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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annotated Bibliography

Avery-Natale, Edward. 2013. "An Analysis of Embodiment among Six Superheroes in DC Comics." Social Thought & Research: A Continuation of the Mid-American Review of Sociology:71-106.

'''This article studies the sexualization of both male and female superheroes in order to fit the Western beliefs of hegemonic masculinities and femininities. Through focusing on six of DC comics superheroes, this article will examine how these characters have been designed to fit an idea of perfect human bodies, and to fulfill the male “gaze” of the mostly male audience.'''

Brown, Jeffrey A. 2013. "Panthers and Vixens: Black Superheroines, Sexuality, and Stereotypes in Contemporary Comic Books." Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation:133-150.

'''This article focuses on the sexualization and fetishizing of female super heroes. Specifically, this article views how black female superheroes are portrayed in comic books, such as Black Panther and Vixen.'''

Chute, Rebecca. 2016. "The" Pornographic Polemic": The Objectification and Inferiority of Female Comic Book Characters." UNBC Award for Academic Writing International Student Academic Writing Award William & Mary Wanka History:1.

'''This article uses the superhero Wonder Woman as a base for identifying how female superheroes have been portrayed to a predominantly male audience. Specifically, this article focuses on how the storylines, behaviors, and how the women dress are made to please the mostly male audience.'''

Crawshaw, Trisha L. 2015. "Truth, Justice, Boobs? Analyzing Female Empowerment and Objectification in the Graphic Novel Genre.".

This article focuses on how the style of drawing for women in graphic novels is used to objectify and sexualize women to the mostly male audience, Mainly, it is a study on how we use women to sell sex in graphic novels and comic books.

Emad, Mitra C. 2006. "Reading Wonder Woman's Body: Mythologies of Gender and Nation." The Journal of Popular Culture 39(6):954-984.

'''This article uses Wonder Woman as a template for how women are gendered in comic books. Women are used to fulfill male desires in the superhero comic book genre.'''

Nicosia, Matthew. 2016. "No Title." Performing the Female Superhero: An Analysis of Identity Acquisition, Violence, and Hypersexuality in DC Comics.

'''This article uses DC superheroes as a base for its study. Specifically, it focuses on the differences between male and female superheroes in terms of attainment of the superhero identity, violence the take part in, and the hypersexuality of the characters.'''

Rubin, Alexandra. 2015. "The Female Superhero: Fighting Villains and Stereotypes." A Publication of the Critical Writing Program the University of Pennsylvania 3808 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-6221:18.

'''This article focuses on the failed empowerment of female superheroes. It studies how since most writers are male--in addition to the audience—the stories are written to have male superheroes be the main heroes. The women are used as accessories to male superheroes, and not created to be sexual objects to the male audience.'''

TURBERVILLE, TAYLOR. "The Female Justice League: The Misrepresentations of Women in Comic Books.".

'''This article examines how all women in comic books have been historically misrepresented in order to fulfill a mostly male audience. Heroes, villains, and other female characters are created as subordinate characters to men, and have exaggerated sexualities and bodies to please the male “gaze”.'''

CITATIONS

References

LIsa Wade, Myra Marx Ferree. 2018. Gender.New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company.

Avery-Natale, Edward. 2013. "An Analysis of Embodiment among Six Superheroes in DC Comics." Social Thought & Research: A Continuation of the Mid-American Review of Sociology:71-106.

TURBERVILLE, TAYLOR. "The Female Justice League: The Misrepresentations of Women in Comic Books.". Crawshaw, Trisha L. 2015. "Truth, Justice, Boobs? Analyzing Female Empowerment and Objectification in the Graphic Novel Genre.".

Nicosia, Matthew. 2016. "No Title." Performing the Female Superhero: An Analysis of Identity Acquisition, Violence, and Hypersexuality in DC Comics.

Lecture..... Comic Book Lecture Moore, Dr. Eric. 2019. NOTES____

Female superheroes-most of articles complement similar themes. Sexualization of women to fulfill males "gaze", subordinate to men's storylines,

Sexualization and gendering of female superheroes and the impact of it specifically in DC comics

DC (main focus)- Power Girl, Wonder Woman, Poison Ivy, Vixen, Batwoman, Harley Quinn is the JOker's hypersexualized girlfriend wears revealing costume. IN the SUICide Squad movie, she used her sexuality to her advantage over men, while a formidable villain in her own right, she is still subservient to the Joker

Created to satisfy the male "gaze"/ mostly male audience/ mostly male writers, Exaggerated physical features of the women and men, but women's costumes designed to show off (Power Girl Picture)

The "feminine apologetic"- Wonder Woman similar to Barbie in the sense that she is supposed to be beautiful but capable. Still has a male love interest (such as the movie) that legitimizes her femininity and shows she is still conforming to the traditional heteronormative ideology. Barbie has Ken, so its similar?

