{"product_id":"amazons-in-america-matriarchs-utopians-and-wonder-women-in-u-s-popular-culture","title":"Amazons in America","description":"With this remarkable study, historian Keira V. Williams shows how fictional matriarchies- produced for specific audiences in successive eras and across multiple media- constitute prescriptive, solution-oriented thought experiments directed at contemporary social issues. In the process, \u003ci\u003eAmazons in America\u003c\/i\u003e uncovers a rich tradition of matriarchal popular culture in the United States. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Beginning with late-nineteenth-century anthropological studies, which theorized a universal prehistoric matriarchy, Williams explores how representations of women-centered societies reveal changing ideas of gender and power over the course of the twentieth century and into the present day. She examines a deep archive of cultural artifacts, both familiar and obscure, including L. Frank Baum's \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard of Oz\u003c\/i\u003e series, Progressive-era fiction like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's utopian novel \u003ci\u003eHerland,\u003c\/i\u003e the original 1940s \u003ci\u003eWonder Woman\u003c\/i\u003e comics, midcentury films featuring nuclear families, and feminist science fiction novels from the 1970s that invented prehistoric and futuristic matriarchal societies. While such texts have, at times, served as sites of feminist theory, Williams unpacks their cyclical nature and, in doing so, pinpoints some of the premises that have historically hindered gender equality in the United States. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Williams also delves into popular works from the twenty-first century, such as Tyler Perry's Madea franchise and DC Comics\/Warner Bros.' globally successful film \u003ci\u003eWonder Woman,\u003c\/i\u003e which attest to the ongoing presence of matriarchal ideas and their capacity for combating patriarchy and white nationalism with visions of rebellion and liberation. \u003ci\u003eAmazons in America\u003c\/i\u003e provides an indispensable critique of how anxieties and fantasies about women in power are culturally expressed, ultimately informing a broader discussion about how to nurture a stable, equitable society.","brand":"Louisiana State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47673696452952,"sku":"9780807170472","price":54.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780807170472.jpg?v=1778679073","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/amazons-in-america-matriarchs-utopians-and-wonder-women-in-u-s-popular-culture","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}