Supernatural girls.

Whether possessing a capacity for magic or the ability to do battle with
the undead, there is no question that contemporary teenage heroines have
power with a capital P.
--Debbie Stoller, The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order (1)

In the digital effects era of the past ten years, "Supernatural Girls" has emerged as a new species of female icon. Bursting out of the "girl" category box, they transcend gender expectations, defend themselves, and vanquish demons. When first introduced, they are often fifteen to nineteen years old. Just like the young starlets who portray them, these characters evolve into young women before our eyes via blockbuster sequels and television syndication. Part of the fascination with Power Girl icons lies in the way they discover their special powers at adolescence. Advances in special effects have combined with a mainstream readiness for "chicks with power" to alter the visual landscape. But just as new technologies like the Internet, DVDs, and iPods have been so seamlessly integrated into daily life in the United States as to obliterate their novelty, a look back at media history as recent as the late 1980s reminds us that Power Girls are a relatively new phenomenon.

Since the mid-1990s, popular culture has expanded its collection of female icons to include teenage girls endowed with special powers like television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and film characters like Jen Yu of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, by Ang Lee), Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter series (2001-2005, by Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaro, and Mike Newell), Rogue of X-Men and X2 (2000 and 2003, both by Bryan Singer), and Violet of The Incredibles (2004, by Brad Bird). Add to these Hayao Miyazaki's animated features Kiki's Delivery Service  (1989), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), and Howl's Moving Castle (2005), and the conflation of girls and the supernatural in the popular imagination expands even further. For a post-feminist discourse seeking balance in gendered images of power, the past decade has witnessed a dynamic shift in representation.

With the recent proliferation of Supernatural Girls, it is easy to forget that teenage girl characters of 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s media widely seen by American audiences barely had narratives dedicated to them, let alone the ability to karate-kick evil-doers. Despite the presence of certain enduring teenage girl characters exploring the power of magical, red shoes like Dorothy of The Wizard of Oz (1939, by Victor Fleming), teenage girls have historically provided the screaming prelude to a rescue by Super Guys.

Girl characters developed in the 1990s no longer had to dress like men to embody power. Young women in all their blossoming girliness could now defend themselves and rescue those in danger as well. In many ways equally male and female, these supernatural icons are the embodiment of a "beyond gender" merging of the sexes. (2) Biologically female in curviness of form, these characters combine classically masculine attributes of physical strength, fighting skills, and the urge to rescue and protect. Liberated from boy-girl expectations of behavior, snappy dialogue often plays against those stereotypes for humor. These teenage icons have it all: magical and physical powers, good looks, close friends, and resources. They are classic androgynes, approaching the status of Maiden Goddesses.

In Disney's retro animated features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, by Ted Sears, et al.), Cinderella (1950, by Clyde Geronimi, et al.), and Sleeping Beauty (1959, by Clyde Geronimi), the wan protagonists receive supernatural assistance from "magical helpers." Power arrives in the form of rescue and resides ultimately in their "purity and goodness" (read: passivity) and eventual pairing with "The Prince." The post-1990s generation of animated and special effects heroines are often responsible not just for protecting themselves, but also for saving others, and sometimes the entire universe.

Interestingly, this new crop of girl characters includes Disney's Kim Possible, shown daily on the Disney Channel since 2002. Kim Possible features a teenage Super Girl who is a kung fu expert, top cheerleader, and ace student. The Disney Corporation has been riding the girls-of-power animation bandwagon since producing Mulan (1998, by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook). Girls in power sell. No longer content with characters in the passenger seat, girl viewers are increasingly being acknowledged as a market force intent on a turn behind the wheel.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: FIGHTING DEMONS IN THE DARK

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Five years after the lukewarm reception of the feature film Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992, by Fran Rubel Kuzui), writer Joss Whedon revived the concept as a television series for the nascent WB Networks in 1997. With its blond, would-be cheerleader protagonist, Buffy the Vampire Slayer provided millennial girl power at maximum ninja speed. Originally marketed to teenagers, Buffy became an audience-crossing critical and cult hit. The show ran for five seasons on the WB Network before transferring to UPN for its final two seasons.

