22 cases of sexism in comics

Cast your vote for the most outrageous sexism in comic history.

From the emergence of comics to the present day, the problem of the presence of manifestations of sexism in them remains widespread. The state of affairs for female characters is better than ever, but this is what makes the still-encountered cases of sexism in comics so egregious. Even if the female superheroes appearing on the pages of our favorite comics are as strong and well-designed as their male counterparts, they still have a kind of hypersexuality that is not typical for images of Batman, Robin and other male superheroes (not counting works in genre slash, in their case everything changes dramatically). Here's a selection of some of the most outrageous sexism in comics, so get ready to get hurt.

The marginalization of female characters in comics takes many forms, from the obsession with spanking women in the Silver Age (1956-1970s) to freezing them in refrigerators in the 90s. The ongoing struggle has resulted in adequate costumes for female characters, but sexism has never really gone away from the comics. It seems that every decade the culture changes, and the understanding of morality and sexism is changing places. For example, the sexist comics of the Silver Age led to the idea that even if a woman becomes a hero, she cannot be compared to a man. And so we see characters like Wonder Woman and Batgirl acting awkwardly and awkwardly in difficult situations before being rescued by none other than superior male counterparts.

Sexism won't go away from the comic book industry overnight, but by exposing some of the most outrageous manifestations of sexism in 80 years, we will kick-start an attempt to make sexism a thing of the past. Vote for the most egregious cases of sexism in comics that you can hardly believe. Also, if you have thoughts on this controversial issue, leave them in the comments.

1. A Power Girl costume that exposes part of her chest

The superhero has the right to dress however she wants, and she certainly doesn't need to hide any parts of herself to please anyone's bashfulness. That said, doesn't the Power Girl suit look somewhat ... impractical? Kara Zor-El is a powerful female character, but she is known primarily for her breasts and ridiculous costume, the main function of which is to demonstrate this very breast.

The fact that she is Superman's cousin only underlines her objectification, since the Big Blue Boy Scout does not fly around in only thongs. In addition, during the course of the story, it was mentioned that Power Girl was supposed to have a superhero symbol, but never wore it - all this makes her perceive her as a dummy-loser.

2. Emma Frost costume

Since the 80s, the powerful telepathic mutant Emma Frost has been fighting against the X-Men, then on their side in a suit consisting of white silk panties and a matching bustier. Looks great, but it's impossible to imagine that this is the right outfit for a battle.

3. Orion spanks Wonder Woman on the bottom

In Wonder Woman # 17, the new god Orion spanks the Amazon Queen from behind, thinking that she is cute or something. A strong, proud woman who defends the equality of all humans, Wonder Woman exploded and told Orion how humiliating it is to be spanked by anyone, especially a male colleague does nothing.

4. Milo Manara and his image of Spider-Woman

Milo Manara is known for his erotic drawings, so Marvel should have understood what would happen if they hired him to cover the cover of Spider-Woman # 1. In the drawing, the artist depicted Jessica Drew in a suit that was ridiculously tight even by the standards of comics, and presented it as an animal, as if she were saying: “Hello, boys. Don't worry about female superhero replacing your more popular male superheroes. I'm just a sex object. "

5. Superman spanks Lois Lane

Let me know what's going on: In Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane # 14, Lois Lane accidentally finds herself in the Fortress of Solitude, so Superman used telepathy to spank the woman, looking like his narcissistic counterpart.

During the Golden Age, spanking became very common in comics. In this case, it seems that Superman had the right to spank her, since she suddenly invaded his home, and technically he himself did not do anything - the robot did all the work for him. Another storyline of this comic is Superman uses X-ray vision to read Lois's diary. This is just in case you are not sure yet if Superman is a super bastard or not.

6. Weak Wonder Woman

Superman is right: if a man cannot do something, then a woman (even if she is an Amazon with superpowers) cannot do it. Despite the fact that this comic was created in the context of a time when a woman and a man were not yet equal, the question clearly raises here: "Why does even a superhero woman look like just another girl who needs to be saved?"

7. Batgirl and the puffs on her pantyhose

In 1967, Barbara Gordon joined Batman and Robin in the fight against crime, but not very successfully. Or at least the authors of Batman weren't ready to make her an anti-crime fighter equal to the Dynamic Duo. This comic book cover goes so far as to tell us, "Batgirl cares more about the condition of her costume than having to help guys in danger."

8. Wonder Woman was the Justice League secretary

When Wonder Woman tried to join the Justice League of America back in the Golden Age of Comics, the Super Boys Club refused her membership and offered only a job as their secretary. Rather than tying their lasso and saving at least the rest of her day, Diana accepted the offer and began filling out a mountain of super-papers.

