It is hard for me to imagine getting to this point of my life, I honestly never thought I would ever attend University let alone trying to write at an academic level. I've learned 6 courses are far to much to manage in a single term and last might I found myself cramming till 5AM between studies and a needed rewrite on my first research paper. It's a proud accomplishment in my life and I'm posting it for others to read, comment on and debate the merits of the subject matter.
Kara deWinter
Dr.Littmann English 105
Why Do We Need a Supergirl?
Although women are striving for equality
and making progress, could we be failing our daughters because of the rampant
use of misogyny in almost all forms of visual media? Increasingly movies,
comics, animation, and video games are becoming intertwined as major
corporations develop new ways to sell their products and characters. For DC and
Marvel Entertainment this is a multi-billion dollar industry and it is growing
every year. Females are the fastest growing demographic in new readership and
creativity in the industry thanks to: Manga, Movies, Anime, and Comic
conventions. Both major comic book companies continue clinging to the cultural
norm of misogyny, frequently subjugating their female characters by over
sexualizing them in appearance, attitude and making them subservient to their
male counterparts.
I can remember the first time I met Supergirl.
It was in a convenience store in the winter of 1982, her comic stacked
in-between the like of: Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. I grabbed the comic,
took it to the counter and with that .60 cent purchase started my lifelong love
for comics and visual media. I fell in love with the character; she was
portrayed in a strong light as a hero and in her secret identity. While a
majority of her qualities were still seen as feminine, she did command respect
from other heros, leading by example and actions. In 1986 DC killed off the
character in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, she sacrificed herself to save
Superman by attacking the Anti-Monitor. It was one of DC comic first major
deaths in a long time and one that lasted for 19 years before they reintroduced
the original Supergirl, Kara Zor-El back into regular continuity. In her reintroduction they made significant
changes to her: age, appearance, and attitude. Gone was the level of maturity
that Kara had evolved, remaking her from a young woman attending college and a
highly respected heroine. They turned her into a 16 year old girl with a skimpy,
jail-bait costume, complete with a self-absorbed vapid personality. While I held hope that she would evolve over
the course of her series, sadly she didn’t.
While she is just a character, the visual and narrative does have an effect
on both genders. It makes a statement
that female super heroes are ok as long as they are sexualized and act within
the confines of the societal norm. “The media’s treatment of women as sex
objects is a ubiquitous fact of life. Advertisements, fashion spreads, comic
books, movie posters.”(Kantor) While you can consider one element of misogyny
being the sexualisation of a character by their dress or costume, it goes
further and deeper. It is how the
character is posed and presented visually, often in a submissive or sexual
pose. In most cases we see the heroines standing back and allowing the men in
the group or situation to call the shots. By depicting this visual narrative it
reinforces the inequality between the genders and sends the silent message that
this is accepted behavior. It is hard to imagine a character like Supergirl,
having the same levels of strength and ability as Superman being submissive to
anyone.
According to psychological studies,
comics and cartoons have an effect on the socialization of children by
imprinting perceived cultural norms. “Socialization
can be defined as a process through which children acquire the behaviors,
skills, values, and social norms that are characteristic, appropriate, and
desirable in their cultures. The media—through its characters, storylines, and
formal features—are important contributors to child and adolescent
socialization, yet media portrayals are often stereotypical in
nature.”(Thompson144). The first forms of media most children are introduced
to include cartoons and comics. While cartoons are aimed at ages 4-8 years old
they often introduce the seeds of misogyny. Cartoons like Teen Titans, The
Mighty Avengers, Young Justice and X-Men have huge followings, an estimated 2
Million viewers per episode. On the surface there seems to be a mix of genders
mostly male, and without exception all the teams are led by men. The women of
the teams are often subservient, and when in conflict are shown being the first
to fall usually. Male members are often shown: resolving the conflict, rescuing
the hostages, and saving the world. It’s rare to see a female member of the
team acting in those roles, instead they are shown to be immature, less
intelligent and dependant on the needs of the team for protection. How many
times have you seen a stand-alone super- hero cartoon based on a female
character? There has been only one She-Ra the Princess of Power, the sister of
He-Man and she was only produced to sell merchandise. For male character there
have been countless cartoons: Superman, Batman and Spiderman to name just a
few. Why are comic cartoons important? They introduce children into the print
media of comics, where their favorite cartoon characters are vastly different
and we really start seeing the inequality of women.
