Looking for inspiration for your MWWG campaign?  Exploring the Macho Woman mindset before creating your character?  Or maybe you're just trying to set the mood for a successful play session, or convince your dubious friends that they really want to strap on those leather corsets and hose down Salivating Sexists with assault rifles.  Whatever.  Here's my list of must-see Macho Women movies and must-read Macho Women literature.  It'll make a real woman of you.   PLUS:  Matt's gallery of Macho Role-Models!

MOVIES:

THE HEROIC TRIO:  Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Anita Mui kick ass in one of Hong Kong cinema's all-time classics.  Kung-fu, flying eunuchs, babies getting tossed around like potatoes and a climactic spoof of The Terminator make this movie the sole source of inspiration for any would-be Kung-Fu Killer Cyber Clone.  The sequel, "The Executioners," isn't quite as good, but it's still better than all things Arnie.

BARB WIRE: Yeah, I know it has Pamela Anderson, but let's give the woman a chance.  She did recently come to the conclusion that Real Women don't need silicone, and this movie is based on a comic book character by Dark Horse.  It's got motorcycles, leather, and Pam knocking off the slimy bad guys in several stylish ways.  Plus you'll want to see it if any jerk has ever called you "Babe." 

DOMINATION NATION 1 & 2:  It's the year 6969, and justice is a bitch.  For more info, click on the backs.

PHOENIX RISING:  Fast forward through the sex scenes: this porno movie is worth watching for the moody atmosphere and the if-The-Crow-were-a- woman story-line.  Gwen Summers, looking cooler in black leather and white face paint than either Brandon Lee OR "Sting," packs awesome heat and blows away the hoods who took her man.  Macho?  Hell yeah!  What other action heroine ever quipped "say hello to oblivion, motherf*cker"?

The ALIEN movies:  You need me to tell you what these movies are like you need a hole in the head.  But maybe you do need a hole in the head - are you a slime-dripping alien creep who wants to get his paws on Sigourney Weaver?  If you are, stick out your tongue and say "aaah - sh*t!  She's got a flame-thrower!"

THELMA AND LOUISE:  Macho Women go to the Oscars!  Maybe it's a bit too realistic; but it'll get you riled up for a violent cross-country jaunt - and yours can have a happy ending!  In MWWG, friends don't let friends drive off of cliffs unless they're going to land on something soft, breakable and satisfying - like a fraternity house.

LITERATURE:

TANK GIRL:  Yep, it was also a movie, and not a bad one, either.  But the comic book, published in the U.S. by Dark Horse Comics, is even better. The massively butt-kicking Tank Girl undertakes important missions like stealing huge quantities of beer, delivering colostomy bags to the leaky president, and fending off killer kangaroos!

2000AD:  The British anthology comic 2000AD has given the world plenty of macho heroines, including Judge Anderson and Durham Red.  Anderson is a wisecracking contemporary of Judge Dredd who reads minds and busts chops.  Durham Red is a blood-sucking bounty hunter who rarely gets past the first word in the phrase "dead or alive."

DIARY OF A DOMINATRIX and SAUCY LITTLE TART by the inimitable Molly Kiely!  To read her is to love and obey her.  Especially obey.  Molly doesn't need guns to keep her men in line.  A whip will do just fine.  If she doesn't have a whip she can still get the job done using goods from the local hardware store or vegetable market.  Look for her work from Eros Comics.

THE BLUE PLACE by Nicola Griffith.  In a world of detective fiction peopled mostly by James Ellroy's thugs and Elmore Leonard's wiseguys, Nicola Griffith's P.I. Aud stands out not just because she's female and not just because she's sharp as a tack.  She's also a total psychopath.    She's got a gun.  She knows how to use it.  She also spends an unpleasant amount of time dwelling on how easy it is to snap peoples' necks.