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Amazon feminism is a branch of feminism that emphasizes female physical prowess as a means to achieve the goal of gender equality. Adherents are dedicated to the image of the female hero in fiction and as expressed in the physiques and feats of female athletes, martial artists and other powerfully built women in society, art and literature.
History
Members of the militant Suffragette movement, especially those who practiced physical culture and/or who engaged in violent forms of political protest were frequently referred to as "Amazons" by novelists and newspaper journalists.
The origin of the term "Amazon feminism" can be traced to several sources, including Thomas Gramstad. Gramstad sought to combine Ayn Rand's unique depiction of heroism along with then-modern feminist ideology and Amazonian concepts. This was partly inspired by Lane and Worth's In Search of the Woman Warrior. In the early-1970s, Gloria Steinem drew attention to this concept with her praise of Wonder Woman as a feminist icon, and her criticism of DC Comics' decision in 1968 to change Wonder Woman's powers. Wonder Woman's famous equipment - her bullet-proof bracelets, lasso of truth, and ability to glide on wind currents - had been replaced with mere-mortal kung-fu. The year after Steinem generated attention toward this issue, Wonder Woman was changed back and her popularity with young female readers increased.