If you had a city to save from a rampaging super-villain, would you have time to put all of your clothes on in the morning? Yes, you probably would. It turns out there’s really no excuse for why Wonder Woman and her fellow heroines are out fighting crime in their underwear. So why, then, are they all doing it? The short answer: they exist in a medium that is being marketed to adolescent males.
Before we get into the how’s and why’s of the male-dominated comic book market, let me make one thing clear: comic books are not just cartoons about super-powered misfits in spandex, teaming up to thwart the schemes of evil geniuses and fend off the attacks of mutated monsters. That is a superhero comic book. While those stories do comprise a staggering majority of the market, they do not represent the entire thing.
In many ways the comic book industry is structured like the film industry. There are independent, or “indie,” comic books which tend to be more mature and aren’t bound by the usual superhero conventions. Then there are mainstream superhero comics which are the equivalent of Hollywood. They are chock-full of unrealistically attractive people and over the top action.
What really sets comic books apart from other forms of storytelling is the male-dominated audience. Movies, television, and novels are not associated with gender, but comic books are commonly associated with the image of a curly haired boy with big-rimmed glasses being driven by his mom to the local comic book shop where he meets up with his nerdy male friends to argue over what color kryptonite makes Superman evil (it’s red).
When we think of a comic book reader, we tend to think of them as male, not female. I would attribute this to three major factors: the single genre nature of the comic book industry, the disproportionate number of female heroes, and the ridiculous way in which those few women characters are depicted.
The first of these problems lies in the basic structure of the comic book industry that I’ve described above. The “Hollywood,” or the “mainstream” books, are superhero comic books. Unlike in the film industry where comedy, romantic comedy, drama, thriller, action, and sci-fi are all popular, comic books have one genre that is “mainstream”- one genre that dominates the shelves and that is the genre of spandexed super-heroes beating the crap out of each other. Superhero comic books often utilize elements of humor, drama, and romance, but they are still superhero comics and that genre simply appeals to more men than women.
The next big problem is in sheer numbers. Let’s look at a few of the most prominent superhero teams on today’s shelves. The Justice League; six men, one woman. The Justice League of America; six men, three women. The Uncanny Avengers; four men, two women. The All -New X-men; seven men, four women. The Suicide Squad; three men, one woman, one mutant shark.
These are some of the biggest superhero teams in comics, and the best they can do is feature twice as many men as women.
Now take that small percent of female characters and ask , “How many of these characters can be seriously considered as a role model for young women?” Unfortunately, due to the way women are depicted in comic books, the numbers dwindle even further. Any woman who walks into a comic shop is instantly bombarded by unrealistic images of scantily clad heroines with unattainable body types. That’s just glancing at the covers, let alone the pages within.
To top it off very few female characters are given leadership roles on superhero teams. Our society still has a long way to go in attaining equality for both genders, but clearly comic books have an even greater gap to close.
Comic books could be on equal footing with other popular forms of entertainment, such as television, movies, and books. They have talented writers, amazing artists, and an engaging format. They just need to stop pandering to adolescent boys who would be equally satisfied if they were reading Playboy.
The mainstream comic book industry is willing to sexualize women because they are so afraid of losing that key male demographic. But that’s the irony of it. By holding on for dear life, they limit a medium that has limitless potential.
The majority of us comic book geeks would not stop reading them just because the heroines started taking on more central roles and wore half-decent clothing. I like to believe that most avid comic book fans have fallen in love with the medium for the same reasons I have; for the inspiring lessons about sacrifice and responsibility, for the characters who have evolved from a 50-year long collaboration between hundreds of writers and artists, or for the infinite possibilities of words and pictures united in the art of sequential storytelling.
These are all things that women could fall in love with as well, but they will never get that far if comic book companies don’t start treating their female characters with the respect that they deserve.
Zach Pearson can be contacted at zpearson@keene-equinox.com