Portrayal of women in American comics
Critical analysis
Critical analysis
-----------------

### Overview

Prior to the Silver age of comics, comic books of all genres were available, including romance, adventure, crime, science fiction and many others. This began to change in the late 1950s and continued into the 80s, and as the superhero genre grew, others shrunk. This also began the marginalization of female voices in comics. The portrayals of female characters and superheroes were targeted towards a predominantly male demographic, rather than towards female readers. Sexism can be found in many examples throughout the history of comic books by use of [hypersexualization](/wiki/Sexualization "Sexualization") of female characters as well as benevolent sexism. Male creators did not focus on what women wanted to read about, and therefore did not try very hard to include female stories. Although many female superheroes were created and featured in comics, very few starred in their own series or achieved stand\-alone success outside straightforward [erotic works](/wiki/Adult_comics "Adult comics"). Most female heroines in comic books were merely supporting characters; for example, the Wasp and the Invisible Girl were both introduced as team characters, fighting alongside male superheroes, and Batgirl and Catwoman both debuted as supporting characters in the Batman comics. Wonder Woman is the only female heroine studied who earned her own comic book title.Dunne, Maryjane: "The Representation of Women in Comic Books, Post WWII Through the Radical 60s". *PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal* 2\.1 (2006\): 1\-13\. Web. 19 Dec. 2016\. It has been debated whether the perceived lack of female readership was due to male writers being uncomfortable with writing about or for women, or whether the comic book industry is male dominated due to actual lack of women's interest in comics. Primary readership continues to be white males which might relate to the still "overrepresentation of white men" (79% of characters as of 2015\) in comic books.

### Introduction of the Comics Code Authority

There is a historical context for the lack of female representation in comics. In 1954, the comics industry was attacked by parents, psychologists, and politicians who were concerned that comic books were unfit for children. Superheroines, who had made their debut in 1941, were criticized for violating gender norms and for perceived [lesbian](/wiki/Lesbian "Lesbian") and sadomasochistic content. In response to the threat of government regulation, the [Comics Magazine Association of America](/wiki/Comics_Magazine_Association_of_America "Comics Magazine Association of America") imitated the film industry's self\-governed [Hays Code](/wiki/Hays_Code "Hays Code") with the creation of the [Comics Code Authority](/wiki/Comics_Code_Authority "Comics Code Authority") in 1954\. The code limited content of all newsstand comic books. As a result, code\-approved comics portrayed women in a mostly conservative, traditional manner for the next few decades. As social norms changed, the code was occasionally revised to be less restrictive. As the [direct market](/wiki/Direct_market "Direct market") developed in the early 1980s, publishers were able to sell comics without code approval easily, so fewer publishers subjected themselves to it. The code became less important until it was completely abandoned in 2011\.

### Feminism in comics

The enforcement of gender roles within comics continued well past the 1950s. The roles of women in comics during the 1960s and 70s shifted to become more diverse and began to extend past traditional roles as a result of the civil rights movement, second wave feminism, and the sexual revolution, when more women in society were taking on predominantly male professions and advocating for social rights. In the 1970s, female characters in comics and other mainstream media were sometimes depicted as "playing with the boys" and taking more traditionally male\-dominated roles, though they still tended to be cast as love interests or to take maternal roles. Prominent superheroines that were introduced during this period in comics were Spider\-Woman, Ms. Marvel, the Cat, and Valkyrie.(Lent, J. A. (2007\). Comics/Comic Strips. In F. Malti\-Douglas (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender (Vol. 1, pp. 318\-321\). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from [http://libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl\=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p\=GVRL.lesref\&sw\=w\&u\=les\_main\&v\=2\.1\&it\=r\&id\=GALE%7CCX2896200140\&asid\=7c23acc17e51fc8ad1e228f3af0f7820](http://libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL.lesref&sw=w&u=les_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX2896200140&asid=7c23acc17e51fc8ad1e228f3af0f7820) )

Despite the industry's historically and culturally backed creation of a male\-dominated market, there has been an increase in female readership, as well as an increase in [convention](/wiki/Comic_book_convention "Comic book convention") attendance by women.

In addition to historical censorship, the male domination of comic book culture has been self\-perpetuating. The view that comic book reading was a hobby strictly for males created a hostile environment for the female comic book reader. Women that read comics were often viewed as "doing womanhood wrong" or as individuals that "read comics wrong". This led to a cyclical pattern of hostility towards females in the comic book audience. Author Douglas Wolk states: "I remember seeing a Marvel sales plan, sometime in the early '90s\-\-a huge document, several hundred pages long; near the back, a little section labeled "Female Readers" listed the two titles Marvel published for half of their potential audience: Barbie and Barbie Fashion".

