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

seams that are somewhat similar to a bustier, and a long white cape flows behind and
around her, attached to the top of her shirt rather than around her neck or on her back.
This cape is a key element as it allows for blocking the audience’s sexualizing gaze. In
many of the shots where Emma’s body would be shown, the cape instead covers her body
by falling partially or completely around her body in a cylindrical shape. A great number
of close-up shots of Emma’s and other characters’ faces also achieves this subversion of
gaze, cutting the covered or uncovered body out of the frame entirely. Of course, this
artistic style may serve other purposes, such as making the text seem more cinematic or
more melodramatic, but this does not change the fact that the feminine sexual body
remains out of view.
EMMA’S REJECTION OF POST-FEMINISM
While it seems that Emma’s sexuality may have successfully downplayed
throughout the Astonishing X-Men series, the text cannot avoid showing her body
altogether, and Emma’s cleavage often makes appearances even when her abdomen, hips,
and buttocks do not. This visual construction permits the audience to see Emma’s
attractive body and potentially to understand her clothing as post-feminist flaunting of her
sexuality to other characters in the story and to readers. Certainly the text, like Buffy the
Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Ally McBeal (1997-2002), is somewhat ambiguous in
this regard and offers readers a variety of interpretive positions.
However, three notable attributes of the text can push one’s interpretations of
Emma more toward third wave feminism than post-feminism. First, the construction of
the text’s fictional world and Emma’s actions within that construction reject the use of
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