Response #2: Gender Stereotyping in the World of DC Comics

Philip Oliver Sharkey

Eng 102 – J010 Michael Benton

Gender Stereotyping in the World of DC Comics

Due: August 24, 2011

When reading Jefferson’s article If Male Superheroes Posed Like Wonder Woman, three things come to mind. First, is the article’s lacking in the discussion of the DC Universe as a canon of art or as a proportion system. Then, there is the issue of how it fails to discuss the other gender stereotypes in the world of DC Comics and the audience of the comics.

            The Ancient Egyptian system of proportion was maintained for hundreds of years; although the artists creating the works of art over that period of time could have advanced it, they kept it the same out of tradition and to keep the depiction of gods and pharaohs common place and easily recognizable. “This system could be adjusted to any scale, from statuettes to colossal works such as the Giza sphinx, ensuring exact proportions for each.” (Adams 94)  With this in mind, it is not too difficult to see why DC would want to keep the same canon after a period of “over 70 years.” (Sims)  

The last thing DC would want to do is change the artistic portrayal of their most popular characters; as such changes could have potentially damaging effects on the company.  Even if the canon is gender-typical to the point of being sexist; there are not enough reasons to change the canon, because it could lead to the loss of its following.  A company is not going to take the risk of losing profit because people outside of their intended audience disapprove of its message to society. If that were the case, J. K. Rowling would have stopped writing the Harry Potter series because of the Christian backlash against it.

What could perhaps be the most interesting aspect of this article is how although it is so vocal in its concern for the way women are depicted in this art form, it fails to discuss the depiction of male characters and how they also promote gender stereotyping.  While the female characters are over-sexualized, the male characters are overly masculinized. No man, however masculine he may be, can live up to the standards the DC Universe sets. Simply put, no one could take the monstrous amounts of steroids required to look like a Superhero and function at the emotional and intellectual level most DC Superheroes do.  Everything is exaggerated in comics, from sexuality to violence, if it was not it would not be more entertaining than real life.

DC’s “target audience are men age 18 to 34.” (Johnston) Another aspect of the targeted audience is their nationality.  Since DC is an American company that mostly markets to people in North America, where we are still significantly behind in gender equality, it makes sense that they would promote the same gender conventions as popular American culture. 

The difference is how dramatic the stereotypes in comics are, this however is mostly due to the nature of the art form in general as opposed to the comics DC produces in particular.  All comics are ‘larger than life’ in some way or another; they are probably the most commercially successful visual works of art, outside of the film industry, and art is supposed to cause opinion and conversation.  If everyone has the same opinion on a work of art, it shows the lack of value in the wok.  In conclusion, although DC Comics undoubtedly depict women in an overly-sexual way, that is only one of the ways in which people could find them offensive and it is a part of their job, as works of art, to cause people to have differences of opinion.

 

Works Cited

Adams, Laurie S. "Ancient Egypt: The Egyptian System of Proportion." Art across Time. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 94. Print.

Jefferson, Whitney. "If Male Superheroes Posed Like Wonder Woman." Jezebel: Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for Women. Without Airbrushing. Http://www.bleedingcool.com, 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 23 Aug. 2011. <http://jezebel.com/5829204/if-male-superheroes-posed-like-wonder-woman>.

Johnston, Richard. "DC Roadshow Hits Dallas – Million Dollar Ad Spend, Justice League Beyond And Black People Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors." Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors. Http://www.bleedingcool.com, 21 June 2011. Web. 23 Aug. 2011. <http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/06/21/dc-roadshow-hits-dallas-million-dollar-ad-spend-justice-league-beyond-and-black-people/>.

Sims, Chris. "Time and Time Again: The Complete History of DC's Retcons and Reboots - ComicsAlliance | Comic Book Culture, News, Humor, Commentary, and Reviews." ComicsAlliance | Comics Culture, News, Humor, Commentary, and Reviews. Http://www.comicsalliance.com, 8 June 2011. Web. 23 Aug. 2011. <http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/06/08/dc-comics-reboot-history/>.

"Statistics on Discrimination of Women | P.a.p.-Blog | Human Rights Etc." P.a.p.-Blog | Human Rights Etc. | Human Rights Looked at from Various Perspectives: Politics, Art, Philosophy (hence P.a.p.), Law, Economics, Statistics, Psychology Etc. Web. 23 Aug. 2011. <http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-discrimination/statistics-on-discrimination-of-women/#2>.