Women In A Super-Powered World

By -
So I've been thinking about superheroines.

Sure, a good part of this is because Caitlin and I wrote Black and White, and we've begun work on the next in the series, Shades of Gray, and when you're writing about superheroes in a dystopian world, it's a bit difficult not to think about superheroines.

But part of it also is because I have two Precious Little Tax Deductions who are very into superheroes. I've been sitting through episodes of Super Friends and Justice League Unlimited and Ben 10 and Batman and The Batman (really--two completely different shows) and Superman and Voltron ("...and I'll form the head!"). And seeing all this spantastic action has made me think about the role of women in a super-powered world.

[Note: This is specifically about television versions of superheroines; comic books and novels are another topic. I believe that the medium in which a story is presented makes a difference in terms of impact--reading a book or a comic book about a superheroine is a different experience than watching the adventures of that superheroine on television. As Marshall McLuhan said, print is an active medium; television is a passive one. (Holy cats, grad school is coming back to haunt me!) Experiencing a medium actively is different than doing so passively. But the battle of the media is another topic completely. Anyway, my point here is that this blog post is about T.V. superheroines.]

Before anything else, I want to make it clear that I'm talking specifically about television heroines who have some sort of power or ability that sets them apart from other television girls and women (and heck, men). Wendy Harris from the original Super Friends (1973 - 1975) doesn't qualify. But Jayna from the later version of the Super Friends (1977 - 1984) does ("shape of...an eagle!"). Catwoman does because she dresses up in a costume, has spiffy gadgets, and goes toe-to-toe with Batman.

Watching shows from the 1970s and early 1980s with super-powered women (or, in the case of Cheetara, females) is a real trip. Look at Wonder Woman in the Super Friends * -- she is super strong and has a fantabulous magic lasso, and yet again and again, she is captured and wooed by the bad guy of all bad guys, Darkseid. Ditto Princess Allura on Voltron (1984 - 1986), who for the first season is constantly pursued by the villainous Lotor. Allura is a princess, same as Diana (Wonder Woman, of course) of Paradise Island. Even without their super strength or Blue Lions, these ladies wouldn't be helpless. And yet, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it seemed to be en vogue for these super damsels to continue to be in distress and get saved by the superheroes.

Not so in more recent cartoons. Look at Diana in Justice League Unlimited. This princess is no porcelain doll to be protected. She's a warrior as well as a woman. And she loves to flirt with Batman, apparatenly just to annoy him. Even by the mid 1980s, female super-abled heroines were becoming less dependent on their male counterparts to save them, as Princess Allura makes way for Princess Adora, also known as She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985 - 1987). Yeah, she gets knocked around and captured and whatnot, but she's also the one doing the knocking around as well as the saving.

And then there are the super-powered television heroines of today, like Gewn Tennison in Ben 10 and Ben 10: Alien Force. She's smart, confident, easily annoyed by her cousin (the titular hero), and wields phenomenal magical power (or alien ability to manipulate energy, but whatever). Gwen doesn't put up with Ben's crap, and she gives as good as she gets, whether she's 10 years old (in Ben 10) or fifteen years old (in Alien Force).

Superheroines on television: evolving to finally be just as self-reliant as their male counterparts...as well as still be team players. HUZZAH!

* Turns out, Super Friends had other heroines during its long run: Rima the Jungle Girl (1977 and 1980; Hawkgirl (1977, 1980 and 1983). I don't remember these characters, but man, I would love to compare Hawkgirl from the Super Friends with Shiara from Justice League Unlimited. I bet that Shiara would bash the SF Hawkgirl with her mace.

OKAY, CONTEST TIME: The winner of last week's contest is...
MarnieCollette! Congratulations, Marnie! Please email me at J A X aht J A C K I E K E S S L E R daht C O M with your postal addy, and I'll send you a signed copy of HELL'S BELLES, plus two all-new BLACK AND WHITE buttons!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE WRITE PRETENDAS

By -
Image
WE at the League of Reluctant Adults are pissed. Miffed. Put out. Thoroughly riled. We don't often get political, nor do we often get angry. But an angry Leaguer is an UGLY thing. Just look at Mark over there, all snarly with rage. Why are we angry, you ask? BECAUSE WE DIDN'T GET BOYCOTTED. There's this group calling itself "The Write Agenda," who claims to be a bunch of authors looking out for other authors. In reality, we're pretty sure they're a bunch of con artists who got mad at people calling them con artists. Why? Because they attack two of the best friends an author or an aspiring author can ever have: Writer Beware and Absolute Write Water Cooler . Here's John Scalzi's breakdown of what this Write Agenda is, and why they're doing what they're doing. For those not in the know, Writer Beware and Absolute Write Water Cooler are free services that collect information on agents, editors, and publishers. They report on thin...
Read more

Yeah, one more reluctant adult here with free books

By -
Image
Heeeyyy, everyone! For those who have no clue who I am, I'll keep this short. My name's Dakota Cassidy, and I write fluffy (like lightly whipped fluffy), humorous paranormals for Berkley Sensation. Mark Henry invited me to join the League after I threatened heinous acts of violence against his person, involving my stilettos and an old can of Aqua Net. After much resistance, and the utter ruination of a sassy pair of red pumps, here I am :) In celebration of my forced entry... er, induction to the League--I got booty for ya :) Here's what I'm in for, and this is what ya gotta do--post in the comments section. Just say hello--that's it :) That enters you in the contest for... A signed copy of the second book in my Accidental series,   Accidentally Dead , but that's not it. I'll buy TWO books--winner's choice--written by any of the authors here on the League. That means you could win books by Caitlin Kittredge, Jaye Wells, that meanie-butt Mark Henry, Miche...
Read more

Carniepunk Giveaway and Tour!

By -
Image
So, I'm sitting in my kitchen working at my laptop, as far as you know, when the doorbell rings. As any normal human being would, assuming there was a solicitor at the door or a sappy-eyed child selling diet-busting candy, I reached for my gun and slipped to the floor to avoid detection. Creeping across the hall, I lifted my head just in time to see the bestest shit-brown truck that ever existed barrel away leaving a puffy beige package on my doorstep, just like an unwanted baby...or THIS... YESSSSSSS!!! Carniepunk ARCs came!!! Now, some of you may know that this literary wonder was the brainchild of my friend and fellow Reluctant Adult, Kevin Hearne, author of such Iron Druidness as HOUNDED and star of a certain Single Ladies Dance Spectacular, featured here (feel free to witness that particular madness as you continue to read toward the inevitable contest): As excited as I am about my story in CARNIEPUNK (July 23rd), THE SWEETER THE JUICE (a post-apocalyptic zombie h...
Read more