27.9.13

Sexy Female Super Heroes

Image credit: neftali77 / 123RF Stock Photo
I get it, no really I do. I understand why female super heroes are all 'sexy'.

'Super heroes' for decades have been a mix of aliens(eg Superman) , people with 'special powers' (born of accidents or lab experiments etc, eg Spiderman) and of costumed/masked vigilantes with a myriad of clever gadgets and a special set of skills (eg Batman)
Image credit: neftali77 / 123RF Stock Photo

And before all the comic book nerds pile into me, I'm not an expert, not by a mile, but bear with me...

Many were created long long ago and most were created as a dream of 'goodness' (for want of a better word) They were perfect in looks, in skills, in morals. They were 'the good guys' and they fought crime and evil and they won.

Female counterparts were (especially in the early days) added as eye candy. Most readers were male, they wanted a feisty (but not too effective) woman to be a companion, maybe to be a love interest (though many of our masked heroes have normal human girlfriends) and so they were equally perfect.

These women were perfect in looks, in shape, in morals etc etc

They were sexy because we like sexy (at least, I do!) and so they wore skimpy outfits, they had legs like Barbie's and bosoms to match. They were great because 'gentlemen don't hit women' so their violence could be less and still be effective, and if a man did cross them, well then often they had a male super hero to help.

Image credit: rook76 / 123RF Stock Photo
They reflected what women were at the time. They were pretty, often resourceful, useful, companions. As attitudes to showing pictures of sexy women relaxed the super hero ladies got sexier, their costumes got skimpier...

So I do get it, I do understand why all female super heroes are sexy and have sexy costumes....

at least

I get why they DID

But why do they still? Have super heroes stayed in their heyday of the 50s? Are they stuck in a rut? In today's world women do all the things men do. So why have female super heroes not caught up? Why are we not seeing some women in similar costumes to men? Covered from head to toe, not with a short skirt and bare legs. With the sort of bosom (and other body parts) that a fit young athlete would have?

Why do we not have slightly less than perfect super heroes (male or female)? Someone who is 50, going grey, has a slight tum, BUT because they have super powers are still able to fight crime.

I understand that like many jobs that require strength and speed, a masked vigilante may one day have to hang up his or her cape, but a true super hero should surely be able to 'Flame on' (etc) well into their 60s.

I'd love your thoughts as long as they are not a litany of comic book errors I've made :-)

Image credit: ddgrigg / 123RF Stock Photo

This blog post brought to you be my inability to find a suitable super hero costume online for a fit 47 year old to wear without looking like mutton dressed as super lamb. (feel free to suggest costumes!)

You might also like to read Whore-leween By Big fashionista....

Oh and don't get me started on why bad is still portrayed as disfigured/mentally ill/deformed etc, that's a WHOLE other post

3 comments:

  1. There is a diverse amount of stuff out there but that's by the by, the question stands and the answer is that of course you are right, there is nothing to stop slightly tubby, balding dudes and older women hitting the caped trail.

    Pretty sure the main problem is the big companies and their obvious need to keep their characters forever young. In soaps the characters and actors have so much crap happen to them that they finally run out of steam, but in comics the etch-a-sketch effect takes place; the character is periodically rest so they can continue in the modern age. What would be ideal is if the big boys (Marvel and D.C) addressed their in house problems and adopted more progressive attitudes, but that's not likely to happen.

    This is one of those ones like 'Why are all models thin?' They don't have to be, it's not realistic and it does project a terrible body image template onto the reader of the magazines. The need to be thin, buff, have big arms, a tiny waist, no body hair, a tramp stamp, etc, etc, etc...In the end we have to change the norm, remove the misconception and replace it, buggered if I know how though.

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    Replies
    1. Yes I agree, I just read a Marvel interview where they admit no one cares about the female super heroes. I guess they really are still there just as eye candy as far as the big comic guys are concerned.

      Maybe there is scope for some 'son of' or 'daughter of' stories with the original super heroes helping out and teaching the youngsters...the trouble is that Disney would probably want to do it...

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  2. This is certainly true for the mainstream. I'm not so sure about the stuff that followed on afterwards though. Maybe I have just been reading some odd stuff.

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