The Comic Book Dichotomy

It's no secret that comic book superheroes aren't exactly drawn to realistic human proportions. They go beyond looking fit and healthy - the women are super skinny with giant breasts and the men look 'roided up beyond all belief. Take a look at this picture, which is what Captain America's Chris Evans would look like if they jacked him up to his character's comic book body:

Yeah, little odd looking if you ask me. And it definitely strikes a chord with me, a new fan of the comic series (though I'll be wading into it at a fairly slow pace until I manage to get a job). I love the stories but not a fan of how the hero looks.

When I talk about how women in comics, video games, and anime are depicted, men often chime in that comic book guys don't look all that realistic either. I usually reply by reminding them that while women in these genres are drawn to appeal to the male fantasy of sex, the men are drawn to appeal to the male fantasy of power. They're both drawn with the male consumer in mind. Not that I'm complaining about the casting of Chris Evans in Captain America, he's one of the sexist men alive in my opinion, but I don't know how many women are attracted to his original comic book counterpart. Women tend to be attracted to more average or even feminine looking male characters like Link from the Legend of Zelda games. If women had their way, Steve Rogers would be drawn to look more like Chris Evans.

If you still don't believe me, head on over the The Escapist and watch Movie Bob's take on the issue. I'll wait. Don't be put off by the intro, he'll get to this quickly enough.

In respect to comics specifically, I've noticed that a lot of superheroes, at least mainstream ones, were somehow transformed into these muscly manly men. They started out as scrawny little boys and, either through science, aliens, or some life altering experience, were changed into powerful men. This seems to appeal to the average male reader, serving as a sort of inspiration or metamorphism fantasy.

All that said, I do want to take on the issue of hypermasculinity in comic books, because while it's not as bad as, say, every woman sporting a D cup and a plunging neckline, it is worth discussing. To me, the issue isn't about how men or women are depicted, the problem is the dichotomy between the two. The men are impossibly strong, the women tend to be impossibly sexual. There's hardy any overlap in mainstream comics. No feminine men, no androgynous women, the gender roles are hardly being blurred in the realm of comic books. Even heroes who are made fun of for being "lame" still have six packs and enormous biceps, even women who are mocked for being strong instead of weak still have huge boobs. Even Black Widow, who has somehow earned the Avengers the most feminist film released this year, is shown on the movie posters as being weirdly contorted, showing off her sexual assets rather than any physical strength. She may be a great spy and she may kick ass, but she's still an example that women usually have to rely mostly on something other than brute physical strength (magic, sex appeal, archer skills, intelligence, etc.) to succeed as a hero, while that's usually a male hero's best asset.

I leave you with this: put more muscle and less boobage on Wonder Woman or Black Widow, and you still have a kickass superhero. Put skimpy costumes, less muscle, and more feminine features on Superman or Captain America, and you probably have a joke.