9. Sin City Women

In Frank Miller's Sin City, most of the female characters are prostitutes. Well, if not moths, then they have only two choices: strippers or lesbian cops. That's all. The only exception is the fetishized and completely silent ninja killing machine. Obviously, for Frank Miller, the value of a woman is determined by who sleeps with her, or who wants her.

10. Wonder Woman's female pride

From Wonder Woman # 2, fans learned that Diana's facial muscles are strong enough to remove the duct tape the kidnappers had used to tap her mouth and eyes, but she leaves her eyes closed. Why? Because her pride, namely "female pride", does not allow her to part with her eyelashes.

11. Archie proves that twin sisters have one personality for two

In Riverdale, overt and overt manifestations of sexism are common. It's tempting to just say that no one reads Archie Comics, and thus blatant sexist displays are irrelevant, but this long-running comic (since 1942) is about treating female characters as easily replaceable cogs of the same machine.

12. Ben Grimm wants to spank Sue Storm

What's going on here anyway? Why is Something obsessed with spanking Sue Storm? Why doesn't Mister Fantastic protest this? What does the human resources department in the Baxter building do? Let's be honest with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Ben Grimm spanked a lot of people in the 60s. But nonetheless…

13. Suicide Squad Harley Quinn Fan Art Contest

Harley Quinn became a resonant character already at the time of her appearance in the early 90s. Depending on the comic book writer, she appeared as a strong feminist character, or as a silly girl whose sole purpose was to sexually arouse male readers.

In 2013, DC launched a competition for comic book readers to create an illustration that depicts their favorite character naked in a bathtub in preparation for committing suicide. The competition not only became famous for not allowing authors who did not want to use overly sexualized characters in their work, but it was also announced three days before the national suicide prevention week. Oops!

14. Women are always late.

With the help of this comic, what did the authors want to say to their readers, young people, during the Golden Age? Batman's response gets to the point if it was conceived to make it clear the following: "Women are terrible harpies who cannot arrive on time even when the fate of the whole world is in the balance."

15. Batgirl acts like a "typical girl"

Why is it so necessary for the author of this comic to insist that only a woman will correct the mask that got lost during the fight? Don't you think Robin will want to tidy up her mask if she isn't comfortable sitting on it? Or can men's masks never go astray?

16 Batman and Black Canary have sex five minutes after they meet

In Frank Miller's ridiculous All-Star Batman and Robin # 7, Batman and Black Canary have sex on the burning docks right after they first meet. We have heard, of course, about rapidly developing relations, but not to the same extent.

17. Black Widow didn't receive a figurine

When Avengers: Age of Ultron hit theaters in 2015, fans were slightly embarrassed by the fact that Black Widow was turned into a brood hen for the Avengers. Joss Whedon's idea has even been discussed with journalists / bloggers. But all this pales in comparison with how sexist they approached the creation of a play set for the film. Instead of the Black Widow, it included a figure of Captain America, moreover, exactly copying her pose in the original film.

18. Catwoman in Batman: Year One

Once again, Frank Miller shows his attitude towards women, transforming Selina Kyle from the best thief in Gotham to a dominatrix / prostitute. Bravo, Frank, keep your brand.

19. Ant-Man, the Wasp and Domestic Violence

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Wasp and Ant-Man are some of the nastiest characters in modern comics. In the very first year, Wasp managed to anger her jealous husband so much that he beat her, forcing her to shrink in an attempt to escape. He then sprayed Reid's aerosol against her, and then used his telepathic helmet to order (or something like that) the giant ants to attack Wasp.

20. Her-Oes

Embarrassed by protests from female readers, Marvel launched a series of comic strips featuring female protagonists called, logically, Girl Comics. They were a collection of girls-for-girls comics. And then they announced Her-Oes featuring rejuvenated versions of Marvel heroines. Well, you know, women and girls can't read comics unless they're based on teenage cute versions of acting characters.

21.Debby Harris was killed after having sex

In the Savage Dragon comic, Debbie Harris was kicked out of the house by her own mother, so she stayed overnight at the Wild Dragon's house (of course) and ended up having sex (of course). Since the Wild Dragon appears mainly in the Friday the 13th universe, where any expression of sexual activity by a woman is necessarily punished, Debbie is immediately shot in the forehead by her ex-boyfriend.

22. This moment when the Green Lantern girl was frozen in the refrigerator

Alexandra DeWitt is far from the first woman to be used simply as a plot point, but she is definitely the most famous. For those who still do not know: Green Lantern was at one time depressed, and in order to add to the severity of the situation, the author of the comic strip Ron Mars forced Major Force to kill the girl Kyle Reiner and put her lifeless body in the refrigerator. This event sparked Reiner's insanity in this universe and cemented the 90s comic book's vision of women as a story props.