Sexual objectification is “the process of representing or treating a person like a sex object, one that serves another sexual pleasure”, says Caroline Heldman of Everyday Feminism. It reduces a person to their sex appeal, ignoring their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Collective sexual objectification of a certain group of people over a period of time makes them seen as mere objects from which sexual pleasure is to be derived. We see it in our daily lives, and sadly, many of us experience it as well. Catcalling, victim-blaming, stalking, you name it. One thing that remains constant is that there are women and other misogyny-affected people who have several encounters where qualities like their personality and intelligence are dismissed, while their entire worth revolves on their sex appeal.
When Marvel Studios introduced Black Widow in 2010 as a side character in Iron Man 2 (2010), little girls around the world were overjoyed. There’s finally a bad-ass, strong, fearless woman in these big superhero films that they can look up to. We have seen many brave women with superpowers in media throughout the years. One recurrent theme is that the majority of them are mighty sad, their biggest asset is their ability to seduce men and they wear uncomfortable clothes which are usually very unhelpful while on a mission. But hey, at least it makes them look desirable to the male audience!
In comic books and films, the prototype for a woman with power is as follows: an hourglass figure, an unusually large behind and breasts and very less clothing. It seems to me that female superheroes depicted this way, does nothing to change the age-old narrative of women being pretty objects. They are seen as mere accessories in these macho male-centered comic books and movies. For a form of media with such a huge audience, majority of whom are boys, it’s quite sad to watch. These production houses have the power to change the mindset of millions of people around the globe and yet they only continue to disappoint us.
Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, has evolved throughout the years. In her initial appearance, she wore tight-fitted clothes that hugged her figure and could have restricted her movements, which is absurd because one of her key abilities is combat. Johansson herself has been asked bizarre questions during press meetings and promotional interviews, usually very unrelated to her role. Please do note that this is not the case with her male co-stars. And while most of the male superheroes had their solo movies and sequels, Black Widow continued to remain a side character till 2021, a decade after her debut. Black Widow (2021) was directed and written by women and maybe that is why we see this character as more than just a sexy agent in this particular film. The movie also highlighted female friendships and sisterhood. Natasha Romanoff was more than just a sad, traumatised, sexy character whose main purpose was to look good on the side-line.
Another favourite right now is Scarlet Witch or Wanda Maximoff played by Elizabeth Olsen. The actress herself has criticised her costume, saying that it shows too much cleavage. However, she was always depicted as a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps that’s the reason she was the only one given a costume with such a low neckline; to dilute the essence of her character. A female superhero could be mighty powerful and unstoppable, but it all comes down to her body. Moreover, it might be a good time to mention that Scarlet Witch is one of the most debated superheroes among young fans these days. It’s amusing, because she is clearly extremely powerful, yet you see fans who are blindly loyal to their very manly and very strong male superheroes play her down with silly arguments. “She’s too emotional”, “she’s selfish”. Okay, and? She could probably tear your oh-so-big-and-strong-heroes into pieces with a flick of her finger, let her be emotional and selfish.
While we’re on the topic of hated female superheroes, when Captain Marvel was released in 2019, surprisingly, a large portion of the audience was disappointed. She was one of the very few female superheroes who was not sexualised from the beginning. Fans claimed she was arrogant and cold. None of the above was a problem with a male superhero. Double standards, sigh. The fact that Captain Marvel is the most powerful superhero in the universe also did not sit well with our male audience, who were NOT being emotional over this, by the way. Do not misunderstand. Brie Larson did a fantastic job as Captain Marvel. Many fans would disagree though because apparently, she did not smile enough. What we learned from the controversy behind Captain Marvel is that a female superhero can fight aliens, go to space and save the world from destruction but she will not be given credit unless she smiles while doing it. Extra points if she shows a bit of skin while she’s at it.
Under DC, Wonder Woman has always been shown with a skinny waist, big chest and big hips. She wears just enough clothes to make the comic books kid-friendly. Wonder Woman (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) were both directed by Patty (Patricia) Jenkins. Meanwhile, Justice League (2017) was directed by a man, and we can clearly see the difference in the portrayal of Wonder Woman in these movies. Zack Snyder made Wonder Woman look like yet another good-looking, side character in Justice League. He turned Wonder Woman into a sex object, something that the female crew working with Patty Jenkins tried to avoid. The movie had multiple shots of the character’s cleavage and behind. Her undercover costumes included plunging necklines and tight bottoms. Instances like these are the reason why we need crew members who are not cishet white men.
The men surrounding Catwoman, such as Batman and Nightwing are portrayed as heroes with incredible strength and intelligence. Joker and Two Face are criminal masterminds. Meanwhile, Catwoman’s hero-like ability includes seduction. She’s hot. That’s it. That’s her thing. Catwoman is probably one of the most eroticised female superheroes out there. From the very beginning, from comics to on-screen, she has always been seen wearing the tightest outfits or wearing close to nothing at all. How is she expected to save Gotham City this way? Why are the male characters not dressed similarly? The reason is clear. The men are dressed to fight, to save the world. The women, meanwhile, are dressed to look pretty.
Graduate student Jessica H. Zellers concluded after her study of graphic novels that, “only 6% of all males were suggestively clad, partially clad, or naked; while of all the females, 38% were suggestively clad, partially clad, or naked.” This is a matter of concern. How are we expected to have young boys respect women when they are conditioned to think that women are simply not worthy of respect? And that they merely exist as objects of pleasure? To what lengths will various media-related industries go to please their male audience? And for how long will women and other misogyny-affected individuals continue to experience the vicious cycle of mass misrepresentation and further objectification?
The hyper-sexualisation and objectification of female superheroes leads to the conclusion that a woman has to be conventionally attractive to feel powerful. Their minds, their thoughts, their feelings, their immense intelligence, their mental and physical strength, and the very essence of their personality; it is all useless if they are not hot, if they do not cater to the male gaze. Little girls grow up thinking that they’ll never be able to excel if they’re not pretty. Even though we are seeing subtle changes in media now, there is still a long way to go. A way filled with obstacles in the form of realistic female characters being hated, the big strong men throwing tantrums because they don’t smile enough and the petty ones who will simply not consume any media in which a woman thrives.
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