Since 2008, nineteen superhero movies have been made, and not one has had a female superhero in the main role, until Wonder Woman (Behrens). Wonder Woman is one of two superhero films to have a female director. Yet, female superheroes have impacted the world both socially and culturally, while also being a source of feminism, more specifically liberal feminism. Liberal feminism can be defined as a movement fighting for gender equality, autonomy of women, and equal political rights (Bahre). This begs the question as to what extent do female superheroes in American film and television represent the ideals of modern liberal feminism. There are three main perspectives when it comes to feminism in superhero films: the/white feminist perspective, the feminism perspective, and the anti-feminism
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Jenni Kinnunen, a Master’s of Arts student, writes that demand for female superhero movies is growing, however the lack of them is quite alarming. More importantly, the females portrayed in superhero films are mostly caucasian, in their 20s and 30s, and have high paying jobs. In the cases where feminism is present, it is usually “white feminism”. In her thesis, she analyzes appearance, ethnicity, speech, behaviour, and the role of each character in the film for three female superheroes. The first superhero is Catwoman, from The Dark Knight Rises, who is underprivileged, sympathizes with others, and in need of a clean slate. Although there are aspects of feminism, she is shown as having slender figure, sexualized, and her character changes to become more reliant on Batman. Catwoman often blurs the lines between villain and hero along with representing the ideals of feminism. The second superhero is Black Widow who is shown as a confident, loyal, heroic, partially humorous, and even emotional character. She is portrayed as slim, lacks in character development compared to males, and had smaller roles in previous films. However, in Captain America: The
Jenni Kinnunen, a Master’s of Arts student, writes that demand for female superhero movies is growing, however the lack of them is quite alarming. More importantly, the females portrayed in superhero films are mostly caucasian, in their 20s and 30s, and have high paying jobs. In the cases where feminism is present, it is usually “white feminism”. In her thesis, she analyzes appearance, ethnicity, speech, behaviour, and the role of each character in the film for three female superheroes. The first superhero is Catwoman, from The Dark Knight Rises, who is underprivileged, sympathizes with others, and in need of a clean slate. Although there are aspects of feminism, she is shown as having slender figure, sexualized, and her character changes to become more reliant on Batman. Catwoman often blurs the lines between villain and hero along with representing the ideals of feminism. The second superhero is Black Widow who is shown as a confident, loyal, heroic, partially humorous, and even emotional character. She is portrayed as slim, lacks in character development compared to males, and had smaller roles in previous films. However, in Captain America: The