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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Table of Contents Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Emma Frost and Her Subversion of Gender Value Systems ...............33 Chapter 2: Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost's Antagonistic Partnership and Third Wave Feminism ......................................................................................................66 Chapter 3: Danger's Radical Feminist Villainy .....................................................93 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................111 References............................................................................................................120 iv
Introduction Every culture has heroes. Constructions of individuals who embody the very values that define a culture recur constantly in media. Hero narratives proclaim to their audiences, “This is the epitome of who we, as a people, are! When our culture lives, it lives as this!” As the prefix “super” implies, the superhero character takes the hero essence further. These heroes are positioned as existing outside of the societies they protect through their superpowers. Whether the superpower is physical, mental, or something else entirely, it is defined by superiority over what the rest of the superhero’s society could possibly achieve. That is, whereas normal people, even heroes, are bound by the laws of physics and biology, the superheroes are not. These superpowers defend helpless citizens from equally super villains, ones whose goals often lie in the destruction of whole cities or entire societies, against whom a normal hero could not compete. The traditional superhero is the hero who is perpetually unattainable; he or she is the embodiment not only of what a society is, as constructed through the vigorous defense of that society’s values, but what it wants to be, as constructed through a state of superiority. The superhero, more than any other type of hero, is what the culture in which the figure was created should be. It is easy to understand why American mainstream superhero comic books are often stereotyped as rigidly conservative texts. It is logical that if the heroes and victors of the stories are fighting to preserve a defining set of values for the society in danger, then the hero is defending and preserving the social systems that are already in place rather than questioning what aspects of that society need to change and progress. 1
Page 1 and 2: The Thesis Committee for Molly Loui
Page 3: Abstract Gender, Feminism, and 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 and 34: etween Kitty and Emma. The connecti
Page 35 and 36: Footnotes 1 Comic book history is t
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 ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?