Jennifer Stuller: Ink-Stained Amazons
This panel was basically Ink-Stained Amazons the Cliff Notes and multimedia experience (grin).
Stuller began by talking about how the current western pop-culture mythos is overwhelmingly male, but that for many women of a certain age, there was one bright, shining example of how things could be different: the Wonder Woman TV series.
Stuller described how she went on an odyssey, seeking out women heroes of modern times, eager to track what has or hasn't changed, because media and the stories it tells have a huge impact on who / what we think we can be and it's important for girls and women to see that they aren't just the damsels in distress. A montage of images, quotes, and media clips then cued up on the screen in answer to the question "What is a Superwoman?"
Answer: It's not just a super-powered being. A superwoman, according to Stuller can be a spy / secret agent, a detective, a witch, a reporter, a warrior, and a superhero. Though there is no one way to be a hero, there are four criteria that she identified in all of her superwomen.
- They experience The Hero's Journey.
- Their narrative borrows themes and elements from world mythology.
- They have a uniquely identifiable skill or power, either innate or the result of training.
- They have a mission or purpose that benefits the greater good.
In short, the stories of superwomen contain all the classic archetypes and "big ideas".
In the segment of the presentation that focused on comics, Stuller showed how the treatment of women in comics has paralleled the prevailing cultural mores and attitudes in terms of the cycles of advancement and backlash.
Stuller also examined how the modern female hero is different from the male in that there is seldom a "lone wolf" model, or when there is, it's quickly transmuted into a journey that emphasizes love, redemption, collaboration, and compassion. Ever to point out multiple readings of the canon and its implications, Stuller observed that yes, it's valid to say that these are the "classic" list of feminine virtues, but it's also equally valid to point out that this model of heroism completely subverts and ultimately rejects the dominant might-makes-right-lone-wolf model of male heroism. However, she ended this segment by posing some questions, namely, though mothering can be a heroic act, why is the superwoman always the mother, and never the messiah (eg. Sarah Conner), and where are the tales of women mentoring other women in the ways of being super?
The last segment focused on the mythmakers, and examined women as creators and how our experiences as women shape how we work and create and color the themes we explore.
Finally, Stuller closed by bringing things back to Wonder Woman and talked about how Wonder Woman opened her eyes to possibility when she was a child and taught her to recognize the hero in herself.
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