| This study investigates how television representations of action heroines mediate cultural debates over the role of women and female power in contemporary society. Using a case-study approach, the study examines three recent television series that are representative of the range of modern action heroines: La Femme Nikita, Aeon Flux, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer . A textual, semiotic analysis of each series is performed in order to examine the semiotic codes and formal properties of each text.; The results of this study indicate that the three series mediate a variety of strands of thought within our contemporary culture. It reveals that popular texts are opening up space for images of female power and physicality, female individuality and heroism, and also functioning as expressions of feminine discontent.; Yet the action heroine remains a contested figure. The need for collective social action, though apparent in female centered texts, is sidestepped by the overarching themes of individualism. In addition, heroines remain far "weaker" than their male counterparts. However, these qualities of "weakness" may be due less to their femininity than to postmodern attitudes that view the body as vulnerable. Different conceptions about the body as well as the presence of action heroines signal changes within the action genre, particularly its definition of heroism. |
