Also, check out Brigitte Lin in *Bride with White Hair 2*, *Swordsman 2*, and *Swordsman 3*. Lin's characters blur boundaries and representations, simultaneously expressing what Barbara Creed calls 'perverse masculine desire' for the collapse of gendered borders and male fear of becoming woman - 'the ultimate scenarios of powerlessness.'
And various films with Michelle Yeoh whose ability to deliver more than a few swift and sharp kicks spawned a subgenre of action-heroine flicks. In *Wing Chun* (based on real-life s/hero Yim Wing-chun) Yeoh's character learns martial arts in order to escape an arranged marriage. She is mistakenly identified as a man because of her male dress and is forced to endure incessant sexist comments. The bad guy in the film's final battle laces his speech with comments about sex and power: "Not everyone can tame a wild horse. I'll give you a ride." Wing-chun's superior fighting skills, however reduce him to a pre-pubescent boy. Michael Hoover