This post on girl power in comics, from Retconning My Brain, is a seriously awesome piece that made me want to read a lot of these books (Power Girl, Batgirl, etc.) more than I already did.

The original “Girl power,” a sugared-up, popified version of what Riot Grrl was, hit when I was in my last years of high school. The late 90s, which brought us post-communications deregulation prefab pop, but also at least sort of acknowledged that women wanted pop culture that was their own, and that there was more to it than fighting over a man on a soap opera. It brought us Xena and Buffy, too.

I’ve never been the type of feminist who is terribly bothered by the word “girl”–if prodded, I can even conjure up a defense of using it as a word that doesn’t contain the word “man,” although that’s really not any less useless to me than spelling woman with a y. At the ripe old age of almost-thirty, I still refer to myself as a girl and usually anyone else who is my age or younger. I’ve even been scolded for it by friends male and female. But I can’t really help it, and I wonder if the twin specters of Riot Grrl and Girl Power are to blame.

I was thinking about Girl Power, while I was writing my generally-happy reactions to the stories, and I remember learning about third wave feminism and discussing Girl Power in my class, and the positives and negatives. You had shows with strong (Xena) or complex (Ally McBeal) female leads, but they were wearing short short skirts (and some of them could have used a sandwich, ahem). You had the Spice Girls saying friends come first (in a way more empowering way than bros before hos, yo) but most of their popular songs were still about finding love or something. I think. I can’t actually admit in public to listening to the Spice Girls. You know.

So. Is the rash of “Girl” comics a revival of this kind of feminism-lite? There certainly has been a trend lately, especially with DC books, toward female leads. Batwoman, Batgirl, Gotham City Sirens (and yes, Marvel Divas) and many more that I’m probably missing because this just isn’t really my area of expertise. The pop universe doesn’t seem to be swinging that way in the dramatic fashion it did in the Spice Girls era, but we do have Twilight and other pop-culture phenomena that are aimed at girls bringing a new demographic to geek culture–check out Vaneta Rogers’ awesome piece on The Fangirl Invasion.

Either way, I have to agree with this statement, again from Retconning My Brain:

What it came down to for me this week was that it was nice to buy a bunch of comics that are led my female superheroes, who are super with or without their male counterparts, but don’t exist in a vacuum of femaleness or solely for the gaze of the male reader. They’re there to kick some ass and be super.

Amen to that.

One of my favorite things about New York City is the massive amount of fabulous indie bookstores. I found another one yesterday in Brooklyn, and found this book on display:

Comic book superheroines bend steel, travel across time and space, and wield the awesome forces of nature. These mighty females do everything that male heroes do. But they have to work their wonders in skirts and high heels.

The Supergirls, a cultural history of comic book heroines, asks whether their world of fantasy is that different from our own. Are the stories of Wonder Woman’s search for an identity, Batwoman and Power Girl’s battle for equality, and Manhunter’s juggling of crime fighting career and motherhood also an alternative saga of modern American women?

Someone’s written my book! OK, maybe not entirely, though I do occasionally use superheroes as an extended metaphor, but I am fascinated. Haven’t read it yet, but I certainly plan to…

Yeah, that’s not true at all, actually, but it neatly sums up the type of attitude I regularly hear and see in the comics world and the literature about comics–if by literature you mean articles and blog posts written 9 to 1 by men.

Anyway, Jennifer de Guzman wrote a post several months back that I just stumbled upon via this post on Amazon Princess (which I found via When Fangirls Attack), and it articulates something that I’ve never really thought about before, but makes perfect sense.

As I wrote in my reply, I am kind of astounded that some men don’t see why physical empowerment would clearly be attractive for women. I think it’s intriguing to note that women often like the hot women who kick ass as much, if not more, than men do. Here’s what I think is behind that: As women, we are nearly constantly aware of physical threats. And those threats often are of being violated sexually. When I used to go to campus for night classes and people warned me to “be careful,” what they are saying was, essentially, “avoid getting raped.”

Now, what if, what if, as a woman, you could walk around, be sexually attractive and not have to feel threatened? What if all the rage you feel about women being victimized and brutalized could be channeled into pure, righteous ass-kicking? And, because you’re a woman, you could possibly do that ass-kicking without being seen as a testosterone Steven-Seagal-esque meathead. Ass-kicking fantasies for men are more about proving and retaining power, I think. For women, they’re about finding and asserting power when they’re not expected to have any.

