Feminism In Comics Women

At the beginnings of comics, and still in most comics today, women have been portrayed as the ‘damsel in distress’. In the past, women have only been in comics as a love interest and as someone for the hero to save, but slowly over time, that has begun to change. This change has been seen mostly in the movies or television shows. As of today, we are starting to see more powerful superheroines, but they are still poorly portrayed in the comic industry. This paper will be talking about how women are depicted in the superhero genre of comics, from the books to the movies and television shows. It will also discuss how women are portrayed as sex objects, damsels in distress, and the exploitation and sexism these heroines face. When asked to picture what any number of superheroines look like, most people would tell of the skin tight …show more content…
Fantasy Magazine states in an article that, “victims that needed to be rescued by the male protagonist; a prize that needed to be won by either the male villain or hero.” The author of the article goes on to give an example of how in the first issue of Superman, Lois Lane, who would become a future love interest, is only in the comic to get kidnapped by some criminals and then for Superman to save (fantasy-magazine.com). In the book Wonder Woman Unbound, author Tim Hanley goes on to say that, “Often captured by nefarious types, she afforded the hero opportunity to demonstrate his prowess when he saved her. Upon her rescue, she would become his cheerleader, fawning over the hero and professing his greatness,” (26). Women have also been seen as a seductress or as the “long-suffering girlfriend” in comics for a long time. The powers of the superheroines have also been powers that are, somehow, all about men. The Fantasy Magazine states in the article