Girl of Steel: Essays on Television's Supergirl and Fourth-Wave Feminism - Paperback

by Melissa Wehler (Editor), Tim Rayborn (Editor)

The CW's hit adaptation of Supergirl is a new take on the classic DC character for a new audience. With diverse female characters, it explores different versions of the female experience. No single character embodies a feminist ideal but together they represent attributes of the contemporary feminist conversation.

This collection of new essays uses a similar approach, inviting a diverse group of scholars to address the many questions about gender roles and female agency in the series. Essays analyze how the series engages with feminism, Supergirl's impact on queer audiences, and how families craft the show's feminist narratives. In the ever-growing superhero television genre, Supergirl remains unique as viewers watch a female hero with almost godlike powers face the same struggles as ordinary women in the series.

Author Biography

Melissa Wehler, a professor of interdisciplinary studies, has published essays in a variety of edited collections on topics including the gothic, feminism, and popular culture, and Coraline, Downton Abbey, Jessica Jones, and Maleficent. She lives in Pennsylvania. Tim Rayborn is a historian, medievalist, and musician, with a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds in England. He writes on history and on the arts, and lives in Berkeley, California.