Farewell my fellow bloggers!

I'm back reader! for a bitter sweet goodbye. Hope the blogs have been useful to you and made you look at the topic of superheroes image as a real serious matter now a days. I have been arguing for the past couple of months I myself believe superheroes body image makes a huge impact on the way society looks at themselves and influences changes to their bodies and that is not a good thing and I believe society should be looking at superheroes and value their morals and what they have to offer rather than their appearance. It has been a great couple of months giving you some insight with facts and opinion on how important this matter has come to be I hope that this blog has left you with something to think about and now YOU yourself can look at superheroes and value their morals and ignore their appearance although it can be hard task just try it, it will really help you look at things in a different way. I had fun as well written this blogs because it makes me happy that I can help someone understand that looks should not be all that important and that superheroes over dramatization in comic books and movies should not influence you in any way rather you should be happy in your skin. Farewell my fellow blogger, have a happy holidays and a new year may this blog have brought some new information and make you look at yourself and the way you look at other differently. :D

That's a Wrap my Heroes!

                                         

          Hello dear readers! It is time for us to end our insightful research and discussion of the Female Superhero Body Image. You and I have learned that even though we might not realize it, or even though some of us might not even be comic fans, we may be influenced to some level by superheroes' body image. Have you wondered why women are more openly insecure of their body-esteem? We know the social media has shaped us to believe that women should look in a particular way, however, another source of entertainment has also put its influence on us: the comic books and movies! They have been a source that has influenced us since our childhood, we just might not have realized the way we idealize our favorite superheroes and their body image. This blog post has brought you and me a new, less common, point of view on body image. I hope my research gives you information on the impact superheroes' bodies have on our self and body-esteem, and convinces you to love and embrace yourself and your body! Thank you so much for reading along! Bye everyone!!!


https://www.google.com/search?q=female+superhero&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG0-y0hbrJAhUC8mMKHRCnDlEQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=female+superhero+comics&imgrc=AfKM3X8makqZQM%3A

Goodbye My Friends

By their very nature, superhero body images are not supposed to mean anything to society. However, it is harder than you think to internalize these childhood heroes as these flawless physical beings. Over the years, the unrealistic body images for men in comics have become more and more outrageous. Increased muscle size have become significantly rampant in these comic book characters. Looking at the new Spiderman figurines, they have all physically developed and are stacked with muscles from head to toe making them look like bodybuilders. Nowadays heroes like Superman, Batman, and Captain America have become the definitive example of unrealistic body images in comic books. They have become the "gold standard" for over the top ripped muscles. 

Body image is something we all struggle with, we all talk about it at one point or another, and we all wish we could look better. The media has passed the point where we as a society are now willing to criticize our own bodies but not willing to allow our friends to do the same to ours. Superhero body images in comics have intensified over the years and my question to you all is whether the idealization of superheroes over the years have caused a detrimental effect to our society. Thank you for taking your time to view my blog posts. Stay blessed my friends.

Hello & Goodbye for the Last Time

Original GIF Here

Hello for the last time. I hope all my readers have enjoyed my somewhat repetitive blog posts these last 12 weeks. Ha! I’m just kidding, but in all seriousness I really hope the message I left for you guys, my readers, actually had some impact on you. I know nowadays body image issues is a topic anyone can talk about it, but I hope my comic book twist helped shed a new light on this topic. After weeks and weeks of research on this topic, I was able to discover new views and different perspectives to a topic I thought everyone had the same view on. Who knew people thought superheroes with unrealistic bodies encouraged body positivity instead of discouraging it. Before I started this blog post, I had absolutely no idea people believed body image IN superhero comics were an issue. But thanks to all of my extensive research for this topic, I have discovered more about superheroes and more about the issue of body image. There’s not much left for me to say at this point because I'm sure this blog has already said it all. Thank you for reading. Fly high.