In
September of 2011 DC comics re-launched all of the comic series with the New
52, drastically changing their storylines and attempting to make a new starting
point for new fans of all ages and genders. There were hopes that DC was
starting to make use of their female characters by releasing a higher number of
female led comics. At launch we had: Supergirl, Catwoman, Voodoo, Batgirl,
Batwoman, Wonder Woman, and Birds of Prey. Instead of trying to improve the
perception of their female characters, DC seemed determined to continue their
misogynist view and continue catering to their male dominated fan base. In the
comic series Voodoo(Marz) the main
character Voodoo is shown working as a stripper in a strip club for the total
issue, in Catwoman(Winick) we are shown Catwoman sexually
mounting Batman in a deserted penthouse. Sadly Starfire was the worst of the
new introductions. She was a founding and respected member of the Teen Titans,
a strong warrior princess and she is reduced to an a hollow shell of her former
self and represented as an amnesiac sex toy in Redhood and the Outlaws(Loboell). While creators claim that they
are showing strong sexually liberated females in charge of their own decision,
this is the farthest thing from the truth. A more truthful statement is they
are engaging the reader with a sexual fantasy, utilizing the psychological
concept of Active Male/ Passive Female that Hollywood has conditioned us to “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in
looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining
male gaze projects its phantasy on the female figure which is styled
accordingly.”(Mulvay)837. By having Catwoman initiate a sexual encounter in
Catwoman(Winick), we are drawing the reader into the fantasy. She is being posed
and scripted to be a passive object, this allows the male fantasy too objectify
her and reduce the character to a sexual object. Were the encounter to be
suggested and hinted at, shown off panel then the argument of being sexually
liberated would hold merit. However by showing the act it transforms it into a
male fantasy, robbing the woman of her power.
While Supergirl, Superman, and Starfire
are just fictional characters, they are a marketable commodity; their images
and likeness are well protected and strictly controlled by multinational
companies. Let’s use Starfire for example. Her image is marketed in: cartoons,
comics, toys, statues, movies and apparel to name a few. In the cartoon Teen
Titans, she was very popular among young female viewers. Why was she so
popular? Well to answer that we need only look at Michelle Lee’s 7 year old
daughter. She is a comic book fan of the old Teen Titans comic, Teen Titans
cartoon, and Starfire is her favorite hero. When she was asked why she likes
Starfire she quickly responds.
“She's like me. She's an alien new to the
planet and maybe she doesn't always say the right thing, or know the right
thing to do. But she's a good friend, and she helps people. She's strong enough
to fight the bad guys, even when they hurt her. Even her sister tried to kill
her, but Starfire still fights for the good side. And she helps the other
heroes, like Superboy and Robin and Raven. She's smart too. And sometimes she
gets mad, but that's okay because it's okay to get mad when people are being
mean. And she's pretty.”(Lee)
When asked about Starfire in the cartoon.“*immediately*Oh
yes. She's a great role model. She tells people they can be good friends and
super powerful and fight for good.”(Lee) When asked about the new Starfire
recently introduced in DC the conversation changed in tone quickly and went
like this.
“Lee- What about this new Starfire? Daughter -No, I don't think so. Lee- Why Not?
Daughter- Because she's not doing anything. Lee- Is this new Starfire someone
you'd want to be when you grow up? *she gets uncomfortable again*"Not
really. I mean, grown ups can wear what they want, but…she's not doing anything
but wearing a tiny bikini to get attention."(Lee)
It
all comes down to a simple question for Lee’s daughter; how does she want her
hero Starfire to be portrayed as? “I want her to be a hero, fighting things and
be strong and helping people because she inspires me to be good.”(Lee) So how
did DC respond to all the critics over this issue? “We've heard
what's being said about Starfire today and we appreciate the dialogue on this
topic.
We encourage people to pay attention to the ratings when picking out any book
to read themselves or for their children,”(Anders)
DC is quick
to point out that women are not reading comics and in a recent survey they
concluded: “93% of the participants were male, consumers aged 13-18 were only
2%, and female readership was down to 7% from 8% 20 years ago.” (Maridee) This
would lead you to believe that there are very few female comic fans in the
world. Girls like Lee’s daughter are a rarity and we shouldn’t worry about what
they are publishing. Rob Salkowitz, a recognized expert in digital media has a
different opinion. “Today, there are increasing numbers of proud girl geeks of
all ages; I count myself fortunate to be married to one. Crowds at conventions
and even some comic stores now reflect a much more equal gender balance. As for
the comics industry itself, not so much.”(Salkowitz77) I think a more accurate
statement of the numbers would be. Women are reading comics, but are not
reading what DC is currently publishing. Outside of the big two comic
publishers, young women are producing a large number of self-published comics online
and in print that have very successful followings. So why aren’tMarvel or DC be
seeking this new fresh talent? To be fair since Marvel Entertainment was
purchased by Disney in 2011, they have actually been increasing their female
talent. However as of December 2012
these graphs show that women employed by DC and Marvel are less than 15%. (Hanley)
Hanley, Tim.”Gendercrunching –
December”Bleedingcool.com. 26 Feb 2013. Web 9 Apr 2013
DC
seems to have a problem retaining creative, female talent. One of their few
stars Gail Simone who has written a
number of titles for DC including Birds of Prey before the 52 Reboot, and
currently is writing Batgirl suddenly found herself fired from the title in December
2012 via Email as reported by Wired(Lawson). The editors claimed they wanted a new
direction for the character and refused to say why she was replaced, despite having
a well received and critically acclaimed book with strong month over month
sales. Speculation ran high and it was suspected the main reason for her
termination was Simones plan to introduce a transgender female character in the
near future. Overnight DC felt fan
outrage over her firing, as fans and comic shops began cancelling their orders
for future issues. Faced with heavy
cancellations and under pressure, DC reversed their decision with no explanation just 2 weeks later and reinstated her
as the writer of the title.