In the 1980s there was a shift in the way comics were written; instead of treating each issue of a comic as if it were the reader's first issue, or an "on ramp", as it had been done previously, comics began to be written in a way that demanded continuous readership from the beginning of a series in order for the plot to be understood. It is possible that this may have led to a further decline in female readership, as the female readers that might have tried to start during this era would find themselves confused and lost.

[Carol Danvers](/wiki/Carol_Danvers "Carol Danvers"), a superhero who has been known as Ms. Marvel, Binary, and Captain Marvel, is one of Marvel's most popular female superheroes, and has been considered a feminist icon. She is considered one of the strongest superheroes created by Marvel.

### Sexualized superheroes

During the late 1980s, comics had undergone a stylistic shift in terms of character proportions. The sexual characteristics of comic book characters became more exaggerated, which affected both male and female characters. Male characters were typically drawn with bigger muscles, smaller heads, broader shoulders and chests. Female characters developed larger breasts and rears, very thin waists, longer legs, large lips, and more revealing costumes. While male characters generally had a variety of poses, females often were drawn in suggestive poses that further accentuated their breasts and rears. Female characters that were deemed to represent feminist views were also portrayed in a sexualized manner. For example, when Black Widow was first introduced in the 1964 comic, *[Tales of Suspense](/wiki/Tales_of_Suspense "Tales of Suspense")* \#52, she wears a green dress, tight\-fitting but with minimal cleavage and accentuation of her rear. She also wears a brown fur [shawl](/wiki/Shawl "Shawl") on top, which covers much of her body, and keeps a hat on with her hair tied back. In the 2019 comic series, *The Web of Black Widow*,Houser, Mooney, Farrell, *The Web of Black Widow* (Marvel Comics, 2019\) she also wears a form\-fitting green dress; however, this one is very low cut both at the front and at the back, with substantial cleavage. She also frequently pulls her dress up in a suggestive manner. The trend has become the target of satire by feminists, especially on websites like "[The Hawkeye Initiative](/wiki/The_Hawkeye_Initiative "The Hawkeye Initiative")".

### Independent comics

Many female readers sway towards [independent](/wiki/Independent_comics "Independent comics") works, where there is a lot more female representation. The independent comics industry, whose products are often referred to as indies, have become a huge source of authentically represented females in comics. More women than ever before are becoming comic book artists and writers, and many of them have flocked to the independent industry. This, combined with a large female readership, has resulted in greatly increased numbers of female\-driven stories in this industry. [Manga](/wiki/Manga "Manga"), another form of graphic novel, has also led to a rise in female readership of comics. The trend towards [hyper\-sexualized](/wiki/Sexualization "Sexualization") female characters in mainstream comics is part of the reason that independent comics have become so popular among women; independent artists, regardless of gender, tend to draw both male and female characters in a similar style. When those characters do have noticeable sex characteristics, such as breasts or broader shoulders, they are not exaggerated to the point that they are in the mainstream comic book industry.

### LGBTQ superheroes

Recently LGBTQ superheroes are becoming more prevalent and available. In 2011 *Batwoman* title DC reinvented Batwoman from a casual sidekick in need of saving to an independent lesbian superheroine. This version fights back against female stereotypes, and lacks the traditional female superhero physique. Her body sports more muscles and less chest and hip padding. She also lacks the traditional long flowing hair, instead sporting a short cut. She fights the more grotesque images of womanhood including the gorgons, her undead mother, and the ghost of her previous incarnation.Race, Kristen Coppess. *Batwoman and Catwoman: Treatment of Woman in Comics*. Diss. Wright State U, 2013\. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2016\.

In 2016, [Wonder Woman](/wiki/Wonder_Woman "Wonder Woman") was announced by [Greg Rucka](/wiki/Greg_Rucka "Greg Rucka"), comic book writer, to be bisexual. Although, in her early comics, Wonder Woman was known to have possible same\-sex attraction subtext, her sexuality was downplayed afterwards.

