In “The Accidental Supermom: Superheroines and Maternal Performativity, 1963–1980” by Laura Mattoon D’Amore, the idea of the supermom came from the emergence of the superheroine, whose characteristics involved strength and independence. Wonder Woman was adopted as a symbol for American feminists and eventually American mothers. After the introduction of Wonder Woman in the Ms. Magazine, the rhetoric surrounding women during their movement began to shift. Superheroines were considered a fantasy. Comic books were used to maintain the social order within a family, especially when it came to gender roles. Superheroines were seen as maternal because she was protective and nurturing yet there were only a few superheroines, one being Invisible Girl, …show more content…
The article expounds upon the characters: Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. The author discusses how these female fatales were seen as a threat because of their power and authority. They are objectified because they used their sexuality in order to achieve their goals. For example, Batman recounts to Albert, his butler how Harley Quinn used her sexuality in order to advance her goals to become a psychiatrist during graduate school. In the franchise, the characters exhibit a defiance of societal norms. As a result, the women are portrayed as dangerous and monstrous. However in order to survive in society, they each rely on their displays of sexuality and seduction to advance their motives. For example, Poison Ivy uses her feminine symbols such as kisses and flowers for destructive purposes. The author adds how there are differences between male and female villains, especially when it comes to verbal connotations of labeling. They are often underestimated, especially when fighting men, who are hindrances in the women’s path. However, they are also punished when they are seen as “too powerful”. For example, the Joker punishes Harley Quinn when she comes closer than hi to defeating Batman. These female fatales exemplify what …show more content…
The research discusses different experimental studies to evaluate the impact of video games on gendered attitudes. The overall research revealed how the sexualization of women has impacted the different forms of media and, in turn, how it has impacted society. However, interest in this topic does not seem to be fading; but it seems to increase with the approach of more women becoming outspoken about sexualization and inequality and independent as well as the fan base for different comic book characters have become more critical of the treatment of their characters in regards to
In the article “Wonder Woman” Gloria Steinem expresses that the making of female super-heroes empowers females by reducing the fixed theme of a Caucasian male saving an inferior female. She displays this by showing how inferior women were before in male super-hero comic books, compares what it was like personally reading female super-hero comics to male super-hero comics as a child, the fight with other women to have the original Wonder Woman published in Ms. Magazine and how even males were changed by the making of Wonder Woman.
They are not only trying to feed a queer audience that is starving for more characters that reflect them and their lifestyles- they are also addressing the need to break apart sexism and move towards gender equality. And these two subjects, sexuality and sexism, undoubtedly share a good deal of intersectionality. You cannot discuss one issue without having to consider the other, for example, the specific scene that I am focusing on shows both Ivy and Harley together in very casual comfortable clothing. They exchange looks and work together to stop Batman for interfering with them in on their home turf. Subsequently, the two women talk to Batman saying that they will never be defeated by a man. Ivy also mention being trapped in female domestic slavery (to men). This suggests that she not only wants to fight sexism but also typical gender norms and the idea that women must be attached to men.
Such conventions of hetronormative gender representation can be seen in all areas of the mass media today, such as advertising and film. The representation of both male and female bodies within the medium of video games reflects understandings of gender and sexuality, and it is important that we as players are made aware of these representations and what they signify. I argue that Grand Theft Auto IV, through its framing of both female and male bodies, promotes hetronormative hierarchal distinctions between feminity and masculinity, by encouraging players to adopt and act out a hypermasculine role, and by
Since the beginning of time, women have been seen as different from men. Their beauty and charms have been interpreted as both endearing and deadly to men. In the Bible, it was Eve’s mistake that led to humanity’s exile from the Garden of Eden. However, unlike in the Bible, in today’s world, women who drive men to ruin do not do so through simple mistakes and misunderstandings, they do so while fully aware of what effects their sexuality can cause. One thing remains constant through these portrayals of women, and that is that they are portrayed as flawed creations and therefore monstrous. It is a woman’s sex drive and sexuality that can lead to her monstrosity. The femme fatale is an enticing, exquisitely beautiful, erotic character who plays the ultimate trick of nature: she displays her beauty, captures the man and goes in for the kill. Films such as Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction and stories such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and Sir Gawain the Green Knight use the femme fatale as a means of making a woman into a monster; the femme fatale can never win in the battle of the sexes. But what is it that makes the femme fatale such a dangerously character for the hero as well as the readers or viewers?
Women aren’t represented as incompetent, but rather as limited. In “The Woman Precedent Female (Super) Heroism on Trial”, Julie O’Reilly analyzes the distinctions between the ways male and female superheroes are “put to the test” in narratives. She also describes how male superheroes are the ones who are accepted into the world of fighting and protecting against evil; while the females have to go through much more than males in order to be recognized for their efforts. “What really is on trial, then, is a female superhero’s ability to be a fully recognized subject” (O’Reilly 452). The “heroine in her own right” should be acknowledged just like how male superheroes are recognized. Female superheroes deserve the right of being able to do just as much, and possibly even more, than a male superhero can and they should be given the appreciation as well as the acknowledgment that they rightfully deserve. For example, one book written by Stieg Larsson called “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” depicts the life of a very strong female protagonist. The literature illustrates two people who are trying to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a young girl in the 1940’s but the woman isn't getting much credit or motivation as the other characters.
