The portrayal of women in American comic books has often been a subject of controversy since the medium's beginning. Critics have noted that both lead and supporting female characters are substantially more subjected to gender stereotypes (with femininity or sexual characteristics having a larger presence in their overall character / characteristics) than the characters of men.
History Golden Age of Comic Books
In the Golden Age of Comic Books (a time when the medium evolved from comic strips), women who were not superheroes were primarily portrayed in secondary roles. Some examples include: being classified as career girls, romance-story heroines, or lively teenagers.Robbins, Trina. From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of Women's Comics from Teens to Zines (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1999), pp. 7-8; Career-oriented girls included such characters as Nellie the Nurse, Tessie the Typist, and Millie the Model, who all appeared in comic books working jobs that non-wartime women of the era typically worked. Romance heroines were popular in the romance genre, pioneered by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Typically, the heroine was either a "good girl" or "bad girl", with both attributes not really affecting male characters' decisions. In the Archie Comics, the titular character can never definitively choose between his two love interests Betty and Veronica. These characters typify the dichotomy between the good Girl-Next-Door-type versus the dangerous allure of her foil, the "Bad Girl". The duo got a comic of their own in 1950. Betty and Veronica quickly became popular, featuring the two lead characters, who continually obsessed about boys, and fought over who would get to date Archie.
Costumed female crimefighters were among the early comic characters. One of the earliest female superheroes appearing in newspaper strips was the Invisible Scarlet O'Neil by Russell Stamm. The tough, fighting Miss Fury, debuted in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills in 1941. A particular publisher, Fiction House, featured several progressive heroines such as the jungle queen Sheena, whose sex appeal helped launch the comic series. As Trina Robbins, in The Great Women Superheroes wrote:The Great Women Superheroes Kitchen Sink Press, 1996, page?
One of the earliest female superheroes is writer-artist, Fletcher Hanks's minor character Fantomah. She is an ageless, ancient Egyptian woman living in modern times, who could transform herself into a skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil. She debuted in Fiction House's Jungle Comics #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The first widely recognizable female superhero is Wonder Woman, from All-American Publications, one of three companies that would merge to form DC Comics.
In an October 25, 1940, interview conducted by former student Olive Byrne (pseudonym 'Olive Richard'), and published as "Don't Laugh at Comics" in Family Circle, William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books. A follow-up article was published two years later in 1942.Richard, Olive. Our Women Are Our Future This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications. Two of these companies that would merge to form DC Comics.
At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. In the early 1940s the DC line was dominated by super-powered male characters such as the Green Lantern, Batman, and his flagship character, Superman. According to the Fall 2001 issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was his wife Elizabeth Holloway's idea to create a female superhero.'Who Was Wonder Woman? Marston introduced the idea to Max Gaines, (co-founder along with Jack Liebowitz) of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed Wonder Woman with Elizabeth (whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman). In creating Wonder Woman, Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship.Les Daniels, Wonder Woman: The Complete History, (DC Comics, 2000), pp. 28-30. In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote:
Wonder Woman is an Amazon Princess; the Amazons were daughters of Ares, the god of war in Greek Mythology. and were created to be stronger and wiser than men.
Some of Marston's early stories portrayed Wonder Woman in some non-traditional roles such as President of the United States and a modern-day Incan Sun God.
Despite these portrayals of women in leadership roles, editor Sheldon Mayer was disturbed by the recurring bondage imagery.Daniels, Ibid. p. 6 If Wonder Woman's bracelets were chained together, she became as weak as any other woman. According to Marston this bondage imagery was a reflection of the suffragette movement's use of bondage. Suffragettes would tie themselves to well-known buildings, in protest. He insisted it was important that she could be seen freeing herself, both literally and symbolically, from man-made bondage, but he also upheld some ideals of submission to "peace, restraint and good judgement".
One issue dealt with Wonder Woman losing control because her bracelets had broken; she was driven mad because the bracelets represented restraint, and stated "power without self-control tears a girl to pieces". Other writers portrayed Wonder Woman in more conventional female roles of the time. After a survey was conducted among Justice Society Readers, Wonder Woman was admitted to All-Star Comics # 11.
Although it was published concurrently with Marston's run in Sensation Comics, the writer of Justice Society kept Wonder Woman in the limited position as Secretary of the League, rarely involving her in action. In 1947 Marston died, and although his widow petitioned to be hired as a writer, DC instead hired Robert Kanigher. Under his direction Wonder Woman's physical prowess declined. She was no longer depicted in chains, she became more and more submissive, and her priorities shifted to be more conventional to gender roles of the time. Between crime fighting, Diana Prince engaged in more so-called feminine jobs as a babysitter, fashion model, or movie star and in her classic job as Steve Trevor's secretary, with a new dedication to marrying him. A new form of bondage that Wonder Woman craved was the mantle of wife and mother. In one Sensational Comics issue, Wonder Woman tells a woman that she envied her life as a mother and wife.