Buffy is "The Chosen One," a young woman on a mission to rid the world of demons and vampires. Still in syndication in the U.S. and on BBC Television, Buffy combines post-punk goth sensibility with the pre-apocalyptic Y2K fervor of the late 1990s. The show is set in Sunnydale, California, a "center of mystical convergence" that hosts vampires, demons, and other evil creatures in after-hours abundance.

Buffy, if not book learned, has "psychic street smarts." Her nightly patrol in local graveyards to fight and "stake" vampires keeps her multitasking at top speed, offing six or more in a session. With little time for homework, Buffy is constantly in danger of being expelled. The school administrators treat her as a troublemaker, unaware that she is working the late shift for the greater good. Parodying the uber achievers of suburbia, she laments, "I have at least three lives to contend with and none of them mesh." In a pinch she turns to Willow, a new, geek girl icon, who not only hacks the city's information systems for needed clues to the demonology puzzles presented to them but tutors Buffy before finals. Unlike the classic brainy girls of Hollywood, Willow has her share of dating intrigue: first with Oz, a coolly brilliant musician who is secretly a werewolf, and then with Tara, a Wiccan lesbian.

Buffy's other best friend, Xander, is the endearingly loyal but insecure guy, constantly trying to prove to Buffy that he is "the man." His courage serves him well in many instances of assisted vampire "dusting," but he turns to Buffy for rescue from industrial strength demons. In many ways Xander represents a masculinity confused by the cross-gendering of a character like Buffy. What is a guy to do when a girl can rescue him?

The most alluring guys on the show are reformed vampires: Angel, a vampire "cursed" with a soul who helps Buffy conquer evil entities, and later in the series, Spike, a Sex Pistols-inspired Brit wit. But reformed vampires, like reformed addicts, continue to possess a link to the dark side and this is what makes them dangerously attractive to Buffy, whose powers as a Slayer make her no match for a regular teenage boy.

Despite the perennial absence of her divorced biological father, Buffy's "Watcher," the school librarian Giles, functions as a flawed father figure. As partial repentance for a misguided occult past, Giles trains Buffy in slaying techniques, though he himself does not possess her level of power. Instead, he researches techniques for vanquishing the more potent and unusual demons from his ancient leather-bound library.

The term "watcher" implies a theme of voyeurism. As media-gazing consumers, we are all watchers, viewers. Like Peeping Toms, we frame Buffy through windows, down dark alleys, across the schoolyard. The vampire's gaze is legendary. Like us, the vampires and demons are often lurking outside, watching. Watching is a relatively passive activity compared to Buffy's proactive, get-out-and-slay approach. Giles, like Xander, is relatively impotent compared to the blond slayer babe, whose supernatural strength, martial arts skills, and ability to scale fences in a single bound are all part of her "chosen one" package.

As androgyne, Buffy is all action--physical prowess combined with honed instincts. With her sixth sense for demon proximity, she remains one impulse ahead of everyone. Intellectually, she is unthreatening to males (though she pulls a score of 1300 on her SATs). Physically and in terms of sheer bravery and warrior instinct, she is awe-inspiring.

Battling demons becomes a metaphor for the teenage experience, and Buffy is in many ways a response to the concerns outlined by Mary Pipher in her book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (1995). She does not cave in and allow herself to be sucked on by a culture of vampires; she fights back for the good of all.

ROGUE OF X-MEN AND X2: A POWER THAT STEALS LIFE FORCE THROUGH TOUCH

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In an early scene in X-Men, seventeen-year-old Rogue discovers she has a very unusual power--when she touches someone, she takes on their life force. If she holds on too long, she can kill them. This power, like that of all mutants in the films based on the original Marvel comic book series, reveals itself at adolescence. Horrified by her strange power of nefarious touch, Rogue dons gloves and long sleeves and runs away from her Mississippi home.

