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The ‘Broke Back Test’: a quantitative and qualitative analysis of portrayals of women in mainstream superhero comics, 1993–2013

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 5; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/21504857.2014.916327

2150-4865

Carolyn Cocca,

Comics and Graphic Narratives

AbstractMainstream superhero comics have a reputation for portraying scantily-clad women with idealised bodies, posed in sexualised and sometimes physically impossible postures. This article explores whether such images are as pervasive as assumed, and whether their numbers have changed since the 'Bad Girl' heyday of the 1990s. I examine issues 1–6 of 12 current titles (two ensemble titles and four female-headed titles from DC; the same from Marvel), and then compare half of these to issues 1–6 of their previous incarnations in the mid-2000s and mid-1990s. In 24 titles/144 issues/14,599 panels, I find that almost every issue contains sexually objectifying portrayals of women, that women represent fewer characters even in female-headed titles, that women are objectified more often on covers than in panels and more often in ensemble titles than in female-headed titles, and that both ensemble and female-headed titles have less objectification in the 2010s than they did in the 1990s. I discuss the findings in terms of the politics of women's portrayals as both subjects and objects.Keywords: superheroesgendersexualityobjectificationsexualisationreception Notes1. This author was on the panel as well.2. Both DC and Marvel refused requests for permission to reprint panels and covers with the types of images described in this article. Please see the websites indicated in this note for such illustrations.These poses have also been labelled, 'Strong female superhero poses', in reference to Kate Beaton, Meredith Gran and Carly Mondardo's 'Strong Female Characters', a strip portraying female characters in such ways and with dialogue calling attention to the stereotypes of such portrayals (http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=311).For examples of tumblrs and websites with male characters in the postures of female characters, see: The Hawkeye Initiative (http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/), in which the male character of Hawkeye is put into such postures; 'What If the Male Avengers Posed Like the Female One?' (http://twitpic.com/9i8dcn); 'What If Male Superheroes Were Posed Like Wonder Woman?' (http://coelasquid.tumblr.com/post/8420220692/dreamsofawesome-wonder-womans-new-costume-looks); 'If Male Superheroes Were Drawn Like Female Superheroes' (http://www.thegeektwins.com/2011/09/if-male-superheroes-were-drawn-like.html).Some of this attention was set off in June 2012 by the solicitation for Catwoman #0 (to appear in September 2012), with a cover by Guillem March. It depicts Catwoman on all fours, arching her back and looking up, but she does not seem to have a torso or neck or legs – she is like five circles: a head, two breasts, and two buttocks. See, for example, 'Artists Respond to DC's Back-Breaking "Catwoman" #0 Cover' (http://comicsalliance.com/artists-respond-dc-comics-back-breaking-catwoman-0-cover/); 'The Real Problem of the Cover of Catwoman #0' (http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/24951190254/thereal); 'Internet Fittingly Lambastes the Ridiculous Catwoman #0 Cover' (http://www.uproxx.com/gammasquad/2012/06/sexist-catwoman-0-cover-parodies/#page/1); 'The Problem with Broke Back Catwoman'(http://www.thegeektwins.com/2012/06/problem-with-brokeback-catwoman-0.html); 'Webcartoonists Respond to the Cover of Catwoman #0' (http://www.themarysue.com/catwoman-0-cover/). The cover drew so much attention it was subsequently redrawn before publication. It remained anatomically ridiculous, but gave her a torso and legs and changed the angles of her posture slightly.As examples of those writing about or displaying such poses, see The Brokeback Pose (http://thebrokebackpose.tumblr.com/) and Escher Girls (http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/). See also, '10 Most Ridiculous Broken Back Superheroine Poses' (http://www.thegeektwins.com/2012/03/10-most-ridiculous-broken-back.html).There are a few male superheroes that are usually drawn as less hyper-muscular and are sometimes posed differently from the other males: the more acrobatic Robin, Nightwing, Daredevil and Spiderman. Swinging from rooftops or vaulting over villains, they have been drawn from behind or with their legs spread. However, they are not drawn with scanty costumes, nor posed in physically impossible or sexually submissive ways. Further, as comic writer Gail Simone has noted, 'You rarely see guy heroes killed in ways that thrust their crotches forward and expose their asses through strategic rips in their superundies' (as quoted in Stuller [Citation2010, 29]).3. See McCabe et al. (Citation2011) on the gender disparity in their study of over 5600 children's books, in terms of the titles and the central characters. 'The underlying message conveyed to children is that women and girls occupy a less central role in society than do men or boys' (201). And, 'Not showing a particular group or showing them less frequently than their proportion in the population conveys that the group is not socially valued' (200).A number of studies have found correlations between exposure to sexually objectifying media and higher self-objectification, body shame and surveillance, and eating disorder symptoms, particularly among young women (see, e.g., Moradi and Huang [Citation2008] for a comprehensive review of this literature). Note that there is no claim being made about causation in such studies. See Heflick and Goldenberg (Citation2009, 600), finding support for their hypothesis, consistent with Nussbaum (Citation1999) that 'objectifying women led others to perceive them as less competent and less fully human'. See Heldman and Cahill (Citation2007, 23), finding support for their hypothesis that 'self-objectification also has a negative effect on internal and external political efficacy'.See Gill (Citation2009, n.p.) on the juxtaposition of being 'confronted by a popular culture increasingly saturated by representations of women's bodies as objects, and, on the other, a mantra-like repetition and celebration of 'women's success' and 'Girl Power'.4. This style is sometimes referred to as Image house-style. Image Comics was founded in 1992 by a number of artists who were looking to have more creative control over their work, and to retain ownership of it. Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino were the founders. The art style often portrayed anatomically exaggerated male and female characters, but, as noted, with males the exaggeration was with musculature while with females it was usually with sexualised curves. The Image founding coincided with, or perhaps fostered or accelerated a similar trend known as 'Bad Girl' art, in which female superhero or antihero characters were portrayed in a manner that was both hyper-violent and hyper-sexualised.The term 'Bad Girl' comic art derives from the so-called 'Good Girl' comic art of the 1940s and 1950s, in which attractive women were sometimes portrayed as 'damsels in distress', sometimes as more active subjects. Female superhero characters were certainly objectified in this art, but in qualitatively different ways from the art of the 1990s–2010s at issue in this article. First, while the older drawings featured voluptuous women, they did not reveal anywhere near as much skin and curve as the current period, nor did they feature anatomically impossible proportions or anatomically impossible poses. See, for example, Quality/Fox's Phantom Lady, Timely/Marvel's Blonde Phantom, and Fiction House's Sheena: Queen of the Jungle and Señorita Rio (drawn by Lily Renée, one of a number of women hired by Fiction House during the War; Robbins Citation2013, 80). See also the first Wonder Woman story (All-Star Comics #8, 1941) by William Moulton Marston (w) and Harry G. Peter (a) in which passersby call the non-curvy hero a 'hussy' for her outfit –a full-coverage bustier and knee-length culottes. Second, there was more of a distinction between artistic styles in the postwar period, particularly in pin-up photography. The more 'common' version featured a woman 'head-on', looking 'natural' in a 'one-piece bathing costume', and the more 'disreputable' version featured a nude woman in 'willfully bizarre positions that run counter to most established notions of classical grace and line' (Dyer Citation1986, 29). While Good Girl comic art of the 1940s–1950s generally fell into the former category, the comic art of the 1990s–2010s falls into both. What I am quantifying here is the less 'natural' and more 'bizarre' type of positioning of the female body. Body types and posing in comics in the current period show the influence of both the rise of supermodels and the mainstreaming of pornography such that the earlier stylistic distinctions have become quite blurred (Madrid Citation2009).5. In posing the question this way I am referring to the idea of author and artist Alison Bechdel and her friend Liz Wallace, and what is usually called the 'Bechdel test'. The test, as posed by a character in Bechdel's comic strip, is to look at a work of fiction and test whether there are at least two women in it, who talk to each other about something other than men. There is a website (http://bechdeltest.com/) that tests movies in this way.6. Of the 24 titles, I had previously read only five; I did not 'stack the deck' with titles with which I was familiar. In fact, I knew that two of the five that I had read would not support one of my hypotheses.7. Comic writer Kelly Sue DeConnick has noted that there could be a 'sexy lamp test' for comics: 'Never mind the Bechdel test, try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft' (Hudson Citation2012). In my tallying I saw many instances of panels that portrayed women's bodies and body parts in ways that would have failed this test.8. Each panel was counted only once. That is, if a panel had 10 women in it and five of them were posed with an arched back and two others with excessive t&a, I counted it as one arched back. At first, I counted each instance, but found that in a few issues, the number of instances of objectification exceeded the number of panels. Although I found this problematic and worth some commentary in and of itself, (1) it only happened a few times and (2) it left me unable to calculate the percentage of panels in which objectification occurred. I wanted to retain the use of the total number of panels as a common denominator across the different calculations I performed.9. To be specific, Justice League #1 sold 180,000 in its first month, Justice League of America #1 sold 303,000 in its first month, Avengers Assemble #1 sold 101,000 in its first month and Avengers v. X-men #1 sold 203,000 in its first month (sales figures from http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales.html).10. This requires explanation for those unfamiliar with the character of Barbara Gordon. She is the original and current Batgirl (1967–1988, 2011–present). From 1989 to 2011, after being shot and paralysed by the Joker, she continued her crime-fighting work as Oracle, the leader of the female superhero team Birds of Prey. In order to compare the same character, in issues 1–6, and across three decades, I am comparing titles headed by Barbara Gordon rather than titles headed by Batgirl – 12 titled Batgirl; 6 titled Birds of Prey.Additional informationNotes on contributorsCarolyn CoccaCarolyn Cocca is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Politics, Economics, and Law at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury. She is the author of Jailbait: The Politics of Statutory Rape Laws in the United States (SUNY Press, 2004) and the editor of Adolescent Sexuality (Praeger, 2006). Her recent publications include 'Negotiating the Third Wave of Feminism in Wonder Woman' (PS: Political Science and Politics 47 (1): 98-103, 2014) and 'It's about Power and it's about Women': Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in Heroines through Literature and Popular Culture, edited by Maja Bajac-Carter, Bob Batchelor, and Norma Jones (Scarecrow/Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 215-235, 2014), and "Youth voices for change: building political efficacy and civic engagement through digital media literacy" (Journal of Digital and Media Literacy 1 (1): n.p., 2013).