This resonated with me on so many levels. I’ve taken kickboxing, krav maga and muay thai at different times in my life, and they always did make me feel more confident and yes, sexier, but I’ve always attributed that to feeling healthier and stronger. Maybe I thought a bit about the idea that I might be able to kick someone’s ass if they harassed me as a component, but only in a very general sense.

Yet Guzman’s point is that a superheroine can be sexy and because she can kick someone’s ass, she doesn’t have to apologize or fear for herself. There’s no need for the tradeoff–sexy woman needs powerful man–because she is both. Her sexuality is no longer something to be feared, but something she is free to display if she wants to without worry of repercussions.

In media for so many years, female characters were simple projections of what men wanted to see. Still, women gravitated toward certain characters, and as more women create comics (and movies and TV series and and and) we argued that yes, we do want superheroines. And maybe we do want them to be pretty.

Also, perhaps this explains why I was never one of those who was really bothered by superheroine costumes. Sure they’re unrealistic. But could they also be a gleeful middle finger to everyone who wants to tell a little girl that what she’s wearing is “inappropriate” or that bad things will happen to her if she dresses in a way that attracts male attention?

(Of course, we could debate about the rather narrow view of what is “sexy” that is still put forth by superheroines, but that’s another post.)

It seems it’s not enough that the first question we ask when a female superhero is announced for a comic movie is “Who’s she gonna hook up with?” Now we have to obsess over her weight as well.

Scarlett Johansson is far from fat. She’s a beautiful woman who has a body most women would kill for. Yet immediately the top question asked when a woman takes on an action role and starts working out is “How much weight is she going to lose?” It can’t be about being in shape to do her own stunts or just look buff enough to stand up next to Robert Downey Jr. and whomever else she’s squaring off with?

In a Huffington Post column, Johansson wrote:

Since dedicating myself to getting into “superhero shape,” several articles regarding my weight have been brought to my attention. Claims have been made that I’ve been on a strict workout routine regulated by co-stars, whipped into shape by trainers I’ve never met, eating sprouted grains I can’t pronounce and ultimately losing 14 pounds off my 5’3″ frame. Losing 14 pounds out of necessity in order to live a healthier life is a huge victory. I’m a petite person to begin with, so the idea of my losing this amount of weight is utter lunacy. If I were to lose 14 pounds, I’d have to part with both arms. And a foot. I’m frustrated with the irresponsibility of tabloid media who sell the public ideas about what we should look like and how we should get there.

Elizabeth Rappe at Splash Page noted:

No one suggested that Christian Bale wasn’t buff enough to play Batman or argued that Samuel L. Jackson needed a few crunches for Nick Fury, or called out the 300 ex-Spartans for not keeping up the regime. So, why does the Black Widow immediately come under the fitness microscope? Why should a superheroine be held as a standard for all women to emulate?

Our own Matt Brady asked not long ago why when a superheroine hits her husband, it’s funny, but a superhero hitting his wife is abuse. I gave a short answer in comics, but I think it’s all part of the same problem as the things I’ve listed here, honestly. Women are still too often assumed to be there just for decoration, not to be badasses on their own. I’m not as up on my Marvel comics as I’m sure some of you are, so correct me if I’m wrong, but the Black Widow is a pretty tough character on her own, with a shady background and questionable loyalties, a complex woman and one capable of taking care of herself–as is the Black Canary (why all the blackness? Anyway…).

But the female character is assumed to be there as a love interest, not just to be a character in herself. The men don’t have to prove they’re tough, but Johansson has to buff up–and when she does, she has to defend herself against charges that she’s trying to crash-diet and lose 15 pounds, because a woman exercising must be doing it to lose weight, not to get stronger. And when a woman hits a man, the idea that she might actually be able to do as much damage as a man or even more is still just laughable–even though anyone who’s seen Gina Carano fight should know that women can knock you out too.

Just for the record, I’m stoked for Iron Man 2 and I’m not automatically opposed to an eye-candy matchup between Johansson and Downey. I just think we’ve got a long way to go still on the way we think of women as action heroes.

In response to Entertainment Weekly’s All Time 20 Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture, Jezebel wants to know who your pop culture heroines are.