During World War II, women assumed jobs formerly occupied by men, becoming truck drivers, stevedores, and welders. The same was reflected in comic books, as heroes such as Hawkman turned to their wives or girlfriends for help, creating a new category of heroines: the partners. Many women, after World War II, refused to give up their newfound freedom, creating a massive crisis in formerly assumed definitions of masculinity and femininity. The femme fatale (prevalent in The Spirit comic book) exemplified this crisis: a strong, sexually aggressive woman who refused to stay in her traditional "proper" place.Thomas Andrae, Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity, University Press of Mississippi, 2006, , p. 95
This post-war tension affected the comic book industry directly when a Senate Subcommittee was created to address a perceived rise of juvenile delinquency. Influenced largely by Fredric Wertham's book published that same year, Seduction of the Innocent, a public hearing was held to determine if juvenile delinquency and comic books were linked. Wertham had specifically attacked the portrayal of many comic book women, stating: "They are not homemakers. They do not bring up a family. Mother-love is entirely absent... Even when Wonder Woman adopts a girl there are Lesbian overtones".
Comic books were deemed to be a threat to the standards of American decency, and instead of undergoing government regulation, the Comics Magazine Association of America agreed to create and adhere to its own code of self-censorship. The code explicitly censors violence, sexuality and "abnormal" romance for the implicit purpose of "emphasiz[ing] the value of the home and the sanctity of marriage" and a re-enforcement of traditional gender roles.
Silver Age of Comic Books Between 1961 and 1963, romance comics were one of the top two comic book genres. This genre influenced many superhero comics of the era. Although superhero titles would eventually become the leading genre, DC Comics' Young Romance would end its thirty-year run in 1977.Trina Robbins, From Girls to Grrrlz: a History of Women's Comics from Teens to Zines, p.77, Diane Pub Co, 1999,
After the implementation of the Comics Code, DC Comics implemented its own in-house Editorial Policy Code regarding the portrayal of women, which stated: "The inclusion of females in stories is specifically discouraged. Women, when used in plot structure, should be secondary in importance, and should be drawn realistically, without exaggeration of feminine physical qualities".Uslan, Michael. Batman in the Fifties (2002) Introduction, p.5. , 2002 Most of DC's Silver Age superheroes each had a major female supporting character. These included three career women: journalist Lois Lane, who worked at the Daily Planet with Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent; Jean Loring, lawyer and girlfriend of Ray Palmer a.k.a. the Atom; and aircraft manufacturer executive Carol Ferris, the boss of Green Lantern's alter ego, Hal Jordan. Iris West was the on-again, off-again girlfriend of the Flash's alter ego, Barry Allen.
Batman's supporting cast, beginning in the 1950s, occasionally included journalist Vicki Vale and heiress Kathy Kane, whose alter ego was the motorcycle-riding masked crimefighter Batwoman. With a tip of her cowl to the Harvey Comics character the Black Cat, who preceded her by 15 years as a superheroine on a motorcycle, Batwoman used weapons as well, although hers included powder puffs, charm bracelets, perfume, a hair net, a compact mirror, and a shoulder bag utility case with matching bolo strap. Batwoman was created to be a romantic interest for Batman to invalidate the growing idea of a homosexual relationship between Batman and Robin.
During this time frame, the comics of the Silver Age of Comic Books published by Marvel and DC were different enough that if someone liked one, they were liable not to like the other. If they wanted the classic feel of the original 1940s superheroes, they would prefer DC offerings. If they wanted fast action mixed with the emotional angst reflecting a world where social unrest was slowly coming to a boil, they were more likely to read the Marvel offerings.Foreword, Doom Patrol Archives, Volume 2, pp.5-6, Roy Thomas, writer, , 2004 When Atlas Comics became Marvel Comics in 1961, many brand new women superheroes were introduced; these superheroes were given supporting roles. The first female superhero from the newly named Marvel Comics was the Invisible Girl, a.k.a. Susan Storm, charter member of the Fantastic Four.
Although female characters would develop and become cornerstones of the Marvel Universe, their early treatment would show a struggle to be recognized as equals. Supergirl of DC Comics went through such a struggle as she fights to gain an identity beyond being "Superman's kid cousin".
Bronze Age of Comic Books The Bronze Age of Comics reflected many of the feminist tensions of the era. The number of female characters, both heroes and villains, increased substantially in the 1970s, in response to the feminist movement, and in an attempt to diversify readership.Wright, p. 250 However, these characters were often stereotypical, such as the man-hating Thundra or angry-feminist parody Man-killer.