The Sci-Fi Feminist - A Feminism and Pop Culture Podcast

In this episode, Janine Engelbrecht is joined by a fellow academic, Courtney Tink, to discuss the topic of her research: Lilith. They discuss Lilith as a feminist archetype, and contemplate whether Lilith might be the first feminist in history.

This week, Janine Engelbrecht talks about the new version of Lara Croft that appeared in video games and film after the series reboot in 2013, and how she is a more progressive representation of female video game characters than the old version of Lara.

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In this episode Janine Engelbrecht talks about the famous video game heroine, Lara Croft. She discusses the old version of Lara Croft, and addresses the question we have all asked ourselves: Is she a feminist icon, or is she a sexist fantasy?

In this episode I talk about the famous video game heroine from the Tomb Raider video game series, Lara Croft. I discuss the old version of Lara Croft and address the question we are all asking ourselves: Is she a feminist icon or is she a sexist fantasy? I help answer this question by looking at postfeminism, and especially the idea of the Postfeminist Supergirl, who appeared around the late 1990s and early 2000s in popular media.

Wonder Woman has been heralded as a feminist character by many, but how feminist is she really? In this week’s episode, Janine Engelbrecht looks at a brief history of Wonder Woman, and discusses her representation in Zack Snyder’s Justice Leag…

Wonder Woman has been heralded as a feminist character by many, but how feminist is she really? In this week's episode I look at a brief history of Wonder Woman, and discuss her representation in the Wonder Woman comics, and especially the Wonder Woman 1984 and the Justice League Zack Snyder cut movies. I analyze Wonder Woman using postfeminism as a framework and ultimately answer the question: Is Wonder Woman a feminist character or not? 

The movie I suggest in the episode is called Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.

For more background on women and popular culture, see Episode 2.

In this episode, Janine Engelbrecht looks at Cultural Feminism. She explains how Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor and Captain Kathryn Janeway embody Cultural Feminism’s ideals, especially regarding women’s empowerment and motherhood.

In this episode I look at the third school of Second Wave Feminism, named Cultural Feminism. I explain how Ellen Ripley from Alien, Sarah Connor from The Terminator and Captain Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager embody Cultural Feminism's ideals, especially regarding women's empowerment and motherhood.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Spoiler timestamps:

Star Trek Voyager episodes mentioned:

Link to my blog post on motherhood and fantasy film.

Link to Alien: Isolation mini series.

Janine Engelbrecht provides a fun and light-hearted feminist analysis of Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. She looks at how the movie perpetuates and subverts some female tropes, and considers whether it passes the Bechdel test or not.

In this special episode I do a fun and light-hearted feminist analysis of the latest Disney movie, Raya and the Last Dragon. I look at how the movie perpetuates and subverts some female tropes, and I also consider whether it passes the Bechdel test or not.

For more on feminism and pop culture, visit my blog.