### Black women in comics

[African\-American](/wiki/African-American "African-American") women did not start appearing regularly in comic books until the 1970s, in the [Bronze Age of Comic Books](/wiki/Bronze_Age_of_Comic_Books "Bronze Age of Comic Books"). One of the first black female superheroes, and one of the most popular female black superheroes to this day, was [Storm](/wiki/Storm_%28Marvel_Comics%29 "Storm (Marvel Comics)") of the [X\-Men](/wiki/X-Men "X-Men"), who had the power to control the weather. She first appeared in 1975\. In several reincarnations of the X\-Men, she is the leader.*Uncanny X\-Men* \#201

[Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau)](/wiki/Monica_Rambeau "Monica Rambeau") first appeared in 1982, and received her own comic in 1989\. Captain Marvel had the power to transform herself into any form of energy, and obtains the properties of that energy. She has also joined [the Avengers](/wiki/Avengers_%28comics%29 "Avengers (comics)") on several occasions.The Avengers \#273\-277 There are several other characters who have the name [Captain Marvel](/wiki/Captain_Marvel_%28Marvel_Comics%29 "Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)"), one of the most famous being [Carol Danvers](/wiki/Carol_Danvers "Carol Danvers"), who is white.

Despite the growth of African\-American females in comic books in the post\-[civil rights movement](/wiki/Civil_rights_movement "Civil rights movement") era, there still continues to be a lack of them in comic books. When African\-American women are represented in comic books, they are often not fully human, like Storm, and are given stereotyped features and powers. Oftentimes, black comic book characters are stereotyped with ghetto characteristics. African\-Americans in comics are also more likely to be considered sidekicks rather than superheroes, and they are less likely to have their own comic series about them.

### Latina women in comics

[thumb\|Cover of *Fight Comics*\#47, published by Fiction House in December 1946\. Art by Lily Renée.](/wiki/File:Fight_Comics_47_Ren%C3%A9e.jpg "Fight Comics 47 Renée.jpg")
The earliest Latino superheroes were The Cisco Kid and Zorro, who were introduced in short comic stories in the early 1900s. Latino roles in comics are often as side\-characters that are of little importance to the plot. An exception was done in 1942, when Señorita Rio (Ritta Farrar) became the first Latina character to appear in American comics. She made her first appearance in [Fiction House's](/wiki/Fiction_House "Fiction House") *Fight Comics* \#19\. She was a rising Hollywood actress and stuntwoman, until she faked her death and became a secret agent to avenge the death of her fiancé. Her abilities include acting, singing, and dancing, as well as being skilled in Ju\-Jitsu and fencing.

Latinos began to appear in comic books in the 1970s, but the characters were mainly male and were associated with street life. This includes popular superheroes like [White Tiger](/wiki/White_Tiger_%28comics%29 "White Tiger (comics)") and El Aguila (The Eagle), as well as villains [Senor Muerte/Senor Suerte](/wiki/Senor_Muerte_/_Senor_Suerte%23Ramon "Senor Muerte / Senor Suerte#Ramon"), [El Jaguar](/wiki/Jaguar_%28Marvel_Comics%29 "Jaguar (Marvel Comics)"), and [Cheetah](/wiki/Cheetah_%28Marvel_Comics%29 "Cheetah (Marvel Comics)").Captain Marvel \#48 (January 1977\) The only notable female character at the time was [Fire](/wiki/Fire_%28comics%29 "Fire (comics)") (Beatriz da Costa), who was introduced by DC Comics in 1979\. She started as a model in Rio de Janeiro before becoming an undercover agent for the Brazilian government. In one of her missions, she was exposed to pyroclastic explosions, which gave her fire\-based super\-human powers.*[Super Friends](/wiki/Super_Friends "Super Friends")* \#25 (October 1979\)

Latina women did not have many appearances in comics until 1981, when Latino brothers [Jaime](/wiki/Jaime_Hernandez "Jaime Hernandez"), [Mario](/wiki/Mario_Hernandez_%28comics%29 "Mario Hernandez (comics)"), and [Gilbert Hernandez](/wiki/Gilbert_Hernandez "Gilbert Hernandez") published the first issue of [Love and Rockets](/wiki/Love_and_Rockets_%28comics%29 "Love and Rockets (comics)"). In their *Hoppers 13* (aka *Locas*) stories, most of the characters were prominently Chicano teenagers. Their most notable characters were Margarita "Maggie" Luisa Chascarrillo and Esperanza "Hopey" Leticia Glass, who were on an on\-and\-off romantic basis with each other.

