"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.

The Heroine in the Comic Movies

http://download.springer.com.libproxy.csun.edu/static/pdf/699/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11199-015-0455-3.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs11199-015-0455-3&token2=exp=1444363342~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F699%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs11199-015-0455-3.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs11199-015-0455-3*~hmac=36736adce72171651a569c390635c354d32a98d6118571d488c92bb24564f0c6

     Hey guys!! You want to read more of me rambling about the female side of superheroes, and the way heroines and female victims are super sexualized in a ridiculously unrealistic way? Yes? Okay! Well, the link above is for the article I found this week from our school's library database. This article summarizes all the points we have been covering so far that relate specifically to the females in comics and, well, comic movies too.  

     The article "The Empowering (Super) Heroine? The Effects of Sexualized Female Characters in Superhero Films on Women" (^^link is right there) by Hillary Pennell and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz introduces its readers a study whose sample were female undergraduates in the Midwestern region of the US in order to " examine the potential positive and negative influences of the gendered depictions of women in superhero films", as the authors state. The article moves on to explaining the way researchers used psychology, "cognitive and objectification theory frameworks", to find out and understand the potential influence unrealistic sexualized superheroines' bodies have on the female audience. And here is one of the conclusions the article serves us: " Exposure to the sexualized-heroine images resulted in lower body esteem". It then concludes that this might contribute to our understandings and belief about gender roles and body image expectations.

     Now, of course, I agree with this article since it summarizes most of my ideas (about females in comics and the portrayal of their body image) within the previous posts, AND it even gives a scientific psychological research behind it!! That is amazing because it makes me sound more reliable! Besides, it give more concrete explanation of the way women and men build their belief about gender roles from a young age as they read comics and watch comic movies. Maybe if we are more aware of the way sexualized heroines affect our subconscious, belief, and body esteem, then we might be more likely to resist taking super heroines bodies into an account when it comes to thinking of what our body image should look like.

superheroes influences

Hello reader, I found an article that has an interesting topic regarding men and women and stereotypes. In this Equally super?: Gender-role stereotyping of superheroes in children's animated programs they discuss that in certain shows if not all, women are portrayed as more vulnerable and weak then men, like always a housewife and they were less likely to be listened, noticed or rewarded more of like a toy to the men.  Also women are sexualized and portrayed more as trophies even if in cartoon unlike men they are more aggressive and more likely to have more control of the situation is what this article is stating. Kids as they view this whether male or female it influences them and they believe what they see is the right thing to do depending on what they are and it sets ideas on their still developing brain. It influences preferences for toys or games, kids also began to mimic behaviors by superheroes and some can be violent give that is a cartoon and its not realistic. Although children can't understand the difference between fantasy and reality until about 10 years of age this things can be very influential according Kaysee Baker and Arthur A. Raney. Female superheroes like always are very reveling, less clothing, slim pretty much perfect and more of a team member than a leader. On the other hand males are the leaders and portrayed as more muscular and in control. 

I have to agree with author of this article thing are getting out of control and the media is just trying to set things on children's mind. I do believe its on purpose because they have the power to change certain aspects of them, they should soon come to realization that times are changing. Many women particularly feminist do not like the idea of women still being portrayed as less than men when they are fighting very hard for equality. Media putting things on children's mind to persuade them to be the unrealistic superhero and females  giving in to men as they are the leaders and have control. 

 

Sex Role Stereotypes

(Original Image Here)

In Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, the authors address a specific study in superheroes and gender stereotype. Specifically in It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Gender Stereotype!: Longitudinal Association Between Superhero Viewing and Gender Stereotyped Play, several authors conducted a study where preschool children from Western and Northwestern USA were exposed to superheroes in forms of media, stereotypical male-play, and weapon play.  This experiment was conducted twice, each one year apart, and as a result the mother’s of the preschoolers reported that boys were exposed to more stereotypical-male play and for girls they preferred more weapon play.  According to the article, the purpose of their research was based off of theory that “that behavioral outcomes, such as play, are vitally important for both exploring and rehearsing gender roles” (Bussey and Bandura 1999).  After conducting their research they noted the effects of gender stereotyping in the media. They determined that “the more television children watch, the more stereotypical they are in terms of gendered personality traits” (Frueh and McGhee 1975). It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Gender Stereotype!: Longitudinal Association Between Superhero Viewing and Gender Stereotyped Play also expand on the social cognitive theory of gender development and understood “that superheroes would be more influential for boys than girls.” The article continues to elaborates on the play and gender roles, weapon play, parental mediation of media and concludes with the aims of study and hypotheses. The study showed that superhero media does contain very high amounts of gender stereotypes; there is no correlation whether these programs lead to an increase in male-stereotype play in preschool children.