         -JG

Remix to Body Image

Hello again everyone! In today’s post we are going to mix it up and show you what it would be like if male superheroes were viewed in the way female superheroes were viewed and vice-versa. Throughout this semester the four of us have been focusing on different aspects of superheroes’ body image, so now we will try to open up your mind by presenting you with a gender swap in the way superhero body image is viewed by society. You know by now that female superheroes tend to be overly sexualized, while male superheroes are viewed as steroid, masculine guys. Well, let’s try to imagine the opposite for a moment:

First we have the lovely Kevin Phan posing as the one and only Wonder Woman!

Next we have our very talented blogger Geri Bozhinova showing off her muscles as Batman

Here the fab Michelle Orantes shows off her flexibility as she poses as the Amazing Spider-Man

Finally, the tiny Jessica Galura shows us how big she really is as she poses as the Hulk

Reliability

Hello! Let's take a second and look back at the previous blog posts about the female superhero and their body image- in most of them I included sources, such as articles from the web, scholarly articles, scholarly research and others to help me support my arguments regarding the influence of the physiques of superheroines over society. Today we will look at the reliability of sources. For this purpose, I am evaluating three new sources:

1) "The body unbound: Empowered, heroism and body image" by Ruth J. Beerman: A scholarly article.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21504857.2012.703959

In this article Ruth J. Beerman talks about the transformation of "disempowered" female characters who over time fight to become empowered, which leads to the emergence of a new female "vulnerable, human superheroine". She also mentions that the femininity and sexuality of that new character are key components to that character's empowerment along with the vulnerability.
This article is a reliable source that can support our group's blog topic of superhero body image and its influences on society (especially when it comes to my personal focus on the female side of this issue) because it is scholarly, and the author has done research that includes other sources like "Adam Warren's graphic novels Empowered", as stated in the article's abstract.

2) "The Objectification of Women in Comic Books" by JEHANZEB: A magazine article.
http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/non-fiction/articles/the-objectification-of-women-in-graphic-novels/

The author of this article focuses on the fact that females, whether it be the victims or heroines, were portrayed as rather subordinate in comic books, whereas males were more dominant. The article is divided into sections with subtitles, such as "The Damsel in Distress", "Women as Sex Objects", "Exploitation And Sexism", and so on, which helps the reader view different aspects and perspectives that cover the female body image and superheroine sexuality topic. All such perspectives are united within this topic, and show that females in comics can be either “powerful super-heroines like DC’s Wonder Woman or Marvel’s She-Hulk may easily overcome the most overwhelming threats and obstacles, but they are invariably depicted as alluring objects of desire, wearing the scantiest of costumes"  or "subordinate figures in the background".
This article is a magazine article, which can mean that strong personal opinion could be expressed, making its reliability questionable. However, the author "Jehanzeb is a film student who writes about Islam, Feminism, Politics, and Media. This piece was originally published on his blog" and this article in particular uses its length to explore universal issues like sexism and feminism, which could potentially have personal bias.

3) "Comic Book Women With Realistic Bodies Are The Heroines We Need" by Cavan Sieczkowski: A web source.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/26/comic-book-women-realistic-bodies_n_6761320.html

This article's main focus is on the unrealistic, unproportioned and supremely sexualized bodies of female superheroes. It is short source and most of its content are images of the existing superheroines compared with images of what more realistically proportioned superheroines should look like. The article comes from HUFF POST and expresses personal opinion with not enough scientific research and facts to back its point up. However, the author uses resources, such as Bulimia.com, " a website dedicated to providing information and support systems to those struggling with eating disorders, decided to transform covers of comic books depicting popular female -- and male -- characters". Even though the article's purpose is well-minded in the sense that it strives to portray a healthier body image of a female heroine that will therefore influence its readers in a more positive way and evoke a positive sense of self and body, the source is not necessarily reliable.

Let's Play a Guessing Game

This week I will be evaluating different sources regarding the body image of superheroes. Your job? Guess which kinds of sources I’ll be evaluating. It’s simple, I will evaluate and summarize three sources and all you have to do is guess whether it’s a scholarly source or a web source.

