Summary

Amazon feminism is a branch of feminism

Feminism

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

 that emphasizes female physical prowess as a means to achieve the goal of gender equality

Gender equality

Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...

. Adherents are dedicated to the image of the female hero in fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

 and in fact, as expressed in the physiques and feats of female athletes, martial artists and other powerfully built women in society, art and literature.

Historical criticism

Historical criticism

Historical criticism, or historical-critical method, and also known as higher criticism, is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient text in order to understand "the world behind the text"....

 may hope to uncover more examples of Amazon feminism in the pre-1990s literature. An obvious example of this is Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....

, who was conceived in the early 1940s and based partially on the Amazons

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

 in Greek Mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

.

History

The origin of the term "Amazon feminism" can be traced to several sources, including Thomas Gramstad. Gramstand sought to combine Rand's unique depiction of heroism along with then-modern feminist ideology and Amazonian

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

 concepts. This was partly inspired by Lane and Worth's In Search of the Woman Warrior. In the early '70's Gloria Steinman drew attention to this concept with her praise of Wonder Woman as a feminist icon, and her criticism of DC's decision in 1968 to change Wonder Woman's powers. Wonder Woman's famous equipment, her bullet proof bracers lasso of truth and ability to fly, had been replaced with mere-mortal kung-fu. The year after Steinman generated attention toward this issue, Wonder Woman was changed back and her popularity with young female readers increased. http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/1222294019/red-light-series-feminist-flavors-amazon-feminism

See also

• G.I. Jane
  G.I. Jane
  G.I. Jane is a 1997 American action film directed by Ridley Scott, produced by Largo Entertainment, Scott Free Productions and Caravan Pictures, distributed by Hollywood Pictures and starring Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo training...
  
  
• Goddess
  Goddess
  A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
  
  
• Goddess movement
  Goddess movement
  The Goddess movement is an overall trend in religious or spiritual beliefs or practices which emerged out of second-wave feminism, predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s...
  
  
• Heroine
• History of women in the military
• Superheroine
• Tomboy
  Tomboy
  A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
  
  
• Sarah Palin
  Sarah Palin
  Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
  
  

External links

• On The Trail of the Women Warriors, author Lyn Webster Wilde's site about her investigations
• Women as Warriors in History, author Nicky Saunders' pages at Lothene Experimental Archaeology
• Real Knockouts, Feminista interview with author Martha McCaughey
  Martha McCaughey
  Martha McCaughey, PhD, is the director of Women's Studies at Appalachian State University. Her research and writings have dealt extensively with evolutionary psychology as applied to gender. Her most recent book is "The Caveman Mystique: Pop-Darwinism and the Debates over Sex, Violence, and...
  
  , at archive.org
• The Amazon Connection, Thomas Gramstad's site