Why are we having such a push against
female readers, characters and creators? Why are we not embracing the positive
changes that they can bring to the industry and make it more exciting and
fresh? Fear, plain and simple, from the geek-girl to the executive, women are
starting to outperform men in many areas. “Young men of the Millennial
generation are routinely outdone by their female peers across a wide range of
academic, social, and professional achievements. Hardly a month goes by when we
don’t see one of those “young men in crisis” stories on the cover of a
magazine.”(Salkowitz76) The comic industry’s main two companies need to adopt a
new level of understanding when it comes to female readership. Women do not
want to have titles written just for them, they enjoy super hero comics for a
number of reasons. Primarily they like super heroes; they
allow girls to imagine rescuing themselves instead of waiting for a white
knight to show up. Titles such as X-men enjoy a high proportion of female fans,
a combination of intriguing storylines and strong female characters make for a
great story. “Jeanine Schaefer, an editor at Marvel sums up the issue in this
quote: ”Whenever you see a large concentration of women reading one series in
particular, it’s less that there’s something specific there that women
gravitate towards and more that they’ve found something that doesn’t have an
implied sign on it saying ‘no girls allowed.”(Olivia)
There needs to be more professionalism
in the industry and a change in the “Boys Only” culture that seems to dominate
the entire structure. While we have seen the effects they have on the
characters and the readers, perhaps more disturbing is how some professionals
view female fans and their outward expression of the characters they love and
respect. Recently Tony Harris a well-known artist went off on social media
about female fans at a local convention.
”But according to a LOT of average
comic book fans who either RARELY speak to, or NEVER speak to girls. Some
virgins. All unconfident when it comes to girls, and the ONE thing they have in
common? They are being preyed on by YOU. You have this really awful need for
attention, for people to tell you are pretty, or Hot, and the thought of guy
pleasuring themselves to the memory of you hanging on them with your glossy
open lips, promising them the Moon and the Stars of Pleasure, just makes your
head vibrate.”(Hepburn)
So what kind of actions
did these female fans do to illicit this kind of response from Mr. Harris? They
simply chose to engage in costume play, or as the art form is more commonly
known Cosplay. Cosplay is different than just dressing up in a costume; it’s a
performance art that practitioners dedicate themselves to with highly intricate
costumes, character mannerisms and a true love of the character they are
portraying. Most sources of cosplay come from: Anime Movies, Comics, Manga and
Videogames and every
convention caters to cosplayers, holding prizes and contests for the
particpants. While not all creators share this view, it’s apparent that there
is a culture within the industry to continue to perpetuate the misogynist view.
As Hepburn points out further in
her article. “nobody in the sports world gets upset when women include
themselves in fandom; why should comic book geeks?” (Hepburn)
Hepburn,
Ted.”Misogyny and Comics: What happens when a comic book artist rails against
women.”Deathandtaxesmag.com. 8 Dec 2012.Web 9 Apr 2013
Comics are no longer small independent
publishers. They are part of huge multinational corporations, DC Entertainment
is part of Time Warmer and Marvel Comics is now owned by Disney. “Comics are
big business. They sit at the crossroads of art and commerce. Their unique
style and subject matter power Hollywood block busters and New York Times best
sellers lists.”(Salkowitz 2) With the commercial success last year’s
blockbusters The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, it’s natural that
merchandising will follow as the characters become more main stream and popular.
However it’s unfortunate they continue to promote a misogynistic approach aimed
at children. Recently as reported in the Huffington post, Marvel comics
released a line of shirts for boys and girls promoting a distinct difference in
the gender lines. The boys shirt proudly proclaims Be a Hero, with a number of
iconic male Avengers character including: Captain America, Ironman, Thor and
the Hulk. On the Female shirt we still see the same heros portrayed but the
slogan states Need a Hero. With just a few simple words it robs a girl of the
idea that she can be her own hero, that she can save herself or another
regardless of their gender. How hard would it have been to use the same slogan
as the boys, but portraying some female Avengers like: Black Widow, The Wasp,
Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk to name just a few.
We need a change in the comic culture from
Marvel and DC; a change that supports strong independent heroines shown to be
more then objects of sexual desire and fantasies for young men. A hero, real or
fictional is meant to inspire us and bring out our best qualities. They
challenge us to reach beyond our goals and fight for a better future. We need a
Supergirl who is a leader that portrays: strength, compassion, wisdom and
courage. A Supergirl who is not a means for sexual exploitation, but who can
proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with Superman as an equal. It is time for our
heroines to stop being used as: back grounds, plot devices and sexual objects.
They need to be used to inspire our daughters, and teach them they are just as
capable of being a hero as our sons; empowering them so they can fully achieve
whatever dream they seek to inspire in themselves or others.
Please remember this paper and blog are intellectual property and can not be reprinted without permission from myself.
Till Next Time
Be Well
