DiRisio provides a thoughtful examination of how media feminisms and shifting understandings of gender essentialism shaped genre films in the 1990s. Through an analysis of key Hollywood films, this book encourages readers to grapple with the legacy of iconic female protagonist like Thelma and Louise, Jackie Brown and Ellen Ripley for their respective genres.

Jessica Ford, Lecturer in Media, University of Adelaide, Australia

In revisiting diverse Hollywood genre films of the 1990s, Di Risio astutely and engagingly examines the complexity of women on screen – those that eschew traditional femininity and instead are unconventional, provocative and subversive. A must read for anyone interested in film genre and women who break the rules.

Sian Mitchell, Lecturer Film, Television and Animation, Deakin University & Festival Director, Melbourne Women in Film Festival, Australia

In this innovative analysis of feminism in Hollywood films of the 1990s, Di Risio re-positions the female protagonist through the lens of contemporary gender politics questioning, sometimes controversially, the representation by celebrated filmmakers of the decade. A must-have reader for feminist film studies.

Pieter Aquilia, Associate Professor, Film and Television, Swinburne University, Australia