Superhero Women

Fact: women in superhero comics are ridiculously portrayed.

They fit into two categories.

First is the helpless damsel in distress such as Mary Jane Watson and Louis Lane. They only serve to move along the plot and motivate the main hero. By themselves, they are for the most part insignificant and fulfill the traditional gender stereotype that women need to be saved by men.

Then there are the female superheroes and sidekicks. Sidekicks are both male and female so in that regard they are equal. When it comes to the actual heroes however, women did not start getting their own titles until recently. It took 70 years for women to be featured as much or even more than men in comic books. A big change happened during WWII era when women took over the jobs of men. Women became much more common in comics. It can be said that comic books were tailored to the social norms of the day and therefore the appearance of modern superhero women is…noticeable.

Women in modern comic books all have at least one of two things in common when it comes to their appearance. They all have extreme curves that are not often found on actual women and they wear extremely revealing clothing.



For example, take Black Cat, a supporting character from Spiderman. In all of her incarnations from all the different Spiderman series, she dresses in this same general fashion: a tight black spandex suit that has a giant v-neck. Although she has/had a romantic interest in Peter Parker, her sexuality never really came into play in the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe.



In the case of the damsel in distress, the same applies in that their “over” sexuality is idiotic. What does this collectable statue of Mary Jane Watson add to any of Spiderman’s comics? Nothing whatsoever.



On the other hand, strong women also suffer from the same problems in comics. Look at the X-men for example in this so aptly captioned picture. Their lack of clothing and/or their ridiculous figures are actually funny. I cannot believe that getting superpowers make someone look like that.



The whole “sexification” of superheroes, although not as extensive, applies to male heroes as well. In addition to sometimes not remembering how to correctly wear their underwear, male superheroes also wear rather time suits (or not shirt at all). Obviously this is to show off their build rather than their curves. The difference is that usually the male superheroes are so built because of their powers instead of for looks.

What is the purpose for the way female superheroes look? Devoted readers of comic books do not care about their appearance as they are more attracted by the rich plot of the story. Therefore, the women who have been appearing more frequently in the comics as sexual objects must be there for one thing: marketing.


Advertisers use women as tools to attract new customers to by comic books. Personally, this was not successful. I did not start reading comic books because of the women on the front covers but rather because I was attracted by the plot. I cannot believe that this is that successful of a marketing tactic. After all, there is a certain stereotype that goes along with comic books. While not all comic book fans are socially awkward men who live with their mothers, the vast majority of people seen at comic book stores and conventions would not be driven to go out and start reading a new comic book series because of the picture on the front cover.

In the end, women in comic books are just like women in almost all other forms of media today. They are portrayed almost as sexually as possible to attract a larger male clientele in a ridiculous way.

Advertisers: a little less shameful behavior in the way of portraying your characters would be much appreciated.