On the road she meets fellow mutant and future protector, Wolverine, who has retractable metal prongs embedded in his knuckles and can self-heal from any wound. He saves Rogue's life on two occasions by blending his power with hers. Similar to Buffy, the implication is that only one of the mature X-Men can handle her and relate to her. Rogue's power is dangerous, mysterious, and volatile, but dependent upon a connection to others. She is highly conflicted about her "rogue force" identity. Like many teenagers, she has power she cannot control. Rogue of the X-Men comics, however, is far more potent than the scripted character of the Hollywood films, who delivers several chilling "rescue me" screams typical of the classic horror and action genre. Yet Rogue joins a cast of female mentors with impressive powers--Storm, Dr. Jean Grey, and to a certain extent the evil Mystique. Perhaps they will guide her Rogue power to higher evolution in X3, due out in 2006.

JEN YU OF CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: MYSTICAL MARTIAL ARTS WARRIOR GIRL

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With Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lee introduced a unique teenage girl heroine to the martial arts epic tradition. Jen Yu proves capable of outmaneuvering adult martial artists in sequences choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, action director of The Matrix (1999, by Andy and Larry Wachowski).

Initially, Jen Yu appears as a privileged, aristocratic teenager rebelling against the gendered prison of an arranged marriage. As the narrative unfolds, Jen Yu becomes the star of the film, stealing the four hundred-year-old Green Destiny sword and marauding through the desert with her free-spirited sparring partner and lover, Lo.

In a film replete with mythological symbols, a flashback sequence reveals how Jen Yu's ivory comb--an ancient symbol of the feminine--was stolen by Lo when her family processional was overtaken in the desert. In the absence of this comb, a stand-in for her female power, Jen Yu seeks a replacement in the form of the Green Destiny sword. The sword, set aside at the beginning of the film by the troubled Li Mu Bai, suggests a masculinity in limbo, which allows for the entry of a maiden female power beyond expectations. Because Jen Yu assumes the sword through thievery, however, she is ultimately deemed unworthy of ownership, despite her mastery of the weapon.

After years of training in womanly decorum, Jen Yu balks at all rules of culture. She refuses an offer by Li Mu Bai to master the Wutan wisdom ways under his tutelage, choosing instead to run wild. Scenes include Jen Yu leap-flying over tile rooftops, vanquishing a host of pompous male warriors in a tea house, running across water, and a final scene, battling with Li Mu Bai in a bamboo forest. Unlike her would-be mentors Yu Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai, Jen Yu has acquired the warrior arts on the sly through a manuscript stolen by her ersatz teacher, the evil Jade Fox. While Jen Yu has superior fighting skills, she never actually defeats Li Mu Bai.

Though she demonstrates remarkable physical skills, Jen Yu misses the moral depth of the warrior code until the end of the film, when it is too late. Her core self-interest and wanton rebelliousness prove her undoing. Aware of her shortcomings following Li Mu Bai's death, she sacrifices herself to the mythic waterfall of Wutan Mountain in a scene of breathtaking cinematic flight.

HERMIONE GRANGER OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES: A MUGGLE-BORN WITCH STUDIES HER WAY TO MAGICAL POWER

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Some critics denounce Hermione Granger's role as secondary to Harry Potter's in the enormously popular series. (3) As the brains of the operation, however, Hermione works collaboratively with Harry to solve the mysteries in their fight against the evil Voldemort. Compared to Hollywood's teen hegemony-in-the-hallways genre, few examples of a non-hostile or non-sexualized friendship such as theirs exist in the lexicon of the school coming-of-age narrative. Harry Potter provides a consistent storyline of cross-gendered teamwork that is not trivialized as flirtation. Harry not only encourages Hermione's role in the acquisition of power--he depends on her.

Unique in the popular imagination, Hermione exists concurrently in bestseller print and blockbuster movie form. After reading about Hermione, a massive global audience has been watching her grow up onscreen. Like the other characters in the Harry Potter series, she arrives at Hogwarts School at age eleven to begin her training. As a brain-enhancing evolution in advanced magic, her rite of passage into adolescence is far from Lolita-esque.

