Age of the Female Action Hero

Is female power really female progress? Barbarella has become Tomb Raider - the damsel in distress, the rescuer. But is this new role for women in our society's imagination a step in the right direction? Or, is it ingraining a new, unattainable image for women?

As a comic book , video game, action film loving, adventurous, 23 year old woman Tomb Raider, Witchblade, Aeon Flux and their accompanying femmes of action are my role models, women I aspire to be like. They are ideal women - but who's ideal? Granted they represent certain traits which are positive to aspire to. They are smart, independent, brave, unshakeable in their resolve, but ... But part and parcel to these traits they are all big chested, perfectly proportioned (using barbie as our basis), clear skinned, wide eyed, outfitted in reality defying skin tight clothing, and mysteriously always shaved (I'd like someone to tell me how to achieve this when out in the wilderness or on mission, without a shower or time for days on end). They are the embodiment of the male ideal. Often they are created by men. So, where's the female power?

Don't get me wrong, I am no crunchy granola advocate. I like to shave, shower, and look sexy. But I am perturbed by this image, mostly because I am not perturbed at all. When I draw female characters for my comic books, guess what they look like - amazons of male ideal perfection. Embarrassing as it is to admit, I even went through a phase of translating this look into my reality during a phase of dressing like Tomb Raider. I perpetuate this female power image.

So, what is the true embodiment of female power. How do we perpetuate it? Is it Demi Moore in G.I. Jane wit her buffed up body and shaved head? Seeing as many men I know don't like this movie, perhaps. On the other hand, has she crossed the line and made female power come to mean being more male? Her commanding moment is linked to acting as if she were a man when she rejoins, "Suck my dick." Now that's not very lady like.

Female power seems to be expressed in the popular culture in two primary ways - woman as the seductress or as the sexy action hero, who may often posses some of the traits of the first. Key to both concepts is the ability to control men, either sexually or physically. Ironically (or not) these characters most often arise from the imaginations of men. Whether expressions of fantasy or fear they are indicative of the male, not female drive. Domination may mean "power" but it does not necessitate empowerment. 

These iconic representations are so alive in our psyches that it is difficult to separate ourselves from them. They limit our imagination. Pigeon-hold us, making it a constant struggle to come to any meaningful conclusions about what female power, or empowerment, really is. The modern female action hero seems like such a step up from the damsel in distress that it's hard not to grab and hold tightly onto this image. 

Until we are willing to absolve ourselves of the Victorian misconception of women as men as opposites, it will be hard, if not impossible, to imagine a satisfactory concept of female power / empowerment. Now, women (and men for that matter) are characterized as having either male or female traits, as opposed to having traits which exist independent of the notion of gender. A woman is like a man (or a bitch, a term so lovingly used for strong women) if she is hard-headed, aggressive and commanding (i.e. Hillary Clinton). A man is effeminate if he prefers decorating (or the nesting trait usually ascribed to females) to take-overs. This limited form of explaining and thus understanding ourselves is unsatisfactory. Before we can move our collective consciousness forward we must remedy this cage of opposites, finding a new vocabulary. 

Amendment:

To note there may be a female character out there that somewhat passes muster for female empowerment ... "Starbuck" from Battlestar Galactica... she kcks ass in a very unique way.