In the late 1980s, both Marvel and DC comics decided that they wanted to include more diversity in their characters. Thus, popular superheroes began to be re\-cast with different ethnicities. This includes [Wildcat](/wiki/Wildcat_%28DC_Comics%29 "Wildcat (DC Comics)"), whose alter ego was initially [Ted Grant](/wiki/Wildcat_%28Ted_Grant%29 "Wildcat (Ted Grant)"), but was later temporarily replaced by his goddaughter [Yolanda Montez](/wiki/Wildcat_%28Yolanda_Montez%29 "Wildcat (Yolanda Montez)").*Crisis on Infinite Earths* \#6 (September 1985\). DC Comics. However, in this comic book age, more Latino superheroes were more acclaimed than Latina superheroes. More originally created Latina characters began to appear in the 1990s and 2000s, including commonly known characters such as Renee Montoya, [Anya Corazon (Spider\-Girl)](/wiki/Anya_Corazon "Anya Corazon"), and [Lorena Marquez (Aquagirl)](/wiki/Aquagirl "Aquagirl").*Aquaman* vol. 6 \#16 (May 2004\)
[thumb\|Edgardo Miranda\-Rodriguez, Marvel Entertainment writer and Editor\-in\-Chief at Darryl Makes Comics LLC, originally created La Borinqueña.](/wiki/File:11.6.14EdgardoMiranda-RodriguezByLuigiNovi3.jpg "11.6.14EdgardoMiranda-RodriguezByLuigiNovi3.jpg")
Currently, the most mainstream Latina superhero is [Miss America (America Chavez)](/wiki/Miss_America_%28America_Chavez%29 "Miss America (America Chavez)"). She was first introduced in the Marvel Comics by writers [Joe Casey](/wiki/Joe_Casey "Joe Casey") and Nick Dragotta in 2013, but became so acclaimed that she was given her own series written by openly gay writer [Gabby Rivera](/wiki/Gabby_Rivera "Gabby Rivera"). Though Chavez is claimed to be a Puerto Rican, she has no actual biological roots to Latin America. She grew up in a Utopian Parallel, a reality that is out of time and in the presence of the being known as the Demiurge, and had two mothers. What is most notable about Chavez' character is that although she is illustrated as the conventional beautiful and young female superhero, she is also given masculine characteristics, including super strength and marksmanship.Kostanjšak, Domagoj. *Diversity, Political Correctness and Social Justice in Contemporary Marvel Comics*. Diss. University of Zagreb. Faculty of Teacher Education, 2018\.

Latina women in comics have created a positive societal impact. When [Hurricane Maria](/wiki/Hurricane_Maria "Hurricane Maria") devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, comic book writers and artists contributed in making an anthology called *Ricanstruction: Reminiscing \& Rebuiliding Puerto Rico*. [Edgardo Miranda\-Rodriguez](/wiki/Edgardo_Miranda-Rodriguez "Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez") produced and wrote some of the stories in the comics, and included his original character [La Borinqueña](/wiki/La_Borinque%C3%B1a_%28graphic_novel%29 "La Borinqueña (graphic novel)") fighting along well\-known superheroes. Marisol Rios De La Luz, aka La Borinqueña, is an Afro\-Boricua Earth and Environmentalist college student that later discovers her powers and abilities to fly, dive, use super strength, and control storms. 100% of the proceeds contribute to the reconstruction and the hurricane relief of Puerto Rico.

### Moving forward

The portrayal of women in comics is still highly contested. Despite the more realistic portrayal of women in independent comics, the mainstream comic book industry still sometimes struggles with portraying women realistically. There continues to be a difference in the way female superheroes are treated (by both their on\-page counterparts and their writers) when compared to male superheroes of the same caliber. However, more recently steps have been made towards equality and de\-sexualization with specific stories and comics.

There is a distinct effort being made by some to address these issues; there is a Gender in Comics panel at [San Diego Comic Con](/wiki/San_Diego_Comic_Con "San Diego Comic Con") which, in 2014, "included noted comic book journalists, editors, writers and behind\-the\-scenes figures all currently working to further awareness of the gender issues within the comic book industry". One of the panelists, Laura Hudson, said this in regards to gender roles in comics and the criticism that they are facing:

> The panel spoke about how ingrained a lot of these false gender\-based ideas have become thanks to decades of unchallenged existence. "A metaphor I use a lot is it's like working in a bell factory.... If you work in the bell factory long enough you stop hearing the bells. I think super hero comics has stopped hearing the bells for a long time, but now you have other people coming in from the outside and \[the gender issues in super hero comics are] very apparent. Having the Internet, having these other perspectives that are suddenly in front of us and are not subject to gatekeepers and are far more able to be heard exposes a lot of \[these issues]".SDCC: Gender in Comics, by Brett White. Published Aug 11, 2014\. [https://www.cbr.com/sdcc\-gender\-in\-comics/](https://www.cbr.com/sdcc-gender-in-comics/)


From where does our tendency to stop hearing the bells come from?