            Source #1: Medical Daily: “Holy Psychology, Batman! Fan’s Body Image Improved by Superheroes”

            This source regards the superhero fandom and their views on body image. In “Holy Psychology, Batman! Fan’s Body Image Improved by Superheroes”, Makini Brice explains that fans of superheroes feel stronger and more physically fit compared to others that are not a part of that fandom. The title of this source is very relevant to the meaning of the source. It is clear to see in the title the body image of superheroes in not negatively discussed like most sources regarding this topic. It is also a very current source and relevant to a very important problem in today’s society. This source however is not very dense and fairly short lengthwise. The author does not show signs of religious or political bias; however, it seems the author is in favor of superheroes. Although, the author does introduce counterarguments about how superheroes make some insecure about their bodies and uses specific quotes. The author’s name is located where the title is making it easy to know who wrote this source; although, I have not heard about this author prior to this post. This source was also published in a medical source document.

Reliable source: Yes

            Source #2: Project Muse: “The Hawkeye Initiative: Pinning Down Transformative Feminisms in Comic-Book Culture through Superhero Crossplay Fan Art”

            This source also regards superheroes and their body image along with several issues of feminism. This source was published in a larger source for librarians and publishers. The author’s name is again located with the title of the source; however, the publishing date is not as easy to find. It is a very extensive source with several illustrations to reinforce the arguments being made. There are also various quotes used to in each paragraph that are cited with the correct annotation and works cited; although it seems the author seems to be interpreting and summarizing the work of others to form the author’s argument.  The author refers to various footnotes.

Reliable source: Yes

            Source #3: ESPN Go: “The Body Issue: Super Heroes Edition”

            Following the topic of this blog, this source is also aimed toward superhero and body image. This source is a little different from the pervious source because of the fact this source’s focus is on image. Although all three sources regard the image of superheroes, this specific one actually uses images instead of words to inform their reader. This source is complied of different illustrations from different artist of different superheroes with a small quote from each artist. This means there is no real author of this source and the date of the source is no located in the source.  This source only contains about 10 images with 10 quotes making it a not a very extensive source. The author of the source does not have any political or religious bias; however, they are associated with a very well known source of media. There does seem to be a bias in favor of superheroes with a muscular physique. The title does however relate directly to the topic and what this source is trying to argue.

Reliable source: No

Answers:

Source #1- Web

Source #2- Scholarly

Source #3- Web

Unmasking Superhero Identities

Valdez, Jonathan Areola. Unmasking Identities: Superhero Representations of Asian Americans in Graphic Narratives. n.p.: San Diego State University, 2013.

Web resource:This web source is credible because there is an author. The author has a masters in Liberal Arts and Sciences from San Diego State University. Having graduated in 2013, Valdez knows more modern dilemmas and is more informed on different perspectives. The document was created to focus on the misrepresentations of Asian Americans in superhero comics. In his document Valdez also more generally sheds light on the issues of race, class, and gender. He claims that Marvel writers use a tactic called the Trojan Stereotype to depict their malicious ideas of the Asian American body. 


Lebel, Sabine. "'Tone Down the Boobs, Please!': Reading the Special Effect Body in Superhero Movies." CineAction, 77 (2009): 56-67.

Journal Article: Lebel's claim is that superheroes in today's society have overcome their small bodies in comic book beginnings and have become a preeminent part of North American pop culture. She backs up her claims by alluding to the continual re-embodiment of superheroes through generations of comic books and films. Lebel is a credible author because she provides evidence to support her claim that superhero body image plays a detrimental role in America's pop culture.


Dour, Halina J, and Sally A Theran. "The Interaction Between the Superhero Ideal and Maladaptive Perfectionism as Predictors of Unhealthy Eating Attitudes and Body Esteem." Body Image, 8.1 (2011): 93-96.

Scholarly Article: Halina Dour is a psychologist conducting research in her lab at UCLA. She claims that unhealthy eating habits and poor body self esteem is a result of the endorsement of the superhero body image and perfectionism. In her scholarly article she provides all of her sources in her paper. Conducting her research, Dour has discovered that the advocacy of superhero body image was significantly associated with unhealthy eating habits for our children. This article was sponsored by Elsevier Limited. 

3 New sources!

Hello readers, welcome to yet another discussion of Superhero body image I will be  discussing e new sources to justify my point how superheroes are viewed now a days and it's really effecting our society. 

