She-Hulk, Superheroines, and Seeing Ourselves as Heroes

The cover of Sensational She-Hulk #40

Enter Issue 40 of Sensational She-Hulk: She-Hulk bears all on the cover. An “off-screen” male hand hands her a jump rope while she tries to hide her body behind a newspaper. While essentially nude superheroines are nothing new to comics, She-Hulk laments on her cover “Hey-- No...! You’re kidding right?”.

The issue continues with her addressing the reader (breaking the fourth-wall) and discussing how ridiculous it is that a woman of her power and standing is reduced to this for some boosts in sales. Not only is the commentary hilarious, it is also poignant. Here is a woman in comics that is saying “Hey, do you ever notice how ridiculous this sexualization is?”.

She-Hulk doesn't care for your sexualization.

To male readers she may open their eyes to the double standard. Whether these pages and She-Hulk’s overall powerful lady persona do anything to change men’s minds about sexualization, I think She-Hulk’s true power lies in her ability to reach out to women and girls. She is a superheroine that makes no apologies. She’s strong, and often angry, and many of her comics (especially the Savage She-Hulk and Sensational She-Hulk versions) comment directly on sexist attitudes.

In the recent GDC panel on #1ReasontoBe, one panelist said that because the culture is hostile and the games sexualize and erase women, young women don’t think of themselves as gamers and thus don’t think of themselves as becoming game developers. Comics have that same potential. Women and girls often see themselves as sexual objects in comics. Even with superpowers, female characters are written and designed to be enjoyed by a heterosexual male audience. How can young women strive to be superheroes, strive to be comics artists, writers and editors, if the books that come out and the culture surrounding comics is so hostile to women?

She-Hulk is often aware she's a comic book character.

And yet there are beacons of light. I think that Savage and Sensational She-Hulk is an example of a great role model character. Unfortunately, she’s not an A-List hero. Her trademark break of the forth wall was popularized later by male superhero Deadpool and many write her off as “just a female Hulk” before they even pick up an issue.

Jennifer Walters is a successful lawyer who becomes the She-Hulk thanks to her cousin Bruce Banner. In her hulked form, She-Hulk gains confidence and speaks her mind. She doesn’t lose her ability to articulate, but she does gain physical strength. Once she learns to control her ability to hulk, she actually prefers her hulk form. She later becomes a successful lawyer who serves other superhumans in the Marvel Universe. She-Hulk is a member of the Avengers and a reserve member of the Fantastic Four, among other teams. She values strength, but also justice and compassion and her character is often hilarious.

Savage She-Hulk fights Iron Man, with intelligence!

She-Hulk isn’t a total win, though, because she is often sexualized. Her hulked out form increases her breast-size and she doesn’t get nearly as much muscle as her male Hulk counterpart. It’s important to recognize these components when discussing She-Hulk, even if you are fan of her, as I am.

I think She-Hulk and other strong, successful women deserve their own series. These superheroines not only give women (young and old) role models that can help them feel welcome in comic creation and comic culture, but these superheroines show women as they really are. Sure, real women don’t have super-strength, the power of flight or invisibility-- but real women do have incredible strength, emotionally and physically, are successful and are incredibly complex. Comics should reflect the complexity of women not just to help young women recognize their potential, but because complex women are a reality and we should celebrate that. We should be able to imagine ourselves as heroes-- because we already are heroes.

-H.

(For more on seeing women as heros, check out this ongoing Kickstarter and this excerpt from the Wonder Women! the Untold Story of American Superheroines documentary).

I Didn’t Hear You Correctly, Did I?

    While this article may not be within the realm of video games, I would still like to take time to comment on comics when I feel the need arises.  It is important to note that comics are another section of the ‘geek’ subculture to which games are also bound. Also, as I refer here to those characters existing within the Batman/Gotham DC Universe, it is important to know that just like this franchise, comics and games have had a border-crossing relationship for years.

    A while back I began reading the Gotham City Sirens, I got the whole set after enjoying the first few and I have been slowly working my way through them since.  After a group discussion about the interesting article by Rebecca Demarest, ‘Superheroes, Superpowers, and Sexuality’ I decided to take another look at the first issue.

Gotham City Sirens #1 - All in the Title, Isn't It?

To set the base for this discussion, I would like to first note on an interesting point put forth by Demarest. The concept of Inherent vs. Gifted Powers in the realm of comics is interesting and diverse, leading to a bounty of beloved or disputed origin stories.  She states “the women heroes are rarely ones to have inborn powers; they are usually gifted to them” while “the men on the other hand have inherent powers”. This is obviously not the case for every female or every male (an example being the X-Men), but it leans towards truth for the majority. Issue #1 of Gotham City Sirens begins with a narrative by Catwoman, so I will first attempt to elaborate on this anti-hero.

    Catwoman has a developing origin story. She was a prostitute who broke free from her old life.  In some she is a mafia boss’ daughter, and in others she is the daughter of a drunk. In Demarest’s understanding of Catwoman’s origins, “Catwoman’s…skills were taught to her by a karate sensei and a boxer, both of whom she was introduced to by a third party. She worked her butt off during her training, but it was still an integral part of the story that she did not get to where she was by herself, she had help”.  In this way, or even if looking at Catwoman as a product of Mama Fortuna’s training, Catwoman’s abilities are ‘gifted’ to her.

