I’ve been speaking about Ink-Stained Amazons, Cinematic Warriors, and Superwomen in Modern Mythology through Humanities Washington at libraries, wineries, and schools across the state – and am bookable for 2014!
I had a blast working in Festival Publications for SIFF 2013 – and loved being a minion for a very special secret Whedonverse screening during the Festival, as well as participating in the forum Sheroes in the Media: From Guerrilla Girls to Women in Film.
Spike, Buffy, and Yummy Sushi PJs
First rule of Secret Screening: We don't talk about secret screenings, only about how they make us feel.
With William B. Davis - aka "The Cigarette Smoking Man"
I contributed a chapter on Lost Girl called, “Choosing Her ‘Fae’te: Subversive Sexuality and Lost Girl’s Re/evolutionary Female Hero” for the forthcoming anthology, Heroines of Film and Television (Edited by Norma Jones; Maja Bajac-Carter and Bob Batchelor).
With the help of my friends, there was a Handsy Puppet Joss Whedon, a Naughty Fan Fic Reading, Trivia, Rupert Giles singing “Behind Blue Eyes”, an Author Signing, Band Candy, and Snoopy Dancing. Drink Specials included “The Class Protector” and “Boinking the Undead.” We had music, limited edition GeekGirlCon buttons, squee-tastic photo ops, costumes, Scoobies and Slayerettes galore!!! Grr. Argh!
I got to talk about comics and gender with some of my favorite people at a Velocity Dance Center Speakeasy Conversation – BOOM! POW! COMICS, GENDER + MOVEMENT.
Boom Pow + Red Boots (Photo: Amy Peloff)
And of course, GeekGirlCon had its third annual convention! We had between 4300 and 4700 attendees – and sold out of passes before we even opened our doors on Saturday. Huzzah!
Plus, I got to make moments like this happen.
Something to Sing About (Photo: AltaStation)
And this – Where I experience Pure Joy.
Red, Karen, and Jen! (Photo by Josh Weiner: GeekGirlCon)
What’s next for The Ink-Stained Amazon? There are a few projects on the table, but unless anything extraordinary presents itself I’ll be taking it easy for the rest of the year. (Though I’m always amenable to extraordinary. So if you think of me for something, let me know.)
And, wow, she completely groked my intent. Thank you, Tricia.
”The message of the book comes through loud and clear: This is where we were, this is where we are, and here’s my knowledge-base and the brain-trust of a lot of other smart, strong women – now go use it to make things better for all of us. . . .[T]hroughout the course of the book she doesn’t judge women for their tastes or their preferences, or insist that anyone agree with her point by point. Stuller simply lays out her own experiences as a geek girl, ambassador, and historian, then has the bravery to let the reader decide things for herself.”
“What Ink-Stained Amazons provides is deep knowledge about past portrayals of women, effective (and not-so-effective) characterization, and the ruts that storytellers get stuck in.
Self-awareness grows as you read the book. Jennifer is very effective at demonstrating the ways that we truly do write what we know in terms of tropes, relationships with our family, and our own internal biases from a lifetime of experience. Once a writer recognizes his or her own bias – yet another form of rut that can trap our storytelling – that is the path to breaking new ground, making the stories better.
Finally, Jennifer’s book reminds everyone that writers must have empathy, for their characters and for their audience. This book should be a must-read for any writer working in genre storytelling. As a resource for women in fantasy and science fiction who are still searching for that sense of who they are, this book will be a big help as well.”
As always – Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology is available at Amazon, or your local independent book seller.
We were absolutely thrilled that Jo Jo Stiletto Events brought Whedonesque Burlesque to our inaugural year of GeekGirlCon, and I was personally delighted to be asked to contribute some personal thoughts on Joss Whedon and what the Whedonverse means to me to the program. (Click image to embiggen.)
I will be doing my best to watch every Tuesday between 7:30 and 9:30 pm – West Coast time – before reading that week’s post online at Nikki’s blog! I love thinking about my Buffy peeps watching all over the world and hope you will join us over the coming year!
So be sure to look there if your Superwoman Geek is a fan of British Spy-fi!
Jaime Sommers
Fans of Bionic Woman, Jaime Sommers, are in luck – The Bionic Woman has finally been released on DVD in the U.S.!
Na-na-na-na-na-na . . .
And for those wanting to know more about the show there’s Bionic Book Reconstructed – a history of both Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. (With interviews!)
Wonder Woman
Anyone who knows me, or is familiar with my work, knows how influential Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman was on me as a child and on the woman I’ve become.
For those that want to revisit their childhoods, pop culture research junkies like myself, and parents wanting to introduce their children to the Amazon Princess, Wonder Woman The Complete Collection is the perfect gift.
Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels is a well-researched and thorough history of the character. And while I don’t care for Daniels’ weird dislike of Gloria Steinem I would still recommend this book for Wonder Woman fans.
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is another of my personal favorites when it comes to Superwomen. Get me started talking about the emotional resonance and feminist message of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I’ll never stop. I’ll also probably say things like, “I’m a Slayer. Ask me how.”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 will get your Geek caught up in the world of Buffy and the Scoobies as they lead an army of Slayers against the latest Big Bad.
I miss Sydney Bristow. From the very first episode of Alias I was hooked on this Superwoman and spy-fi shero. Your Geek can get hooked too, or just revisit the adventures of Sydney and her family of spies with Alias: The Complete Collection.
Private eyeful Honey West debuted in 1957’s This Girl for Hire – a novel co-written by husband and wife team Gloria and Forrest Fickling under the pseudonym “G.G. Fickling.” In addition to the 10 novels Honey appeared in, she was the star of an eponymous television series in the mid-1960s. (I wrote about her for the Noir Issue of Bitch.)
Fans of Superwomen would enjoy Honey West: This Girl for Hire – the novel that introduces us to the busty blonde detective.
Honey West: The Complete Series – as one of the first American television series to star an action heroine is an absolute joy.
Honey West by John C. Fredriksen provides a guide to the series with episode synopses and interviews.
Cathy and Mrs. Peel are two of the first action heroines of television period. Played by Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg respectfully, they were not only beautiful, stylish, and sexy, but smart, talented, fearless and perhaps more capable than their male colleague, John Steed.
Get Christie Love started out as a made-for-television movie loosely based on a novel called The Ledger, written by Dorothy Uhnak, who herself had worked with the NYPD. Teresa Graves (Laugh-In) starred as Christie Love – a sassy, skilled, take-no-shit, undercover cop.
Get Christie Love aired as a series during the 1974–5 season making Graves one of the first Black women to headline her own television show. Only the pilot is available on DVD.
The character was modeled after New York Police Detective, Olga Ford, one of the first African American women on the force. Ford served as a consultant on an early episode.
With it’s brash delivery of one-liners, cinematography as stunning as the cleavage on display, and sexually confident, if amoral, women, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a classic film for the Superwoman Geek.
Guilty Pleasure? Feminist message? Exploitation? Let your Geek decide! I, for one love Cleopatra 2525 in all it’s awesome awfulness as well as the teamwork of Hel, Cleo and Sarge. And Torres sings the theme song.
Okay, every Geek already owns Firefly: The Complete Series and Serenity– but since they star Torres as the badass, Zoe Washburne, they need to be listed.
Superwomen Geeks can also catch Torres in Season Four of Angel – or you can go ahead and get the entire series.
Hit-Girl
One of the most fascinating Superwomen to come out of the past year is Chloë Grace Moretz’s Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass.
She was more than just a pint-sized, foul-mouthed assassin (and more than a gimmick). She was the most capable, talented, forceful, and driven person in both the movie version of Kick Ass and the comic book version of Kick Ass.
I know there are several of you that have been just as excited for this as I am – Day 5 of the Ink-Stained Amazon’s Holiday Gift Guide for Geeks is For The Joss Whedon Fan! Whether your Whedon Geek loved Buffy, hated Dollhouse, knows all the words to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog, or is a Browncoat, there is something here for every kind of Whedonian!
The Slayer Scythe is a totally cool, but rather pricey gift for the Buffy fan with a lot of room in their home – or their own Slayer army.
Are you ready to be strong?
The Ink-Stained Hubby picked me up a Buffy iPhone GelaSkin last year in the UK and I’m always getting compliments on it. Would make a great stocking stuffer for your Buffy Geek!
I’ve already gone through one set of Yummy Sushi Pajamas – and another is on my personal holiday wish list. If Buffy didn’t look commanding in them your Geek probably won’t either. But they will be just as cute!
That probably would have sounded more commanding if I wasn't wearing my Yummy Sushi pajamas.
As a member of the Whedon Studies Association, a Whedon geek, and a pop culture scholar and historian I’m tempted to list a whole bunch of book recommendations for your Geek, but think you should just peruse The Slayage Whedonverses Bookstore. Really, it’s full of Awesome Sauce.
The Whedonverse. Polysemic, much?
Finally, there are always great Whedonverse themed items on Etsy!
Take notes at the next Biennial Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses with this handmade Buffy journal. The front & back covers feature actual comic pages from the Season 8 comics. You can even ask the artist to design one for you that focuses on a particular character or specific issue from the series.
Handmade Journal
These Slayer Scythe earrings are the absolute coolest. (And, yeah, they’re so cool I actually already went ahead and ordered a pair for myself.)
