Essay on Objectification of Women in Comic Books

Introduction

Today, sexism has been a controversial issue as compared to a few decades back. Whether in magazines, films, or TV shows, it is easy to spot in the media what is being presented to the public at the present time. More recently, one of the latest forms of sexism has been established in the comic book industry. Women have had a bumpy ride from the onset; within comics, women are depicted as sex objects and frequently reduced to token roles.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In the beginning, women played minor roles in comic books. Super powered heroes such as Superman dominated the platforms while female characters were hardly seen. Notably, they were portrayed as "damsels in distress"-people that needed help male characters. For instance, in the first production of Superman, Lois Kane a journalist and future love interest is abducted by goons and finally saved by Superman (Tye).No bond materializes and nothing else is mentioned about Lois. She is simply saved by Superman who then disappears. Women were also depicted as the attractive vamp or possibly the tolerant lover (Lavin).Stereotyping in terms of gender roles were quite evident: only men have the ability to succeed and be courageous, while their female counterparts are subordinate figures. These attitudes towards women in comical texts suggest that women are considered less intelligent than men and only their only role is to act as caretakers. As Jules Feiffer, an NY animator claims, "the essence of man power, whether was for an individual to be so manly and striking, to be in a superior position that he should not interact women but only when helping them" (Bhardwaj).

Women as Sex Objects

Women's role changed drastically during the First World War when partisan artists appeared and exceptionally enticed new readers. Questionably, the most notable persona was Wonder Woman. As highlighted above, she has massive super-human power, can fly and overcome any hurdles in her way. What is more fascinating is how her love Colonel Trevor is frequently being salvaged by her as if he is the male description of the above-mentioned Lois Kane. Instead of the woman being rescued by the man, it is the reverse in Wonder Woman animations. In the next years, other powerful and superheroine personas such a Miss America, which is the female description of Captain America and many others surfaced. They bore the notion that "what a man can do women can do even better, particularly if they stuck together" (Jehanzeb).

However, irrespective of these unique depictions of resilient and powerful female protagonists such as Wonder Woman, they were being portrayed as sex tools. As put forth by Lavin (1998),"strong female heroes such as Wonder Woman may certainly conquer the most devastating fears and hurdles, but they are always portrayed as tools of desire, dressed in the most revealing clothes. "The descriptions of female characters with huge busts, slender figures, bare legs as well as naked bodies became extremely common after the achievement of DC's Wonder Woman. Comical books were packed with numerous sexual descriptions of women- an unrefined and stereotypical reference to the female body. Ron Goulart (1986) a comic book historian states that: "Before the arrival of Penthouse, comical texts offered a single way of girl watching." A significant illustration of headlight cartoons was "Torchy" a Bill Ward's programme that played from 1946-1950.The works comprised of boring and unexciting stories where the writers were simply making excuses to portray Torchy as a huge blond with bare legs, who always marched around in her underclothes.

Another example is the White Queen featured in the X-Men comics in the 1980s. The White Queen was "the object of sexual fantasy among men: she wore a push-up bralette, undies and thigh-high boots, all in white (Lavin, 1998) as illustrated below:

In the present day, women are still being sexualized. As stated by Jones (2005): "Women always bending over, curving their rears, and lifting their chests into audience' faces, disregarded all physics laws...As such, Victoria Secret's book became the handbook of every single super-hero cartoonist, a continuous cause of stiff poses ready for grabbing by men who wanted their imaginations of females removed from realism. An analysis by one Jessica Zellers represents an assessment of how womanhood is portrayed in comic novels. She establishes that out of the provocatively dressed or naked people, women are about three times more than men. Also, Jessica states that: "It is unbelievable that nearly one in four women was at portrayed in the nude at some point".

Manipulation and Sexism

While several comic cartoonists claim that depicting females suggestively symbolizes their supremacy, there are other aspects that can be accentuated to maintain that females are being misused. The fact that Wonder Woman is depicted as a matriarchal figure denotes male fantasy. Although Wonder Woman is not inferior to her male counterparts as regards to strength and influence, she is still romanticized by her male designer. Her defense is an exceptional rope, which symbolizes sexual control as she uses it to make her opponents follow her commands.

Additionally, one may come across sexist hints in how other women protagonists have skills and powers ranging from being proficient in ordinary arts such mind control (Maher). Also, personas such as White Queen have the capability of using mind control to influence their male foes. White Queen particularly uses her power to influence and trick men for material wealth (Lavin).Certainly typical woman! Also, the curvaceous cat woman makes use of her beauty to control Batman. On the other hand, Poison Ivy uses her love portions and ravishing nature to get what she wants. Moreover, there is also a character that marries a wealthy old man and has his murdered for her to inherit his wealth and property. That is, White Rabbit featured in the Spider-man cartoons.

Frank Miller, a comic artist is also known for his sexist undertones and his racist nature. The hatred for female characters in his comic texts is too clear to be missed. For instance, he features Elektra who is a distressed serial killer and anti-heroine. Her name was derived from Greek mythical character who bears a similar name. Just like the myth, she develops a sexual attraction to her father (which in Psychology represents the Electra complex).As such, her Elektra complex is strengthened when she is raped by her father. However, she is informed that it never truly happened and that it was merely a fantasy and she allowed it to take place. According to Baughman (1990), the desire in her father continues to grow but he dies before she can find a solution to her Electra complex.

Conclusion

Overall, the comic book industry is certainly a male-dominated the industry. For that reason, when one goes to a comic book convention, they are likely to be treated to the sights of numerous suggestively dressed models hired to promote the wares of the publisher. As such, more female comic artists are needed to change this notion and transform the future of the comic book industry.

Works Cited

Bhardwaj, Shivangi. "Gender Presentation in Marvel and DC Comics." Navajyoti International Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Research (2017). Document.

Jehanzeb. The Objectification of Women in Comic Books. n.d. http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/non-fiction/articles/the-objectification-of-women-in-graphic-novels/.

Lavin, Michael R. "Women in Comic Books." Taylor & Francis Online (1998): 93-100. Document.

Maher, LJ. Comic Books and Rock 'n' Roll by LJ Maher. 27 April 2012. https://comicsforum.org/2012/04/27/comic-books-and-rock-n-roll-by-lj-maher/.

Tye, Larry. Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero. Random House, 2012. Print.