Books We Love Insider Blog: comics

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Warrior women on TV, in the movies, and in comic books still have to be sexy - by Vijaya Schartz

September Release. Find more titles at BWL HERE

In the male-dominated society of our ancestors, few women emerged as rulers or generals, or even warriors, although some did find a place in history. Nowadays, women are welcome into the military, and a recent decree subjects them to the draft. We’ve definitely come a long way in terms of equality.

But the entertainment world still resists the change. Superheroes are overwhelmingly male. In the Hollywood movies of the 1930s, all women wore dresses. Then during WWII, we saw a few women working in factories wearing pants.

The movements of the sixties brought us Barbarella but the first sci-fi or warrior women on the screen were more of an excuse for men to leer over semi-naked female bodies in action… and their fighting prowess seemed improbable at best.

Every beautiful actress wanted to be a Bond Girl.

In the 80s and 90s, came Charlie’s Angels - Xena Warrior Princess, and although still exploiting the female form, they portrayed strong, independent women, sometime in position of power, and they could fight for themselves, for others, and for justice.

Also of note, the ALIEN series with a kick-butt heroine, acted by Sigourney Weaver, and GI Jane (1997) with Demi Moore.

With this century came the rebirth of Battlestar Galactica with a female Starbuck. It was criticized at first, but I thoroughly enjoyed the switch. One of my favorite sci-fi series.