exploring the second closet : femininity and power in 2019’s Charlie’s Angels / Aviva Dove-Viebahn

‘I know my value’ : feminism, femininity and transgression in Marvel’s Agent Carter / Laura Crossley

Harley Quinn : trickster, action heroine and a reluctant team player / Helena Bassil-Morozow

Friendship, fashion and action comedy : female partnerships in US action cinema / Yvonne Tasker

The girlfriend action flick / Christopher Holliday

Armed and dangerous : policewomen in TV series, a new equality of arms / Mathieu Arbogast

Sisters in arms in terminator : dark fate / Marianne Kac-Vergne

Passing the baton : age, action and mentorship in three hollywood films / Christa van Raalte

Be gay, do crime? the construction of Ocean’s 8 as a lesbian heist film / Esmé Fransen

‘Nubian queen rise’ : the black queer action heroine, sisterhood and the closet in Captain Marvel and The Harder They Fall / Jenny Alexander

The old guard’s new order : Gina Prince-Bythewood, Andy and Nile, and ‘the opportunity to put a young black female hero into the world’ / Deborah Jermyn

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed October 11, 2025)

Other Format:

Print version: Action heroines in the 21st century

ISBN:

1399529773

9781399529778

9781399529785

1399529781

OCLC:

1526231305

Publisher Number:

CIPO000240946

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license