Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Illustrations vii
4. Acknowledgments ix
5. What’s a Mean Woman like You Doing in a Movie like This? 1
6. Part I: Genre Films
7. “If Her Stunning Beauty Doesn’t Bring You to Your Knees, Her Deadly Drop Kick Will” 27
8. If Looks Could Kill 52
9. The Gun and the Badge 78
10. Caged Heat 106
11. Sharon Stone’s (An)Aesthetic 124
12. Part II: New Bonds and New Communities
13. Sometimes Being a Bitch Is All a Woman Has to Hold On To 147
14. Waiting to Set It Off 172
15. The Gun-in-the-Handbag, a Critical Controversy, and a Primal Scene 200
16. Action Heroines and Female Viewers 219
17. Imagined Violence/Queer Violence 244
18. About the Contributors 267
19. Index 271