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
For over 60 years, Wonder Woman has filled the pages of her magazine with adventures ranging from battling Nazis, to declawing human-like Cheetahs. Her exploits thrilled and inspired many young girls, including Gloria Steinem. Through all of this, she has had to pilot her invisible jet through territories that her male counterparts have never had to. She is constantly pulled in two directions; her stories must be entertaining and non threatening to the male status quo, while simultaneously furthering her as the original symbol of 'Girl Power.' She is praised for being an icon of strength to women everywhere, but chastised for wearing a skimpy costume and tying men up, as if she were no more than a male fantasy. No comic book character has had to endure as much scrutiny as Wonder Woman. That's because Wonder Woman represents an entire gender, at a time of important social flux. Although she was created by a man to influence a male audience, Wonder Woman has evolved into an important symbol of the feminist movement.
The sun, that shines ever so brightly, wakes you from your deep slumber. It is noon. Exhilarating dreams of being a secret agent illuminates your mind, but cannot be expressed in the real world, so you close your window blinds. As you walk away from reality, a light bulb then appears above your head. You have an epiphany. You realize you can be the crime fighting, devious, secret agent you always wanted to be, but you must do one thing first—turn on the game console. You are now channeling yourself into a different world, where every fantasy you have ever had is considered normal. As you continue to dwell in your fantasy, you encounter a very submissive woman with enormous sized breasts, and other curvy features to match—features that then become expected in the real world. Although, there are others that disagree, this hypersexualization of female characters in video games is taking a toll on gamers, by portraying fantasy to be something real. Gamers are becoming more prone to objectifying, and expecting women in the real world to have unrealistic bodily features. Also, based on the negative connotation that these video games entail, females are discouraged to play such video games, because it leads to negative self-perceptions. Consequently, hypersexualizing female characters in video games should be discouraged because it teaches gamers to accept stereotypical views of women, desensitize them to interpersonal violence, and, worst of all, it causes female gamers to have negative self-perceptions.
According to Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity 's gender role is a “learned role by observing behaviors of their parents, peers and media” (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2014, p. 25). Research shows how gender roles in America have evolved and have changed over the last centuries, although there could be many reasons for this change I will examine some causes for the change in gender stereotypes. The following topics were studied during my research: Increased technology and access to internet, violence and explicit content in video games, movies and television shows resulting in gender stereotypes. In addition, the media can have a large influence on societies perception on how women and men are should look like which are sometimes
The first video game arrived on the scene in the 1950’s. It began as a rather simplistic form of entertainment including games like “Tennis for Two” and “Ping Pong”. Fast forward 50 years later and current games advanced extremely beyond the basic oscilloscope. Developed animations have lifelike characteristics; some even mimic the movement of the player’s body. Video games have evolved and with evolution come many concerns about its sometimes violent and immoral contents. This presentation serves to educate whether video games have a negative effect on the behavior of youth. We will highlight both negative and positive aspects of the practice and use statistics to help you make an inform decisions when selecting games for loved ones.
Video games are widely popular as a form of entertainment for young children and teenagers in the United States, and many of these games contain forms of violence. Because this causes exposure to such graphic images for many children, there has been a concern that these violent forms of entertainment affect these children. Numerous studies conducted by groups of psychologists have been directed on this particular issue, leading to evidence both for and against this claim. This is an issue which parents should acknowledge, as it greatly impacts their children. Therefore, parents must become aware of the issue of violence in video games and monitor their children’s access to such games because history as well as numerous studies and statistics to have shown that they have negative effects on children, causing desensitization due to the exposure to such intense images.
This journal article is entirely credible and written by two women who know what they’re talking about. This article discusses how video games form stereotypes about both genders and that they impact both gamers and non-gamers. Men are portrayed as aggressive and women are unsurprisingly portrayed as sex objects. A main issue with this is that video games are mostly played by the younger generation meaning these are the ideas being imbedded into the youth of the world. The...
A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems
Many video games portray women as objectified beings, purely used for sex appeal and to attract the larger male gamer population. We also see men idealised in a similar way as well – the males in video games are portrayed as muscly, brawny men. However, we rarely see a scantily clad man in a game, but there is a vast abundance of games which feature women wearing ‘sexy armour’, or a noticeable lack of substantial amount of clothing. This isn’t female-friendly as these games are made for men, causing women to feel alienated and uncomfortable.
Though we make strong strides forward everyday, sexism is still a major problem in our society. It is reflected in our media; our tv shows, movies, advertisement, and video games. Video games especially can be quite questionable when it comes to their own advertisement and gameplay. Since video games were looked at mostly as a “boys only club,” advertising for them exploited revealing women to grab the attention on customers, an example of this being the Dead or Alive franchise (Official Site | TECMO KOEI America.), which features underdressed female characters who can be chosen as fighters. Thankfully, most major games companies have toned this down, realizing that they have a female audience as well. However,