Female superheroes also used to support male supehero storylines initially--Supergirl, Batwoman

Villians such as Poision Ivy use seduction on male victims (Batman movie where she kissed and/or used a fragrance to control the minds of her victims). Her power works in cohesion with her sexualization. Harley

Power Girl- who is the older version of Supergirl is designed with a costume that leaves little to the imagination. Wonder woman's costumes has been sexualized to show off her figure more, however in recent times she has been designed with more modest costumes that show less skin.

Vixen is a black female superhero who has powers of animals, which is different than white female superheroes that have "divine" powers- Wonder Woman is a demigod, Supergirl/Power girl is an alien that has god-like powers, Batwoman has gadgets and martial arts. Vixen is also depicted wearing a costume less revealing but animal-like (Cheetah fur on collar, Leopard-print in some versions).

Ways the Superheroes are gendered: expand on all points, add citations,

1.They are made to support male storylines.

2.The are created to satisfy the "male gaze", costumes

3. Certain characters answer to men, male leaders

4. Villains use sexuality to influence victims whereas male villains use masculine forms of manipulation or overpower victims, other heroes.

5. Vixen designed to have animal-like powers compared to the white women who were privileged (rich, all-powerful, royalty)

ROUGH DRAFT

As our society progresses, woman are gaining greater representation and acknowledgment of rights. That being said the male-dominated industry of comic books is evolving. The female fan base has grown in addition to a rising number of female writers. Since this change, the representation of female superheroes and villains has been under examination. Historically, women in comic books have been created to satisfy the male "gaze", which is through the viewpoint of a heterosexual male. Women superheroes and villains such as Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Vixen, Catwoman, Batwoman, Harley Quinn, or Poison Ivy have been created to fulfill the male "gaze". These women are hypersexualized, wearing little to no clothing while fighting evil and likely helping out their male counterparts. Historically, some of these female superheroes (Batwoman, Catwoman, Supergirl/Power Girl) were created in order to support the storylines of male superheroes such as Batman and Superman. Since the 1940s, comic books were made by men for men. Rising in popularity during ww2 and the Cold War, comic books have been used as forms of generating social instructions to the masses i.e. propaganda in support of the war and fight against communism.

Female characters have traditionally been drawn by men. According to Taylor's study, female characters are created subordinate to their male counterparts, and have been historically misrepresented in comic books due to this (INSERT CITATION). In regards to the male "gaze", the book "Gender" by Wade and Ferree, these characters are created to sexually subject men into believing that is what the "ideal" woman looks like. They are portrayed as sexually pleasing to the hypothetical hetero-normative male audience.

Final Draft

Female super heroes--and villains-- have been around since the early years of comic books dating back to the 1940s. The representation of women in comic books has been questioned in the past decade following the rise of comic book characters in the film industry (Marvel/ DC movies). Women are presented in a different way than their male counterparts, typically wearing revealing clothing that leaves little for the eye to imagine. Heroes like Power Girl and Wonder Woman are portrayed wearing little clothing, showing cleavage, and have over developed bodies. Power Girl is portrayed as wearing a suit not unlike the swimsuits in the T.V. show Baywatch. The sexualization of women in comic books can be explained mainly by the fact that the majority of writers are male. Not only are the writers mostly male, but the audience is mostly a male as well. Therefore, writers are designing characters to appeal to a mostly male audience. The super hero characters follow a sociological idea called the "male gaze" which is media created from the viewpoint of a normative heterosexual male. In a society that uses sex as a selling point, evidently the writers and artists in the comic book industry would follow suit. The female character in comic books are used to satisfy male desire for the "ideal" woman (small waist, large breasts, toned, athletic body). These characters have god-like power, but the most easily identifiable feature is there hyper sexualized bodies as they are designed to be sexually pleasing to the hypothetical hetero-normative male audience.

Villains, such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, use their sexuality to take advantage of their male victims. In the film versions of these characters, their sexuality and seductive methods are highlighted. Poison Ivy uses seduction through poison to take over the minds of her victims as seen in the 1997 film Batman and Robin. Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad uses her sexuality to her advantage, acting in a promiscuous manner.

Through overdeveloped bodies of the heroes or the seductive mannerisms of the villains, women in comic books are used as subordinates to their male counterparts, regardless of their strength or power. In 2017's Wonder Woman, she had the power of a god, but was still drawn to a much weaker, mortal male character. This can be explained by the feminine apologetic, which reinforces a woman's femininity to account for her masculine attributes (Strength, Individualism, Tough, Aggressive, Brave). Women in comic books are considered to be misrepresented due to being created by men, for men.