Gender Stereotypes!

Media has  a great influence on our society, superhero movies have become a big hit now a days making a lot of money and portraying male roles and female roles to society and we seem to accept them.  The Avengers  earned about $1.5 billion on just ticket sales so we see how comma superheroes have become. We have to look at what they are giving us, stereotypes of genders and we just seem to accept it parents and children go alone with them. in reality, we don't have to let social media shape who we are, we don't put much attention to what they portrait nothing extremely sinful but males always being portrait as the leading role with weapon play and ideal body type and for females they look up to men with all these qualities giving women a false belief on what men should look like. Males are also portrayed as strong, assertive, fast, powerful leaders and women always as talkative , emotional and overexcited like her purpose is not at all important when it should be and that the image we are setting our kids to grow up in. Although the author does not use an opposing argument they give us a lot of facts and relevant and sufficient evidence supporting their argument which makes this article a reliable source. Their thesis, they say they will show us how much superhero programs have influenced gender type roles. 

Coyne, Sarah M., Jennifer R. Linder, Eric E. Rasmussen, David A. Nelson, and Kevin M. Collier. "Access to Restricted Resources." CSUN Library. N.p., 8 May 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Would you become a superhero if you could? 
Many Children have the image of becoming a superhero, usually someone they look up to. Yet little do they know have hard it would be for them. Back when superman came out it was unrealistic for children to become superheroes, since superman came from another planet and was abilities that no human can posses while now Batman is just a normal person who decides to become a superhero except to become him will not at all be easy he is rich and build your body to perfection which is almost the impossible thing to do but to me thats not the point we should all be happy with the way we look yet media does not allow us to be. So, we all have the potential of becoming the ultimate superhero just with todays society not just anybody can achieve such thing you have to have a ripped perfect body for a male and of course females are now allowed to take a leading role but are hypersexualized.  This source I believe is reliable they give us a question that they answer with enough relevant evidence to the topic about whether you wanna be a superhero or not and if its achievable. 
Kenney, Caitlin. "I Wanna Be a Superhero." NPR. NPR, 17 July 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

What would you do to have the perfect body image?

Males feel the pressure for having the perfect body, every male now a days is portrait as perfect their is a lot for them to deal with and some can't achieve it just by intense work outs so they seek another form of help hazardous to their health, steroids. Superstars  that play the roles of the superheroes feel the need to achieve such perfection but very hard to achieve. They have lots more pressure they are the role models and that sometimes can get overwhelming. They have to deal with perfect figures and if they can't achieve such things they might even lose the part and they can't afford that that their form of income. we judge them without realizing all the stress they have to deal with is much more than the viewer but still very bad that we want to look like superhero portrait in cartoon when we are human and that sometimes or will always be unachievable.

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Think carefully!

Now that I have given you some insight on the way superheroes are portrait let's have a little fun can you guess who these superheroes are, in this Quiz that me and the co-founders on this blog have created for you have fun enjoy!

Quiz Me

Hey guys! If you want to further understand the purpose of our blog and take a little fun quiz, visit the link I have posted below. This quiz was created in collaboration with our co-founders Jessica, Geri, and Michelle. Thank you everyone!

http://herobodyimage.blogspot.com/2015/11/guess-who.html

"Guess Who"

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicargalura/guess-who-superhero-edition-1yf3v

How well do you know your superheroes?

Check out this cool quiz here to see if you can identify comic book superheroes based of a single body part!

superheroes with realistic body types!

Hello readers! welcome, I have much to discuss yet again about the topic of superheroes and their unrealistic bodies portrait throughout comic books. I found an article, superheroes with realistic bodies, in this article they show pictures of superheroes if they were to have realistic body images and its quite interesting the change from each picture. they also discuss the issue of how it effects women in america "Today, 33.7% of men and 36.5% of women are considered obese" the statistics here really show how much we as people are put under pressure to achieve the perfect image and be like everyone but in reality nobody has the time to go to the gym or even the economic status to maintain a healthy lifestyle many americans aren't rich and have issues even surviving with what they have so they opt for the cheapest things, fast food. Comic books convey dramatic images of superheroes, men with massive biceps and shoulders, women always more slender and tiny giving us the image the more tiny you are the more appealing you will be in others eyes. women and men should not have to be put through this and its not just in  comic books where this is portrait with superheroes but many images out there always shows a perfect photoshopped image and make us believe that is achievable when in reality not even the model looks like the way they are shown. 

