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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Importantly, the text allows these multiple perspectives on feminism and heroism to interact within the same space. This open-minded approach to the superhero narrative moves the focus of flawed feminism from the problem itself to how the characters deal with and are affected by the problem. If feminism has many possible manifestations, then the key to understanding it is not to observe conflict but to observe the character as she tries, successfully or unsuccessfully, to push through that conflict. Furthermore, shifting focus away from compromise and friendship and toward respect and tolerance may provide insight into negotiating third wave feminism in media texts that contain opposing feminist views. By analyzing Danger, Emma Frost, and Kitty Pryde, this thesis explores connections among feminism, gender, and heroism in the Astonishing X-Men comics to reveal an unusual perspective on fictional female heroes in media. 30
Footnotes 1 Comic book history is typically divided into two eras. The Golden Age began in the 1930s and is most prominently defined by D.C. Comics. The Silver Age began in the 1960s and is most prominently defined by Marvel Comics. As explained in the literature review, some people identify a literary shift in the 1980s that marks a third era that is not yet commonly named. 2 This is not to say that heroism, gender, and sex have been explored exclusively through female hero characters. Male heroes and non-hero characters are also very important in understanding these complex cultural constructions. Such characters have been excluded from this particular discussion for purposes of space and clarity, as they are not the focus of this project. 3 Creating superheroes who are female versions of already established male heroes has become a much less common practice since the 1980s. However, because many of these characters are still written as integral elements in current Marvel comics, the issue is relevant to comics published after the 1980s as well. 4 This is not to imply that gender as a stimulus variable predicts aggression style as a rule. As with all behavioral tendencies, exceptions do occur. For example, domestic violence against women and violent bullying against homosexuals are obvious recurring instances of physical aggression against feminine people. In these cases, motivation includes attempts to control another person, which extends beyond the standard intent of aggression to harm a person in a single isolated instance. In this way, the exact circumstances of the aggressive act(s) will inevitably affect the style of aggression 31
Page 1 and 2: The Thesis Committee for Molly Loui
Page 3 and 4: Abstract Gender, Feminism, and Hero
Page 5 and 6: Introduction Every culture has hero
Page 7 and 8: X-Men comic book series written by
Page 9 and 10: how characters have changed to fit
Page 11 and 12: savior/victim relationship exist, a
Page 13 and 14: masculinity that will be discussed
Page 15 and 16: stronger and more skilled than they
Page 17 and 18: feminists as recipients of this sam
Page 19 and 20: generally smaller than male heroes,
Page 21 and 22: movement. Because comic book panels
Page 23 and 24: and relational aggression (sometime
Page 25 and 26: gender liberation and not on any on
Page 27 and 28: society. This patriarchy, they argu
Page 29 and 30: should take precedence over another
Page 31 and 32: gender, overt sexualization, and wo
Page 33: etween Kitty and Emma. The connecti
Page 37 and 38: Chapter 1: Emma Frost and Her Subve
Page 39 and 40: saved), the more heroic the man bec
Page 41 and 42: counterparts, but they then transit
Page 43 and 44: possible only as long as I wasn’t
Page 45 and 46: texts for value placed on gender to
Page 47 and 48: from the original X-men team] looke
Page 49 and 50: feminine sexuality as a form of emp
Page 51 and 52: lifestyle. This, however, is certai
Page 53 and 54: within the context of the narrative
Page 55 and 56: in medical professionals. Emma insi
Page 57 and 58: York City, and the X-Men, later joi
Page 59 and 60: action, as Colossus does. As the vo
Page 61 and 62: talking to Cassandra and had preven
Page 63 and 64: etween her belly button and knees.
Page 65 and 66: The groups eventually meet up again
Page 67 and 68: society, then constructing a charac
Page 69 and 70: Footnote 1 For those who are unfami
Page 71 and 72: messages exist in popular texts lik
Page 73 and 74: These conflicts are represented in
Page 75 and 76: were less humorous and more violent
Page 77 and 78: Kitty is visually constructed as Em
Page 79 and 80: The form-fitting uniform reveals de
Page 81 and 82: distinctly feminine and masculine,
Page 83 and 84: disapproval with each other is not
Page 85 and 86:
elationship is portrayed as mutuall
Page 87 and 88:
the other, but on the battlefield,
Page 89 and 90:
eflects an amount of femininity on
Page 91 and 92:
ack to her former self when she rea
Page 93 and 94:
“play[ing] the weak kitten” (20
Page 95 and 96:
attle that can easily stand in for
Page 97 and 98:
Chapter 3: Danger’s Radical Femin
Page 99 and 100:
Radical feminist ideology is extrem
Page 101 and 102:
example, consciousness-raising can
Page 103 and 104:
X-Men, and Helene Shugart (2009) ha
Page 105 and 106:
previously curvy metal slabs. Furth
Page 107 and 108:
DANGER’S IRREDEEMABLE VILLAINY Th
Page 109 and 110:
successfully killing them, so Dange
Page 111 and 112:
evenge-fueled goals, rather than th
Page 113 and 114:
prevalently in what is in many ways
Page 115 and 116:
Conclusion Joss Whedon and John Cas
Page 117 and 118:
eing a hero. Ultimately, femininity
Page 119 and 120:
ejection of comic book women’s no
Page 121 and 122:
heroic cause, and, in Professor Xav
Page 123 and 124:
Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men have
Page 125 and 126:
a new feminist movement. Journalism
Page 127 and 128:
established dyads: Effects of compe
Page 129 and 130:
martians, and pregnant men. Teachin
Page 131 and 132:
dilemmas in young adults’ discurs
Page 133:
Whedon, J., & Cassaday, J. (2004-20
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?