The Gender Equality Checkpoint

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by traceur

Also... That's not a wonder woman smile. It completely misses her tone and character. This is a wonder woman smile:

Agreed.


Also, to add to my earlier point about the different idealised forms of masculinity and femininity and going back to the question of who the audience might be - whilst both male and female characters are presented in an idealised and unobtainable form, that does not make them the same. The idealised masculine form presented in the comics is not aimed at female readers for their delcetation (objectification) it is presented for consumption by other men for whom that fantasy of an other self is enjoyable. The women are also presented in an idealised form, but like the male characters, they are also usually designed to appeal to a male fantasy of women, rather than a female fantasy of self. Hence attributes of physical strength and power tend to be undercut with poses of seduction (arse stuck out and towards the reader, glamour model style) or coquettishness (hip tipped out, one leg straight and the other crooked in with foot tilted inwards).

Things have changed and are changing - mainly because of the way female heroes are now depicted on screen. It is now possible to show a thoroughly kick-ass female character and it fit the world she's in and the idea that she is a force to be reckoned with. Characters like Shaw on Person of Interest (not a super hero - but the show is basically caped crusaders template withoutthe capes) and Starbuck on BSG are characters I'd have sold my soul to see as a young girl.

I remember when the Tank Girl film came out. She was one of the first really, properly awesome female characters I'd ever come across. To have some kind of visual reference for female strength and badassery? Frikkin amazing.

And she was way more overtly sexual than most female comic characters.