The way comic exhibit superheroes effects the readers with the way they look at themselves. This article is stating that the cause of many eating disorders is the way comic books portrait the perfect body to the reader and they want to became it. So what they did to show the people that read this article is compare the perfect superhero and did a few touches to make it more like a typical body image shape and size. It's awareness to does that believe you have to be like someone else in order to be acceptable everyone looks great no matter what you look like. I agree with this article and the idea its trying present, to finish my argument I will leave you with these words from the article and hopefully they always stay with you "perhaps more people could look up to their favorite superhero without feeling the need to emulate an impossible physique. Ultimately, whats truly heroic is respecting yourself, your body, and your health."

Perfect body-perfect person?

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/08/16/state-of-the-art-superheroines-and-body-image-2198309?lt_source=external,manual

     Hello folks! This week I decided to focus a bit more seriously on the influence superheroines have on the female audience. First, lets look at where we get the idea of "perfect" body image from- Hollywood has been making movies of superhero comic books for such a long time and still continue to do so. The article "State of The Art: Superheroines And Body Image" by Cedric Cannon, link posted above, explains that the movie stars picked to play superheroines roles are usually closer to the superheroine body image in the comics. Cannon states that "Fashion gets most of the heat but the lack of 'average' and or fuller sized women in prominent roles on TV and in movies also comes into question often", meaning that the media portrays a certain type of body image as important, which therefore influences society. In other words, it eventually makes women question their own body image.
    
     Another article that I found, called "The Influence Of Body Image in Our Society", states "most people worry about their body image because the media is constantly telling us how we 'should' look in order to be 'accepted' by society". Comics, comic movies and the rest of the media create a hypersexualized "perfect" image of a woman or of how a woman "should" look like. In previous posts we have covered that the superhero body type is not necessarily a healthy goal a woman should strive for. It is not easy to achieve, if not impossible or close to impossible, but it may also bring additional problems with physical and mental health. So should we compromise our health in order to "fit in society" and society's brainwashed by the media expectations?
Have you ever thought about the young bulimic or anorexic girl who looks up to the "pretty girls" that fall in the range of the "perfect" body type? Not only is this unhealthy to the bodies of young women but it also affects their self and body esteem. Yet, this is how far the consequences can go from making a Hollywood comic movie with an actress on strict diets
to play the main superheroine. Ironically, the superheroine's duty is to help society.


The link from the second article here : http://pocketcultures.com/2013/08/20/the-influence-of-body-image-in-our-society/

Goodbye Superheroes

When we begin to look at all of the superhero action figurines and posters, you can not help but see the body images that the media has surrounded children with. According to research done by The Adonis Complex, twenty five percent of boys between ages 10 and 14 are dieting to lose weight. It seems apparent that boys would rather choose a body with twenty more pounds of muscle than the body that they have now. Through advertising and other forms of media, children get the idea of a lean and muscular body image. Forms of media such as television, movies, and toys all instill the ideal of what a perfect body looks like. I believe that superheroes are the essence of masculinity in children's popular culture. The superheroes show masculinity by flying or swinging through the urban cities taking down criminals with ease. The ability to perform these tasks require a certain physique that is depicted in today's ''animated heroes." Watching the documentary "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" by Christopher Bell has really shed light on the problems our boys and men face as their childhood idols have turned to steroids in order to achieve the ideal bodies. These boys take steroids in order in increase their testosterone levels and muscle growth. However, many are unaware of the detrimental side affects steroids at such a young age. Steroid consumption can lead to rage attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. 

