Action Heroines in the 21st Century

Examines the collective agency of women in post-millennial action-led genres from television and cinema.

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.