She wasn't exactly as feminist icon in her early appearances:
On the other hand, she's now most (in)famous for being shot and raped by the Joker in Alan Moore's critically acclaimed graphic novel "The Killing Joke":
I don’t think gender or race of the director really matter.
The problem is dealing with a super-hero female type, who was marginally covered in the comics, and basically a very limited character in the 1960s series for a couple of shows. No one knows how to take the basic character and fill in the charm, charisma, or focus. Even for the evil anti-Batgirl character...can anyone even name someone who pops up? They’d have to go and rehash one of the Batman villains.
In the comics version....you just didn’t equate Batgirl to Wonder Woman, Black Canary, or such. It was a weak creation in the first place.
She wasn't exactly as feminist icon in her early appearances:
On the other hand, she's now most (in)famous for being shot and raped by the Joker in Alan Moore's critically acclaimed graphic novel "The Killing Joke":