While talking about the steroid use, the documentary also talks about the evolution of action figures. Over the years these figurines have bulked up in size. When translated into human terms, the chest of these Superheroes were 55 inches and his biceps were an unrealistic 27 inches. These impractical body image extremes expose young boys to the dangers that they are unable to answer. Body image is mainly tied to the self-esteem of many children in the US. Studies have shown it is more important for teenage boys to be aesthetically appealing than academically proficient.Due to the rising issues of body images, boys with these ideals instilled in their minds are more prone to depression. 

If superheroes aren't real, then why do their bodies have to be?

            

Top Image from Movies.ndtv.com
Bottom Image from Nearpictures.com

            For the past eight weeks I have been arguing and defending over sexualized superheroes with similar points listed out in the article “Superhero Body Image Issues” from the Comic Book Compass. In this article, the writer opens up with Huge Jackman’s rigorous preparations for his very iconic role as the Wolverine, but even with his workout and diet, his physique still was not up to his comic book standards. The writer then goes on about how over the years the unobtainable body image has increased in comic books. They give an example by quoting Kyle Gonyea, owner of a comic book store, who talks about how the Hulk has exponentially increased since his adolescent days. The article then continues on how comic books reflect today’s culture. By using Paolo Rivera as a source, the writer introduces a counterargument on how Marvel superheroes are “more of a reflection of the larger culture” and how Rivera isn’t as concerned with idolizing superhero bodies. To argue this counterargument, the writer quotes Andrew Wheeler, a freelance writer, and explains his views on how the unrealistic physique of superheroes ultimately take away the hero’s appeal; However, the most important of this article is spelled out in the last few paragraphs. They expand on Wheeler’s view about how men and women in comic books are portrayed in comics. Women tend to be over sexualized and men often under sexualized. Even though the male superheroes are still idolized, they aren’t sexualized like the female superheroes. Wheeler then uses Arnold Schwarzenegger as an example for this argument. He states that male superheroes aren’t sexualized because in the 80’s men wanted to be Schwarzenegger, but the women didn’t not want to sleep with him. The article ends with a solution- in order to improve the physical depictions of superheroes in comics, then male and female superheroes must be treated similarly.

            Normally I would agree with the article I just summarized, but this week I thought I’d try a new angle. So instead of agreeing with every point made in this article, I am agreeing with one- the counter argument. This article states, “some members of the comic book community find this idealization natural” meaning that parts of the comic book community believe that a superhero with a perfect body is natural for today’s society. Many believe that comic books and superheroes are the source to society’s insecurities; however while designing comics for Marvel, Rivera states he “wasn’t promoting a style of body that wasn’t being promoted everywhere else” which means Rivera was simply reproducing the style of body that was promoted everywhere else. Rivera’s worries do not come from whether or not the superhero looks hot or not, his worries come from the physical diversity of the characters. Rivera believes in giving the superhero different physical traits that match their persona, and if that means making them unrealistic, so what? If superheroes aren't real, then why do their bodies have to be?

Through the eyes of another: Body image (interview)

For my interview, I interviewed an old colleague from High School that now goes to UTI, His name is Peter Jimenez, 18 years old Mexican-American who has a great interest in appearances and they way they are portrait in comic books. He grew up with Iron Man being his model as a superhero and wish he wished he could someday be as smart as him.

Q: what’s your favorite superhero/comic?

A: Iron-Man

Q: How does a superhero body image effect society including readers and nonreaders?

A:   a superhero’s body image effect readers/nonreaders by giving them a figure near as perfect to look up to and idolize, which isn’t always, the perfect figure.

Q: How do you view Superhero’s bodies and the moral behind them?

A: Well, I see them all the same perfect bodies males super enhanced as for women hyper sexualized and they have great moral being one of them selfless always putting others before themselves which sets a great example for the younger audiences. .

Q: Do the superheroes’ body image or costumes make you uncomfortable?

A:  No, because to me its better if they give a healthy fit model instead of the opposite.

Q: which superhero body would you compare your body to?

A: I would compare my body to Spider-Man he is not exaggerated unlike many other superheroes’ a realistic goal for many.

 Q: who do you think is the most attractive superhero based of comic books/movies?

