If you’ve been following Dark Matter for any length of time, you’ve probably read posts referring to a conference I attended at Monash University last year titled Tights and Tiaras: Female Superheroes and Media Cultures. My report on the conference is here but I highly recommend you follow the link to Monash University’s Colloquy Journal website where issue 24 features academic essays by the original speakers themselves.
- Man-eaters and fan-dancers:
Kitana from Mortal Kombat
The essays available online are
Introduction: Tights and Tiaras 
Deb Waterhouse-Watson and Evie Kendal
Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 “Women’s Lib” Issue Ann Matsuuchi
Buffy, the Transmedia Hero Emma Beddows
Gender and Power: The Phoenix/Jean Grey across Time and Media Lenise Prater
Re-/deconstructing the Yellow Brick Road: Gender, Power and Tin Man Deb Waterhouse-Watson
Comic Book Princesses for Grown-Ups: Cinderella Meets the Pages of the Superhero Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario
Prince Charming by Day, Superheroine by Night? Subversive Sexualities and Gender Fluidity in Revolutionary Girl Utenaand Sailor Moon Catherine E. Bailey
Man-eaters and Fan-dancers: Exploring Gender Representation, the Female “Other” and Geek-girl Alienation Jane Felstead
There’s No One Perfect Girl: Third Wave Feminism and The Powerpuff Girls Evie Kendal
If you’re at all interested in representations of women in popular culture, this issue of Colloquy is a ‘must have’ resource!
I didn’t realise Colloquy was available as an open source resource, but now I know I’ll have to keep an eye on it for future essays of interest.