Fangirls Around the Web: February 12, 2013

February 12, 2013February 12, 2013 Fangirl Amy Ratcliffe, Brave, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, Star Wars, Wonder Woman

It’s time again for spotlighting fangirls and heroines around the web. So much to cover, where to begin?

How about taking your geekdom and turning into an educational tool? Space.com reports on seventh grader Lauren Rojas who launched her Hello Kitty into space and recorded it on video!

Women in the military has been an ongoing theme in the news. NBC highlights [h]ow the US military can become a ‘band of brothers and sisters’ with women in combat roles.

Kim Masters wrote a feature for The Hollywood Reporter on Kathleen Kennedy, including how she nabbed J.J. Abrams to direct Episode VII.

McKinley Noble’s article at Bleacher Report, ‘Star Wars’ Creator George Lucas Talks MMA Career of Daughter Amanda Lucas, reminds us that the Maker doesn’t just write about warrior women, he’s got one for a daughter:

Although she could simply live an easy life as the daughter of a famous film legend, Amanda Lucas instead chose to take up the career of a professional MMA fighter.

That journey will be chronicled in the upcoming film LUCAS, directed by TapouT Films founder and noted combat sports videographer Bobby Razak.

A new trailer for the project was released on Sunday, as highlighted on Twitter by Razak himself.

Featuring interviews from Amanda and her father George Lucas, the legendary creator of the billion-dollar Star Wars franchise, the documentary will cover several years of Amanda’s life with a major focus on her entry into the women’s MMA circuit.

Speaking of Star Wars, Amy Ratcliffe has a new column at Star Wars Blog. Check out Fully Operational Fandom: Finding Love with the Force.

Liz Ohanesian at L.A. Weekly features Geeky Glamorous Blog Creates an Art Show to Celebrate the Female Fan. Chaka Cumberbatch at xojane.com blogs about being a Black Female Cosplayer and Why Some People Hate It.

Liz Bourke at Tor.com asks Where Are the Older Women in scifi and fantasy. I often wonder about that, too, so I’m trying to do something about it as a storyteller and a blogger by highlighting them. Leia and Iella in Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand and Tyria in Fate of the Jedi: Backlash are some of my favorites in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Wonder Woman seems to pop up a lot. Noah Berlatsky at The Atlantic writes Wonder Woman’s Violent, Man-Pandering Second Act. And ComicBookMovie.com reports on Paradise Island concept art from the failed David E. Kelley television show. I haven’t been a fan of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman reboot, nor was I overly excited about Kelley bring her to television, so kudos to Berlatsky and at least all we have left from Kelley is nice artwork.

From comics to animation, Brave won several Annie awards. Congrats to the Pixar animation team! Rebecca Pahle at TheMarySue writes about a Brave-inspired new Nerf bow and arrow for girls:

If girls want to play with pink bows, they should have pink bows to play with. And boys should be able to play with them too. And if a girl wants to play with the non-Heartbreaker bow, well, she still can. I’m going to bold this because it’s very, very important: There is nothing wrong with the traditionally feminine, and there is nothing wrong with liking the traditionally feminine. With toys, as with clothes and TV shows and video games and everything, there should be options.

Granted, the notion of ”boy-girl” dichotomy in toys still makes me uncomfortable, because the line isn’t so sharp as all that. Kids shouldn’t have to choose between a pink Heartbreaker bow for girls and another one that’s marketed exclusively to boys, and I hope in the future they’ll have more gender-neutral versions to choose from (hey, we got a gender-neutral Easy Bake Oven). We should have more options than we do now, and it’s a problem that we don’t. But two options is still better than one.

Generally speaking I’m happy about Nerf Rebelle. If just one kid who wouldn’t have picked up a toy bow because they didn’t like how it looks sees the Heartbreaker and goes “Now that’s my kind of fake weapon; run and hide from my awesome archery power, jerks!,” then this line has done some good.

Mini-Meridas (or Katnisses, or Legolases, or Hawkeyes…) of the world unite!

Finally, it seems everyone is always eager for a catfight. When rumors of an Oscar Leading Lady feud erupted, Jessica Chastain proved she is not just playing a strong female role model in the movies. From The Hollywood Reporter:

“Please don’t allow the media to perpetuate the myth that women aren’t supportive of each other. Every time an actress is celebrated for her great work, I cheer. For the more brilliant their performance, the more the audience demands stories about women. With support and encouragement, we help to inspire this industry to create opportunities for women. And as we all know: a great year for women in film, is just a great year for film.”

~ Jessica Chastain responding to report of Jennifer Lawrence feud

Tricia Barr took her understanding of brand management and marketing, mixed it with a love of genre storytelling, and added a dash of social media flare to create FANgirl Blog, where she discusses Star Wars, fandom, and strong female characters. She also writes about Star Wars for Random House’s science fiction and fantasy blog Suvudu.com and for Star Wars Insider magazine.

In her spare time, Tricia puts the finishing touches on her first novel, Wynde. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.

For updates on all things FANgirl follow @FANgirlcantina on Twitter or like FANgirl Zone on Facebook.

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Tricia Barr took her understanding of brand management and marketing, mixed it with a love of genre storytelling, and added a dash of social media flare to create FANgirl Blog, where she discusses Star Wars, fandom, and the intersection of women within Star Wars fandom. She is co-author of Ultimate Star Wars and Star Wars Visual Encyclopedia from DK Publishing, a featured writer for Star Wars Insider magazine with numerous articles on the Hero's Journey. Her FANgirl opinions can be heard on the podcasts Hyperspace Theories and Fangirls Going Rogue.

Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.