Lois Lane Gender Stereotypes

Comic books have been around for more than a century and attract a diverse crowd of readers. The audience of comic books has been mostly dominated by males, however there has been an increasing number of female readers. Most comic books are written by male authors, and usually consist of a male main character with a supporting female character, most commonly a love interest. These female characters are objectified in comic books to create drama or tension between characters in a situation and are drawn to capture the attention of the male audience. Lois Lane is an original female character in the Superman universe that young adolescent females can relate to. Lois has changed drastically throughout the eras of Superman comics. Superman comics show Lois Lane being …show more content…
In the Golden age(1930s-40s) and Silver age(1950s-70s) of comic books, Lois Lane is drawn in a conservative manner, long dress and less revealing outfits. This was the norm at the time and the average women dressed in a similar style. Female characters at this time “…played an ambiguous role in comic books”(Lavin). Lois Lane is shown to be a hard working journalist, however she is not respected as much as the men in her field. She was constantly put in situations that undermined her ambitions, because whenever she tried to excel, she ended up having to be saved by Superman. This exemplifies stereotypical gender roles, that men alone are capable of succeeding independently and being courageous, while women are subordinate figures in the background. Lois Lane during this time got her own series, unfortunately titled, Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane, furthermore this comic turned Lois into the main character. In this comic, Lois Lane was the protagonist because DC comics wanted to take advantage of the fact that, “during the early 1950s roughly half of all comic book readers were female”(Lavin). This comic portrays Lois Lane as emotional support to Superman. Women want a heroine they could look