MP DocFest: Wonder Women!

Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines is an award-winning documentary exploring the concept of heroic women, from the birth of the superhero in the 1940s to the TV and big screen action blockbusters of today.

After we watch the film, we’ll discuss it with artist and writer Ajuan Mance, Ph.D., professor of African American Literature at Mills College in Oakland.

Wonder Women looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about strong and healthy women. The film goes behind the scenes with actors Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) and Lindsay Wagner (the Bionic Woman), comic writers and artists, and real-life superheroines such as feminist icon Gloria Steinem, riot girl Kathleen Hanna, and others, who offer an enlightening and entertaining counterpoint to the male-dominated superhero genre.

About Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance is a professor of African American literature at Mills College in Oakland, California. A lifelong artist and writer, Ajuan has participated in solo and group exhibitions as well as comic and zine fests, from the Bay Area to Brooklyn. In her art, illustration and comics, Ajuan uses humor and bright colors to explore race, gender, power, and the people and places in which they intersect. Her work has appeared in a number of digital and print media outlets, including, most recently, The Women’s Review of Books, Blavity.com, BET.com, Transition Magazine, Buzzfeed.com, KQED.org, the San Francisco Chronicle, NYTimes.com, KPIX News and Publisher’s Weekly.

Dr. Mance’s books include Living While Black: Portraits of Everyday Resistance, 1001 Black Men: Portraits of Masculinity at the Intersections, and Gender Studies: The Confessions of an Accidental Outlaw.

This free event received partial funding support from the Friends of the Menlo Park Library. 

 

When

Location

Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St., Menlo Park, CA, 94025, View map