The first part of the survey asked how often I read comic books and how many of those comics revolved around female lead characters. For this, I came up with a discovery that I'm sure most people know. At least all women who read comic books know that women are underwritten in most comic books.
Sure, there is Wonder Woman who is about as courageous and fierce as they come, but let's start out looking at her outfit. I hardly believe that anyone could fight crime in that outfit. She isn't even wearing comfortable shoes. In most books featuring Wonder Woman she is wearing high heels. As far as protection goes, thankfully Wonder Woman has her trusty cuffs to deflect oncoming bullets. A fashion accessory only available to the most powerful of WOMEN I'm sure.
Next, looking at PowerGirl, the outfits are even skimpier. The appeal for PowerGirl is that she has really big breasts. Seriously, she should be fighting her lower back pain rather than fighting crime. The man who drew PowerGirl was convinced that his boss was not paying attention to the work the artist was doing, so each week, the artist made PowerGirl's breasts a little bigger. There is even a nice "cleavage window" on her outfit. This is a move that nobody would dare try on Batman. Nobody would play with the symbol on his chest, making it bigger and bigger with each comic. Are women only around in comic books to be the playthings of the writers?
When are comic books going to evolve past the point of women falling into three categories: the damsels in distress, the prudes, and the lesbians. I write that last category not to offend. I am thrilled that the LGBT community has begun to be represented in comic books, however other characters are seen as lesbians if they are strong, independent, women. On several occasions, Wonder Woman has been asked out by humans and superheroes alike and if she rejected them, the reader was left wondering if the Amazonian princess, who lived on an island without men, could really bat for the other team.
In the past few years, DC comics has rebooted the franchise, coming up with new story lines for all of our favorite heroes. One of whom being Batwoman. Within two issues, Batwoman was shown to actually be a lesbian. It was great! The story did not solely revolve around the fact that she was gay, however the writers did not hide it. On the negative side, however, Batwoman was shown as really aggressive and rude. I've heard people say they believe her aggression stemmed from her being a lesbian. Are we not allowed to have a feminine superhero who can be gay and still kick a ton of booty? I'm not asking for too much here.
Where is the hope for young girls? We live in a place in which you can do whatever you want to do and be whoever you want to be, yet Princesses and Barbies are for girls and action figures and comic books are for boys. The comic book situation is a huge Chicken and the Egg situation. Do boys read more comics than girls because the women are not portrayed in a positive way, or are women portrayed in a negative way because more girls do not read comic books?
I wish women in comic books would just have a tragic backstory like the men and be done with it. Couldn't we just write women that kick ass and take names? Why must a female superhero's power be her sexual appeal?
My hope is that in the future, female superheroes are more common and writers write them not to appease the men, but to show young girls that if you work hard and have talents other than being well endowed, that you will go far in this world.
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