Entertainment Weekly has compiled a list of the “20 All Time Coolest Heroes In Pop Culture,” of which only 5 are women: Sydney Bristow, Ellen Ripley, Nancy Drew, Foxy Brown, and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

The Jezebel ladies suggest “Veronica Sawyer, Xena, Lydia Deets, Coraline, Hermione Granger, Claire Huxtable, Veronica Mars, Wonder Woman, Harriet the Spy, Matilda, and, of course, Eowyn.”

Since this is a comics blog, I’ve got to add to that list from comics. I’m going with Megan McKeenan from Local, Death and Delirium from Sandman, Evie Hammond from V for Vendetta, Tulip from Preacher, and of course, Tank Girl.

Who are your favorites?

I know I’m not the only female comics fan who savors those words. Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, Kate Spencer is back and better than ever. Manhunter is coming back as a co-feature in the new Streets of Gotham book, and it will be written once again by our beloved Marc Andreyko, with art by Buffy Season 8‘s Georges Jeanty.

If you DON’T remember Manhunter, well, what’s wrong with you? No, seriously.  In a superhero world filled with scantily clad and rather dull heroines, Kate Spencer is one of the most real–imperfect, human, tough, smart, and yes, still sexy, if more covered up–female characters in comics.  She’s a lawyer, a single mother, and a superheroine by night.

The solicit says:

This new series also features a regular ongoing co-feature starring Manhunter written by Marc Andreyko and illustrated by Georges Jeanty (Buffy Season 8)! Kate Spencer lost a friend during the chaos of BATTLE FOR THE COWL, and now she wants payback. As usual, she’ll use any means necessary to get it!

I’m not usually a fan of superheroes, but I am excited for the return of Manhunter. It’s an exciting team, a great book, and a great move on the part of DC to bring back beloved books that weren’t quite paying for themselves on the back end of other books.  Among other double features will be the Question on the back end of Detective Comics, which will feature yet another heroine worth keeping an eye on.

Featuring the debut of a new co-feature starring The Question written by Rucka! Odds against you? Alone and nowhere to turn? Willing to fight, but you don’t know how? When you’re searching everywhere for an answer, sometimes all you need to do is ask the right Question. Renee Montoya again dons the faceless mask to help those in need, all the while searching for her own answers in this new adventure with art by Cully Hamner (BLUE BEETLE).

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking about indulging in superheroes in a big way for the first time in my life. Manhunter, Batwoman, Question, and oh yeah–Gotham City Sirens?  Looks like a great season for superheroines.

At not responding to this rancid bit of idiocy. I have no excuse, you’ll just have to forgive me.

Let’s start at the top, shall we?

more babes with superpowers.

Yeah, that’s exactly what all women wish for. More characters chosen solely for their sex appeal. It’s all about the “babe”-alciousness, ladies, didn’t you know?

It’ll never work simply because men and women have different interests. (more…)

It seems like every few weeks these days something happens that reminds me once more that my beloved Joss Whedon won’t be directing a movie about my beloved Wonder Woman.  In this case, it happened while I was considering the roles of women in comic-based movies.  While watching The Dark Knight the other day, I found myself hoping that Chris Nolan would make it far enough into Bruce Wayne’s story that we might see his take on the original Batgirl: something that would take the foul taste out of my mouth from the Schumacher-era Alicia Silverstone performance.

Now granted, there have been a couple of films released in recent years about some of the leading ladies of the superhero world, such as Elektra (tripe) and Catwoman (also tripe, which is probably the reason Halle Berry was able to get away with also playing Storm in the X-Men films), but there hasn’t been anything compelling.  I find myself wondering if this isn’t indicative of the industry as a whole; beyond the female X-Men and Wonder Woman herself, there aren’t as many leading ladies who make a compelling enough draw to bring audiences into the theater.

I will cotton to being absolutely in love with Laura Vandervoort’s performance as Kara Kent / Supergirl on Smallville, but being a character so thoroughly entwined with Superman’s story, it would be almost impossible to make a Supergirl movie that wouldn’t end up actually being a Superman movie.

What does that leave us with, then?  Is Birds of Prey well-known enough to bring in the kinds of audiences that would justify making a film?  Could comic-shy moviegoers going into such a film expecting a big superhero action movie be satisfied by a team of women led by a paraplegic computer hacker?

As much as I’d like to see a BoP movie, I find myself fearing that the answer is, “no.”