The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines Paperback – September 1, 2009

It's not easy being a female in society, even in the 21st century. Men still make more money than women. Women face a daily assault over control of their own bodies. The media saturates the globe with images of scantily clad women with large breasts or women so thin you can practically see through them.For a super heroine, life is just as tough. And this book explores how super heroine's have evolved from some of the weakest super powered characters to some of the strongest.Beginning with the likes of the Blonde Phantom and continuing through the likes of Storm, Psylocke, Wonder Woman, Elektra, Manhunter, Black Canary, and many more, Mike Madrid explores the evolution of the super heroine. From the stereotypes faced by female super heroes, whether it's being over-sexualized (particularly during the 90s bad girl trend) or treated as being inferior to men or pining for a man to love her to the reasons the women would become crime fighters, Madrid explores how each decade brought changes in how females were presented in comic books. From meek wallflowers to strong women who were as brave and selfless as their male counterparts.From the 40s to the present day 21st century, Madrid gives us a peek into what makes a super heroine tick. As female super heroes traveled the road to equality, they faced the same obstacles as real world women. If they felt a certain way, they were bitches. If they fought as hard as men, they were too masculine. If they got rescued by men or bowed to their will, they were weak. For a long time, being a super hero was seen as not something women should do. To the male creators that dominated the industry, having a female super hero was placing them outside of where they belonged: the home. But as kids who grew up during the women's liberation movement became the comic book creators, things changed. Women became stronger and central to the comic book universes they belonged to. Things were not perfect, but things were changing. And they continue to evolve as the years go by.While the women of the real world still face a long road to equality, super heroine's are closer than they've ever been. Wonder Woman is featured in 3 different titles on a regular basis. Marvel publishes X-Men, featuring an all female cast. A cast that has proved that they are some of the strongest super heroes on the planet. The Invisible Woman is acknowledged to be the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, but still balances her "career" with being a wife and mother. DC and Marvel Comics feature an array of talented female creators and have pushed for titles with female headliners, such as Bat-Woman and She-Hulk. These heroine's can only inspire the Millennials to become the best they can be and not let their gender deter them from their dreams.If the comic book companies (and movie studios) fail in any way, it is that they have yet to come up with a decent movie where a female headlines. Elektra and Catwoman were notorious bombs. As was Supergirl. Wonder Woman has yet to have a movie and has struggled to find a place in the world outside a comic book. There is also a continuing trend where women are the targets of unrepentant violence, dubbed "Women in the Refrigerator Syndrome", although the characters often come out the other side stronger than ever. It is a trend that seems to be changing as more readers become vocal about the treatment of female characters.If anything that is the flaw of the book, not exploring that part of comic books. It is interesting to see how many female heroes have been killed, maimed, tortured, and raped compared to the male heroes. It would have made an interesting chapter in this book.If anything this book gives hope to the reader that as super heroine's get closer to equality, so do their real world counterparts.

An interesting book, although I did have a few problems with it.First, although it presented itself as being arranged chronologically the authors jumps around a bit within sections, and I think it would have been more effective to organize it by character, and take each character through her different portrayals. At some points I just felt like it was a bit all over the place.Second, I was troubled by the author's interpretations of many heroines powers. He places a lot of focus on the fact that many female characters have less "physical powers" - their powers tend to be based on manipulation of humans and objects - illusions, telekinesis, invisibility, etc. While some of these powers may not have initially been used to their full potential, I think it's problematic to assert that they are "lesser" powers or that a lack of physical strength makes the women unequal to their male counterparts. TYPICALLY, women are less physically strong than men, with greater verbal skills. It's important for female superheroes to have powers that women can relate to - having some physically strong heroines is certainly necessary since some women will relate to that. But many, if not most, women relate more to heroines whose powers are more based on manipulation and creation. Suggesting that these powers are inherently "less than" Superman's strength or Wolverine's indestructibility is inaccurate - just because the early writers didn't take full advantage of these powers doesn't mean they aren't valuable.A lot of my favorite heroines were barely mentioned, if they were mentioned at all - I probably would have liked it a bit more if characters like Rogue and Black Widow had received more attention from the author.Overall, this was a pretty good read, but I think I would like to read a similar book written by a woman, as a woman would clearly be in a better position to understand the implications of these characters.

Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy and the History of Comic Book Heroines"I lift cars, I can lift car door handles." -Wonder WomanBy Mike MadridIf you've ever pondered the history of your favorite adventure heroine you'll love this book. Well researched and entertaining to read, Supergirls, chronicles the superheroine's influential role in pop culture and her impact on society's perception of women. The book takes a historical approach to the superheroine's image and persona from the early 1900s to present day. Superheroine's have been repressed, empowered, protected and exploited over the course of time and have reflected the morals and spirit of the era.For example, in the 1940's when the world was at War the superheroine was fighting the Japanese and the Nazi's as patriotic soldiers and fighter pilots. At the war's end she retired her guns and became a more passive, yet romantic, partner for her superhero counterparts in the 1950s. When the Comic Authority Board later relaxed the rules for the depiction of women in comics she became an increasingly sexualized character. The women's movement and the sexual revolution gave the superheroine an independent yet sexually progressive viewpoint. And the 1980's reflected a hedonistic super-sexed party time.Today, the superheroine calls her own shots, addresses global problems, in addition to defeating the bad guy for world harmony. She's no longer an appendage for the superhero but a fighting force in her own right. If you ever wondered about She-Hulk, Supergirl, Batwoman, Catwoman or Wonder Woman then this is the book for you. Educational and interesting, author Mike Madrid, does an excellent job in conveying the curious relationship between women, culture and the comic superheroine.

A lightweight overview of a bunch of female comic characters. Disappointing.

Aucune référence. Ceci n'est pas un ouvrage sérieux.

Mike Madrid is a fan of comic books. This book is written for his fellow fans. The title is misleading - Mike is pretty light on sociology. He does cover the 75 years of these publications and I am sure he must name check every superheroine who has ever put in an appearance. But the analysis is superficial and does not get beyond stating the obvious. Thus in the 1970s some of the heroines took to disco and adopted more assertive postures reflecting women's liberation; the comic industry was slow to support civil rights and only very belatedly showed black characters, whether men or women; the increasingly sexualised graphics of the 90s reflect a broader tolerance of soft pornography etc. etc.. The history of different periods is given in a sentence or two. There are no references to any other writing on comics or other magazines. There is no discussion of feminism or fantasy - it's meaning is just assumed.Moreover, the relationship between society [American] and the comic culture is taken as one-way. How the comics may have affected American culture is never raised. There are no data on publication figures or the demographics of readership. Has the age range of readership changed? What about the international audience? There is no interest in how these comics affected and were affected by global culture; Japanese work gets one brief mention. The background of artists and writers is barely discussed - he does write a bit about William Marston, the creator of Wonder Woman, and the Image team, but otherwise nothing really.I came to this after reading Fraterrigo  Playboy and the Making of the Good Life in Modern America . For that reason it was a big let down. For Mike the comics and their heroes and heroines are all "about making the world a better place". Oh well, ok with that.That said I am sure fans will find it a valuable resource and I guess this is Mike's market. Playboy and the Making of the Good Life in Modern America