Sunday, December 4, 2011

Superheroine Cleavage Problems?


When I googled "superheroine," one of the many things that popped up had to do with people having problems with overly sexualized superheroines. One interesting website that I visited had the article titled "Superheroine Cleavage Problems" with the the comic strip on the left "Why Cleavage is Bad for Crime Fighting." I found it pretty entertaining.

I agree with the article that some of the super heroines are overly sexualized to a very unnecessary degree that as a young woman, I sometimes feel uncomfortable that the illustrators have chose to depict them in such revealing/ demeaning ways. Although a heroine should be someone that readers find appealing and admirable, exaggerated illustration of the heroine's femininity should not be the prime factor in grabbing the readers' attention. It should be the heroine's exquisite qualify (for instance, intelligence, witticism, bravery, agility, etc.) that should do the work. Even though I understand that having an extraordinary physique can be deemed as a heroine essential because, oftentimes, physical beauty and fitness are directly associated with power, exaggerating certain parts of body that could be easily commercialized (i.e. cleavage) should not be the way to portray the bodily superiority.

The comments for the article, however, were somewhat offensive. Some of the readers of the article did not think that overly sexualized heroines were demeaning at all. I do not think this objectification of body is the problem that only women face. Lots of movies include "female gaze" of male bodies. For example, in "Tomb Raider," Daniel Craig is taking a shower and the camera rolls down slowly to reveal his chiseled abs and muscular thighs.  To me, it felt like objectification of human bodies became a pretty normal part of our culture that people are not offended by it.


5 comments:

  1. I feel like over sexualization can lead to over stimulation. people are eventually just going to get bored with the female body because its everywhere.

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  2. I think that this article was created for entertainment purposes instead of being serious. It does pose some good arguments like the heels. It is almost like a lampoon of Wonder Woman.

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  3. The comments on the article definitely bother me too but I think the drawing was made purely for laughs. The joke is going to get old soon though.

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  4. The comic is definitely entertaining. I like that it is a short, comedic way to make a point.

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  5. It was made for entertainment purposes, but the comments were definitely offensive.

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