             After reading this research, there are a couple of points made that I have agreed with. The first claim that I agree with is the claim that “this is no surprise given that females are often sexualized and misrepresented in many aspects of media” because not only are female superheroes over sexualized, every female seen on any form of social media are practically flawless. Another claim I support is that “Superheroes represent salient and powerful characters that are likely to grab children’s attention” because superheroes were meant for children; although they were drawn as if they were made for adults with the masculinity and femininity. This research of young children and stereotyped gender roles reinforces my beliefs on the unrealistic perfection of superhero body types and the effects they are having on today’s society.  

Superheroes are Antagonists

Halina Dour and Sally Theran, authors of the article, believe that the endorsement of the superhero ideal and maladaptive perfectionism is the main cause of our society's body image crisis. The superhero body images has lead to unhealthy eating attitudes and poor body esteem. More times than not, these attitudes and low self esteem lead to eating disorders. Dour and Theran have started a studt that examined the maladaptive perfectionism of these superheroes has direct affected children from ages twelve to fourteen. They believe, however, that future prevention strategies should focus on reducing the endorsement of the superhero body image when they have such an influence on the younger audiences.

I believe that in today's society, unhealthy eating attitudes and poor body esteem can be found mainly amongst our youth. Like Dour and Theran, I firmly believe that many of our children fear being overweight and are doing what ever they can to lose that weight in order to fit into the superhero ideal. In the process of losing weight, children will, diet and change their eating habits. Superhero body images have played such an imperative role in the decision of these kids that the societal pressure to be thin and to like picture perfect like "Superman" has lead to dangerous eating disorders. Like the authors of this article, I agree that when society places these superheroes on a pedestal, children view them as perfect. The inability to cope with failing to attain these standards is the stepping stone to unhealthy eating disorders and attitudes within our society's adolescence.

The Kirby exhibit and the female

 





  Hello!! Remember when we mentioned that hypersexualized women in comics are not only the female superheroes but also some female victims? Well, the frames from Jack Kirby's exhibit show a bit of a "stronger" woman and a bit of a "victimized" woman (not a victim but just very scared, vulnerable and powerless, essentially, even though she is not attacked or kidnapped by a supervillain). The nurse would be that vulnerable woman who gets scared by whoever the guy with the funny hat is (I never read this comic). The other woman, however, is not scared from him; she actually joins him apparently. The point is that she looks very attractive, sexualized, and powerful. the nurse also has a perfect body, however. In other words, we can ask ourselves are there any unattractive women in comics? ... Anyways, there are some visual effects within these frames that make things more exciting for the audience. For example, one common thing in all of the frames is the presence of many diagonal lines. As Molly Bang explains, diagonal lines represent motion, tension, movement. Also the shadows play a role as most of these frames have white background, indicating peace and hope, yet the frame in which the man appears and scared the nurse, the background is shaded mostly in black, indicating danger. As his shadow raises tall almost taking up the entire frame, the nurse is positioned in the middle of the darkness dressed in bright colors. This makes her stand out; she becomes very noticeable, therefore the reader focuses on her and her surprised reaction. Just as she is now standing out, we can see her entire physique- she seems to be in a good shape, which brings us back to our blog topic- body image. She does not need to be powerful or to be a superhero; she can be a scared helpless woman, yet she still looks quite well body wise. Why is that? Again, do all women in comics have to be sexualized in a way?

The way women and men are alike/different

Hello readers welcome back! so I went to the Jack kirby exhibit the past friday to see if any of the panels communicate anything related to what we have talking in these past weeks.  I found one that really shows how women and men differ, and in certain ways how they are viewed by society. In the top right panel the women looks vulnerable and the men are in control of the situation even though we know she is invisible women she seems to be accepting the fact that she has been captured and not fighting back. Molly Bang says that the center is always what we focus most on well she is our center of attention and we would expect her to act upon the situation but she just stays. Also, the way she looks she's perfect now flaws even though this comic was printed almost 50 years ago women are already being viewed having to have perfect waists and thin bodies and men being in control of them.

I Could argue that since the artist  Jack kirby, a male, could be responsible for portraying a women hypersexualized and influencing others, he should understand that comic books around that era were used as an escapism from all the things surrounding them especially towards kids.  He is given kids an image of a hypersexualized person by drawing a perfect woman/men which they see and knowing that they're superheroes they automatically want to become them both physically and morally.