A:   Wonder Women because she is the bravest of all females in my perspective.

 Q: Has a superhero influenced you standards of the opposite sex?

A: No, because I believe everyone is different in their own way and we all cant achieve such perfect bodies.

 Q: Do you think superheroes are over sexualized?

A: Yes, because they all have perfect bodies not one flaw in them which attract the eye more than the good deeds they perform.

Q: Do you look up to superheroes? Why or why not?

A: No, I do not look up to superheroes because to me they are not real and whatever they do can never be achieved.

The Interview

For my interviewer, I interviewed a current sophomore at CSUN. Upon his request, I will not mention his name. For the purposes of this blog, I will call him "A." Growing up A was always interested in comics so when he went into high school, he was shock that there were no clubs or organizations praising his beloved superheroes. A took it upon himself to create a club just for comics so that everyone else who shared his passion could be a part of a supportive community. 

“How does superhero body image effect society including readers and non-readers?

            "For me, superhero body image plays a predominant role in our society, mainly towards the younger generations. My little cousins are already working out doing push-ups and sit-ups trying to look like superman. I believe that the superhero body image has greatly influenced them to look a certain way. When I was that little, all I did was play was legos and was never really worried about how I looked."

“How do you view superhero’s bodies and the moral behind them?”           

            “When I think of superheroes, I see the boulder shoulders, chiseled chest and abdominal, and the proportional lower body. The superheroes in today's day and age remind me of the perfect Greek Gods."

“Do the superhero’s body image or costumes make you feel uncomfortable?”

"Not at all! I believe that every costume created for superhero is an icon of their own identity. Without the muscular bodies and amazing costumes, I wouldn't be able to recognize them as the superheroes they have become. The costumes are more than just a suit that masks their identity, it is a representation of who they are and where they came from."

“Which superhero body would you compare your body to?”

“I would definitely be Captain America. When I was in high school, all of my workout routines were influenced by Captain America. I even found the workouts that Chris Evans did to prepare for the Captain America movie! I know I'm not there yet but just give me a couple of years."

“Who do you think is the most attractive superhero based off of the comics and movies?”

"The Black Widow for me would have to be the sexiest superhero. Something about that all black latex costume that tightly wraps around her body has got me feeling some type of way. Her intelligence and ability to be a complete bad ass makes her the perfect candidate to be my future wife."

“Has superheroes influenced your standards for opposite sex?”

“As much as I'd hate to say, yes. I find myself more attracted to a girl with a well proportioned body and colored eyes. I am a horrible person." 

“Do you think superheroes are over sexualized?”

"I do believe that superheroes are more sexualized in comics than in movies. I believe that because in comics, artists can draw muscles as big as they want and in movies the size of an actor's muscles depends on how much he works out. In comics, artists exhibit their superheroes' muscle in a way that is beyond the body of an actual human being."

     

What Do You Think? Body Image Interview

     Hey guys! Welcome back with a little interview with a very close to me person, Mr. Sosa, who will give us some of his opinions on superhero body image. Since he has been studying philosophy, his ideas can give us an insight about Superhero body image. Here is the interview:


Q1: Do you think superheroes are over sexualized?
A: "Yes, I do believe that superheroes are over sexualized, that includes both parties, male and female."

Q2: Who do you think is the most attractive superhero based on comics and comic movies?
A: "The most attractive Male superhero based on comics and comic movies would be Batman. Also, the most attractive Female superhero based on comics and comic movies is Firestar, from 'Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'".

Q3: Have superheroes influenced your standards for the opposite sex?
A: "Nope, they have never influenced my standards for the opposite sex. They were irrelevant in that. They were just for entertainment."

Q4: Which superhero would you compare your body to?
A: "Nightwing".

Q5: Do superhero body image or costumes make you feel uncomfortable?
A: "They do make me uncomfortable and make me question my own body type from time to time. Costumes even more, especially when I can't fill them out with my body type".

