Danger of the Femme Fatale

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! I did not update last week, so, this week there will be two updates on my blog. Today’s blog relates a bit to last week’s topic on Wonder Woman, and as it was International Women’s Day over the weekend, what a better time to talk more about women in comics. Although, as I said last time, women in comics have not had the best history. Today, I would like to focus on the over-sexualization of women superheroes in modern comics.

The over-sexualization of characters started to become more prevalent in the late 1980s, and it occurred with both men and women. Male superheroes were drawn with bigger muscles and broader shoulders, while women superheroes were drawn with bigger breasts, long legs, and impossibly thin waists. While both were more sexualized, women were given more revealing costumes and were drawn in more sexualized positions. One example from 2014 includes the first variant issue of Spider-Woman, which I have included to the left. Lots of people were not happy about this cover. So, how was this cover created in the first place?

What I believe the main problem is with blatant over-sexualization of women in comics is that is there are not enough women artists and writers in the field. The cover above was created by Milo Manara, a comic book artist that is also known for his work in erotic comics. While I appreciate Marvel’s attempt to add more women into their regular rotation of superheroes, this cover would not instill any confidence in the women I know in my life. The history of this sexualization started with the fact that mainly men were reading comic books. So, why would they need strong or accurate female representation in comics?

Maybe men in the past didn’t want to see it, but now more women and girls are reading comic books. For me, I would love to more superheroes that looked like me and the women I know in my life. I would also like to see female superheroes with realistic armour and proper protection for their battles.

I will end this post with a photo of the marvel men drawn like women.