Poison Ivy- Just Out for a Jaunt

Poison Ivy, a villaness and eco-terrorist of the DC Universe, is one of the Siren trio.  For this series she has thrown off most of her criminal activities, and at points even treads along the line of anti-hero. Her powers are certainly ‘gifted’.  In both her modern and Silver Age origin stories she is injected with a serum/poison by another person (maliciously). It is this ‘gifted’ serum that gives her the abilities she posses as a villainess. (It should also be noted that in the modern origin story, the serum also makes her unable to bare a child.)

    Last, but never least, is Harley Quinn. At one point in Harleen’s life she was a prominent young physiatrist working a difficult but prestigious job at Arkham, but sessions with the Joker twist her into a gag-hammer toting, laughing lackey.  It is only through her ‘awakening’ by the Joker that she has initiative to take to villainy. Through her origins, she is the definition of a Barnacle character and while she already possessed the physical attributes to act, it is only through Jokers ‘gift’ of initiative that she steps onto the villain stage.

Harley Quinn - Poor Girl

    So, for these women, within the Batman/Gotham DC Universe, they fit the majority of the ‘gifted’ powered women. Demarest, calling on a contributor from the book Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach, in this case Robbins, recalls ideas from linguist Robin Lakoff, stating that Lakoff “was one of the first to draw attention to the way that a woman’s identity in society influences how she speaks” and Lakoff says that women are “constrained to minimize their expressions with…tag questions…rising intonations…the use of hedges…[and] indirection”  (Robbins 2006: 205). It is this sort of language I examine Gotham City Sirens #1 for.

    While the appearance of this super-trio certainly falls into the stereotypical skimpy outfit and attractive figure, I am relieved to find that their speech patterns do not. Catwoman, while introduced as weak due to a recent injury, uses very assertive and sarcastic phrasing, similar to many primary young male supers.  She makes clear statements, and her use of questions is not meant to minimize her assertive statements. Poison Ivy has similarly assertive speech, with a slightly more sexualized overtone due to her inherent appeal based abilities. Harley Quinn, portrayed as childlike and still love struck, speaks mainly through the use of questions, tag questions, and assumed rising annotations, being the main fall-gal for the ‘feminine’ speech patterns.

    I believe that the reason behind the strong use of language by two of the main characters in Gotham City Sirens #1 is due to the need for strong central characters within the main cast. Having two strong voices can and will lead to interesting conflict, and the edition of a less assertive voice allows for comparison as well as the creation of dependent and engaging speech.

    There are many other facets of Demarest’s discussion of the difference between male and female supers in comics, including relationships and appearance, and the article is well worth a read for those interesting in the topic.  There is also an ongoing column over at Comics Bulletin discussing differing takes on DC’s gender issues that is well worth a read.  In the future I may examine some of DC’s New 52 for these patterns, although I know already that the New 52 has made a few mistakes with its female supers.

-K.

Volatile, Self-Obsessed, and Doesn't Play Well with Others: Post-Avengers Movie Fandom Backlash

Ladyvengers, fan art by _kreugan on DeviantArt

Geek, nerd, gaming and comic book culture have members who claim the culture is inclusive. They say that nerd culture is for outcasts, the bullied, the alone. While for some people this may be the case, for many others nerd culture is a hostile place. It is dominated largely by white males who are also heterosexual and cis. This privileged group not only has a lot of control of the content that is released in the gaming/comic/movie industries, but they are also the most vocal of the fans. This has caused many problems, where certain groups of people aren't regarded as "real fans".
After Joss Whedon's hugely popular The Avengers was released, many new folks wanted to join in on comic book superhero fun. Those who hadn't read comics before were intrigued by the movie and many decided to give comics a try. While this new surge of fans is good for the industry, and debatably the fandom, many new fans received huge backlash.

As a member of the Avengers fandom on various internet platforms, I watched as people were targeted for "not really being fans" because they were introduced through the movies. However, not all "fake fans" were targeted equally. One group that was specifically targeted was women. Women were first assumed to be heterosexual, and then accused of only liking the film because of all the hot men. The prevalence of "hot women" in comic book culture to attract heterosexual males was never questioned. I noticed that men frequently discussed the attractiveness of female comic book character, or in the case of the movie Black Widow, but they were never told they "only liked comics for the hot ladies". Even if a female fan had been reading comics for a long time, they were assumed to "only be fans because of the movies". Many times I saw women being grilled for information about the Avengers team, but men did not receive the same scrutiny. Women were assumed to be "fake fans" until proven otherwise.

Data comparing screen time in minutes to number of character toys at 5 major retailers, including the Disney Store.

Additionally, the idea that only men are fans of comics (and superhero movies) was perpetuated by the merchandise sold in affiliation with the film. While Black Widow, the only female superhero in the Avengers movie, was prominent in the plot she is often missing from t-shirts, backpacks, toys and other merchandising.

One member of tumblr, who created the butnotblackwidow blog, is in the middle of a study comparing screen-time to number of toys. Currently their data shows how drastically Black Widow is erased from the toy sales (see graph below). This also perpetuates the gendered ideas embedded in toy sales  in which certain toys are specifically made for boys and girls. In this case, toys that target boys don't include female characters, even important ones.


In addition, many new fans began to actively ship characters into gay relationships. These ships were attacked with homophobia, and many men in the fandom complained about these members "ruining their characters" with by making them potentially gay. This backlash is also gendered because queer women as superheros are more accepted, like Batwoman.
There are many fans of the Avengers who are not men, who are not heterosexual and who are not white. These fans produce amazing fan art, fan stories and contribute everyday to the fandom in positive ways. But the backlash following the Avengers film demonstrates how geek culture is not always welcoming to everyone. In fact, the industry and members of the culture often actively attempts to remove women, queer folks and people of color from geek circles.

-H.