Female Issues: Women (Portrayed) in Comics (JLI in particular)

The talk of the Hawk People in JLI over in one of the Infantile Crying threads got me thinking about how they really only let Hawkman in the JLI because they wanted Hawkwoman. (And also to have another foil, since Batman had sorta quit after the Bialya fiasco--probably the most important reason). And that got me thinking about the various women who served in the JLI and how they fit in. From what I've heard, the entire run of the Giffen/DeMatteis League was a struggle against protectionism on the part of other creators ("You're not going ruin MY character by having him/her involved in that nonsense!"), which explains why so many characters had such short tenures in the League. At this early stage of my consideration of this topic, it seems to me that Giffen/DeMatteis did their best to have strong female representation in the League.

In no particular order:

Dr. Light: Never an official member (though she did eventually join JLEuro), this COIE byproduct served to advance the Max Lord plot. She left around #4, just as Booster Gold joined (thanks to M.Lord's machinations). Can't imagine any other creators were eager to use her/protect her from the Yuks (which had yet to even really get rolling).
Black Canary: Represented, along with Batman and Martian Manhunter, a link the glory days of the JLA. I really liked her role in the League, not as serious as Bats and J'Onn, but not as goofy as Beetle & Booster. Obviously, there was no way the strong, smart, authoritative JLI Black Canary could co-exist with the victimized, supporting player, girlfriend Dinah Lance in Mike Grell's disillusionary Green Arrow.
Fire & Ice: The perfect female counterparts to Beetle & Booster, or perhaps perfecter, since neither had ever had their own series, and were not only pretty much blank slates (having first appeared in the not-exactly-character-driven Superfriends TV-tie-in series), but were in no danger of being protected by other creators. Though they played more towards traditional comics cheesecakification of female superheroes, Giffen & DeMatteis rarely let them come across as one-dimensional pin-ups (though Adam Hughes did his best to counter this).
Big Barda: Awesome. One of the most feared warriors of Apokolips trying to fit into Suburbia.
Hawkwoman: Thrill-loving partner of stick-in-mud. The Maguire-rendered scene where Batman recruits the Hawks, and Hawkwoman is all, "I'm joining whether you do or not!" is one of the sexiest bits in DC comics history. A feather is involved.
Dr Fate: Dr. Fate is a lady! Never quite seemed to get past that.
Huntress: "New" character, no doubt the sensical creators of her strip were eager to let this character get some exposure in one of DC's top-selling, but least-respected mags, even though her urban vigilante bit wasn't a great fit.