Commentary: It's Not the Shape; So Much as the Clothes
When you hear "female superhero" what pops into mind?
In the comic book world, often times, we deal with feminists complaining that women in comics are treated poorly. Saying they're "nothing more than objects that put there for men to drool over" or to rescue and that characters like Wonder Woman, Black Widow, Jean Grey, despite decade-long histories are only there to be used as eye candy. Another complaint from most women is the way the female superheroes are drawn. Most of the time, we see women with bizarre, unrealistic measurements, often times so much so that if they were real, you'd know they'd suffer multiple health issues akin to extreme anorexia or bulimia.
Would I agree that women are drawn incredibly curvy? Yes. Yes, I would. But what about the men who are drawn with perfect six packs? What about the characters who draw a breath and every muscle in their body flexes? Why don't we hear that argument?
I don't think the problem is the way these women are portrayed.
Strong, powerful, and even inspiring, I think we can all agree they are very much integral to the story. Some have given the female comic reader a bad taste in their mouths, but what character hasn't? We've all read about a character that made you want to throw away all your comics, right? Men and women. The issue that comes from women in comics is not about their looks, their measurements, or even their roles in the story: The problem is the way they are clothed and posed. Every female character has to be wearing something incredibly revealing, and often times they are wearing a bikini in battle. I'm not saying every male character is perfectly protected and never looked at in a nasty way, but, let's face it, it's simply not the norm.
If you were to Google "superhero" you would find normal comic related media, but if you run the same search for "female superhero", you can expect to find female characters wearing next to nothing in inappropriate poses.
So where is the line drawn? When will women be clothed in proper uniforms? Will we ever get to that point when female heroes are respected and protected, or will they be wearing nothing in the futute?