Q6: How do you think superhero body image affect society including comic readers and non comic readers?
A: "Since their body image is associated with power, respect and attractiveness, naturally there will be a negative affect of looking at one's own image with disdain or seeking to change their body, but not for themselves, but rather the idea the idea of being attractive. In general society, there are many male superheroes being represented in films, and comics, rather than women. Masculine physique depicted by these films are a subtle way of demonstrating the growing social idea that every man should TRY to achieve a six pack, TRY to achieve skinniness, TRY to change yourself for the greater good, thereby paralleling the ideal superheroes have, to attempt to achieve a greater good for themselves and society.  For women, it's the same story, although they are underrepresented in films, Black Widow for example has the 'attractive' looking 21st century physique of curved waist, gap between her thighs, and a decently rounded chest. The same concepts  and ideals were the same in early comics, but all that has changed is the value of physical body parts valued today. Those mentioned above with the inclusion of semi-thick thighs, and curved athletically hips and stomach and butt, there is far more animosity when depicted an 'ideal' superhero woman than a man. Unfairly, depiction for men is lax and women receive far more scrutiny."

Q7: How do you view superheroes' bodies and the moral behind them?
A: "I view superhero bodies as being fairly representative of the impossible. The physiques depicted are terribly difficult to achieve and require too much loss in order to receive any gain. Bodies now just reflect the general consensus that most of society desires everyone to look good. The morals behind the bodies, well, the bodies themselves intend to provide a moral of good health, and physical fitness , but stab right at the self confidence people have of their own body image.

Q8: Do you think women are less compelled to read comics because of the way female superheroes are represented in them?
A: " No, the same can be said about magazines, they depict women in a much more realistic way that comic books ever could. Comic books are fake, they don't have the same power as the media does. Women could just as easily pick up 10 comic books and look  over that female physique but it won't maintain permanence since its fictional beings. Women's magazines with models ahs a much more powerful effect for the fact that they attempt to  make the impossible, actually possible, and they do this through fashion and commercialism. Women could definitely be compelled to read more comics, but the media based culture  we live in doesn't  pedestal  comic books as the highlight of our society but rather a hidden pleasure for those that still enjoy the authenticity and adolescent and childhood nostalgia".

"If you look like superheroes in real life, then you are the best society has to offer"

            The physique of superheroes is a topic I feel very strongly opinionated about- so opinionated that I started to blog about, and this week’s blog is featuring a fellow student who’s views may or may not agree with mine. Ninangely Alomar is a student at CSUN as well as a very close friend. After spending years in Japan together and living the military dependent lifestyle, it is safe to say we grew up in the same environment and exposed to many similar things. However, in the following interview it is safe to say we have somewhat opposing views.

“How does superhero body image effect society including readers and nonreaders?”

            “Well as a previous active reader, I believe it influences how we think the best and elite people are supposed to look like. They’re supposed to be crazy, strong, amazing humans. And if you look like superheroes in real life, then you are the best society has to offer.”

“How do you view superhero’s bodies and the moral behind them?”           

            “Superhero bodies are typically athletic, well defined, muscular, and usually tall. Oh, and they’re pretty, with light bright blue eyes. Really nice hair and like really well proportioned.  I don’t know, I feel as if they’re supposed to give off the image of god among men.

“Do the superhero’s body image or costumes make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No, not really. I don’t know, I can see why they make people feel uncomfortable, people with conservative views. I think they’re pretty cool, like the females are in heels and they can still kick people’s ass.”

“Which superhero body would you compare your body to?”

“Oh, someone short. Oh, America Chavez because of similar hair and complexion.”

“Who do you think is the most attractive superhero based off of the comics and movies?”

“I think considering both comics and movies, I’m gonna have to pick flash because he’s not overly bulking, but he’s still tall and toned.”

“Has superheroes influenced your standards for opposite sex?”

“Um I like tall guys, yeah maybe. The tall thing, and I like guys who are more toned”

“Do you think superheroes are over sexualized?”

"I think initially they were, especially female. But recently in comics they have been less focused on how they look and their ability. In movies they’re not over sexualized, but they’re not as sexualized as they were in the comics."

            Okay, for the most part our answers are fairly similar, but one thing I absolutely disagree with is the fact that she believes that the Flash is the most attractive because Captain American has my heart.