Gender, Feminism, and Heroism in Joss Whedon and John ...

was one of only two measures in which male and female heroes significantly differed, the
other being that the women were also more emotional. This reveals that attractiveness is
one of the primary ways that female heroes are coded as both female and feminine.
Durham (2003) has expressed fear that in a modern context, this attention to appearance
means that such heroines’ value as cultural symbols stems primarily from their ability to
sell clothes, make-up, and other beauty-oriented products to women. Furthermore, these
constructions could serve to deny power to those real females whose bodies do not fit the
very stringent standards of beauty established in these and other media texts (Hains,
2007).
Attractiveness aside, the push and pull between masculine fighting and feminine
beauty in contemporary female heroes is still notably more progressive than the multitude
of other female characters constructed as powerless and unable to take care of
themselves. Many female characters, even so-called “heroes,” are often tied up,
reminiscent of bondage fantasies, and presented as in need of saving by their male
teammates, providing the motivation for action rather than acting themselves (Lavin,
1998; Tasker, 1993). In comic books specifically, many female characters are defined in
relation to a male hero counterpart (like Namor and Namora or Hulk and She-Hulk), an
association that defines them primarily by their status as women while ensuring that
whatever power they have comes from their relationship to a male character, as
repeatedly evoked when their names are mentioned (Lavin, 1998). 3
An alternative but still problematic common construction of female heroes relies
on their over-masculinization. Such characters are physically muscular (a sign of
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