Unlike Harry, whose lineage is magical, Hermione is a prodigy of mortal parentage. Because of her intelligence and maturity, Hogwarts' senior wizards grant Hermione privileged access to knowledge of time travel devices, spells, and lore revealed not even to Harry. Without Hermione, it is doubtful this generation of viewers would have catapulted the series to such levels of success. Girl viewers no longer accept male privilege as a given in the realms of power. They want in on the secrets.

VIOLET OF THE INCREDIBLES: INVISIBILITY AS A FORCE FIELD

The animated feature The Incredibles depicts an entire family of Superheroes whose destiny hinges on teenage girl power. In this narrative, Violet Parr's initial invisibility morphs into a power beyond self-protection.

At the start of the film, the Incredibles have been forced underground by the government due to cost overages and bad publicity. Attempting to live a "normal" suburban life, while suppressing their true powers, the family confronts the limitations of American conformity. Enter the mid-life crisis of Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible and the family is finally given an opportunity to utilize their true gifts and return to Super status. What a metaphor for an escape from the middle class!

At the outset, Violet is a certifiable "shrinking violet"--mumbling, shy, and angry. Her secret powers include the ability to disappear at will and to produce a spherical force field around herself and anyone else she chooses to protect. When Violet's father falls in with bad guy Syndrome, her mother, Helen Parr/Elastigirl, pilots a rescue jet on which Violet and her brother, Dash, have hidden as stowaways. When her mother realizes they are on board, she orders Violet to emit a force field against oncoming missiles. Unaccustomed to her power, Violet fails in her initial attempt and the plane explodes. After swimming to safety after the blast, Elastigirl remarks, "Doubt is a luxury we can't afford any more, sweetie. You have more power than you realize.... When the time comes you'll know what to do. It's in your blood."

Playing on viewer knowledge of self-esteem discourse, the mother/daughter dialogue provides a "Eureka" moment. Following this scene, Violet masters her powers and proves effective at protecting her entire family. When caught in Syndrome's force field, Violet's invisibility quotient allows her to disengage from the electric prison to free the entire family, and her force field protects them all from oncoming bullets. Unlike characters with more proactive warrior skills, Violet's powers are comparatively diffusive. This differentiates her from her family members whose powers are also more yang to her yin. What is brilliant about the creation of a character such as Violet, however, is that this seeming "passivity" becomes an ultimate heroic strength.

In a remarkably subtle piece of human-like body language (she is a cartoon, after all), Violet emerges from behind her dark hair. No longer a shrinking violet; she becomes an Ultra-Violet, out there and Incredible.

GIRL POWER ICONS REDUX 

With so many mass-culture examples, Supernatural Girls have broken through to icon status, changing the parameters of female possibility, even in the realms of fantasy. Due in part to our culture of reruns and serial movies, Buffy, Rogue, Jen Yu, Hermione, and Violet will continue to penetrate our collective narratives, joined no doubt by new characters and concepts in girlhood. While many trends have contributed to mainstream readiness for young female role models of force, power, and beauty, there is no doubt that these breakthrough gender-bending icons have permanently altered accepted definitions of the category "Girl." Lolitas, Ingenues, Tomboys, and Girls-Next-Door (4)--the teenage girl icons of previous generations--have some new little sisters with which to reckon. Perhaps Supernatural Girls will rescue even them from one-dimensional mediocrity.

KATHLEEN SWEENEY is an award-winning media maker and writer. Her book Maiden USA: An Icon Comes of Age will be released in 2006. Her Web site is www.video-text.com.

NOTES

1. Marcelle Karp, Debbie Stoller, The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order (New York: Penguin Books, 1999), 400.

2. For further discussion of "gender in flux," see Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York and London: Routledge, 1990).

3. See Christine Schoefer, "Harry Potter's Girl Trouble," www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/01/13/potter/index.html.

4. For a humorous discussion of these and other icons, see Guerilla Girls, Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerilla Girls' Guide to Female Stereotypes (New York: Penguin Books, 2003).