The Disenfranchisement Of The Female Hero And The Case Of Harley Quinn
Written by Autumn Henderson-Brazie on Creators.co
My dad took me into our town's comic book shop when I was 8 years old as a special treat. It was my birthday and he was going to let me choose three new books. I had never personally purchased a comic book from the store before. My entire collection- extensive as it was- was gifted to me by my brother's godmother and was severely lacking in the updated adventures of the Gotham girls.
Batman was my favorite superhero at the time because of his respect for his female adversaries and and allies, all of which had distinct and fascinating characterization as well as interesting backstories.
My mission on that day was to find a story where Supergirl paid a visit to Gotham City. Barbara Gordon's Batgirl was awesome, of course, but I always felt like Poison Ivy was taking it easy on her. It seemed like Ivy beat herself or Harley tripped her up by accident more often than Batgirl actually won fair and square. I was ready to see a different match-up.
My dad told the clerk that I was looking for female superheroes and he directed us to a section in the back of the store. The comics starring women filled a single shelf. But I wasn't thinking about that at the time. The only thing I could think when I saw that sad little shelf, as an 8 year old who just wanted a fair fight for her favorite villain, was a single word: "boobs".
Let me start off by acknowledging that this "PC culture" we're living in can at times be frustrating. It seems like somebody always has a problem with something, and their critiques are often so comically minute or specific that I find myself wondering why they even bothered putting in the effort required to complain. That being said, the hypersexualization of female characters is a real issue. With the presently extreme public interest in comic book films, it is time to update these drawings for a wider and more inclusive audience.
