Comics and Gender-Linked Roles

            “The Superhero Body: Body Politics in Comics” is an article written by Alexandra Enache, the assistant coordinator at the PAVILION Center for Contemporary Art and Culture is an article that not only discusses the body types of Superheroes, but also the gender roles and gender identity in the comic book world. In the beginning of the article, Enache outlines the premise of her argument by stating that comic books have influence on the media whether they were intended for it or not.  She believes that comics are used to promote messages such as identity, gender, and several other problems within our society; although, the major problems Enache focuses on in this article is how comic books influences gender roles and the influences and attitudes of male and female superheroes to their perspective reader. In the second paragraph of the article, Enache describes the symbolism of the hyperphysical superhero body. She explains that the iconic superhero suit symbolizes more than just the comic book; the superhero suits also symbolizes the superhero’s identities and beliefs regarding their genders.  Enache believes that superheroes are placed into the accustomed category for their genders. As an example, she describes the traditional male superhero body as masculine and how their masculinity is directly associated with the superhero’s specific culture. For the other side of the house, the female superheroes are held to a western standard of beauty expected to have slim thick bodies with suits, or lack of suits, that are tight and revealing. Enache concludes her article questioning how comic book superheroes, with a broader audience than before, are still sexualized and objectified.

            According to Enache, “…it is expected that the representation of the male and female characters in the media to influence attitudes and beliefs in viewers’ perceptions regarding gender identity” (1).  I agree with Enache completely because I believe regardless the gender of the reader, the reader will do whatever it takes to become one with their hero, and the first step to becoming someone is looking like them. Enache views that, “The superhero body – design, costume, posture – is not only a symbol of the comic book as a commodity, but, as any other type of media message, it generates a set of implications in the way in which identities, attitudes and beliefs regarding gender are constructed.” (1). By this she is stating that a super suit stands for more than just the superhero; regardless of gender, a super suit stands for what the super is fighting for, who the superhero is, and why the superhero does what he or she does.  Finally, she states, “Their hyper-feminization in a world of male superheroes epitomizes the idealization of masculinity” (1).  Enache’s point is that the male and female superhero body types are dependent on one other. For instance, you can’t have a masculine male without a over sexualized female- and that is how society accepts it.