Pushing Perceptions of Female Superheroes

Women have often been the subject of controversy in comics. Frequently subjected to gender stereotypes, women have been depicted as supporting characters with heightened sexual characteristics. In 1941 American psychologist William Moulton Marston created the fantastical character of Wonder Woman, the first widely known female superhero. Inspired by early feminists such as Margaret Sanger, Wonder Women began to push boundaries and challenged social stereotypes.

With the recent release of the much-anticipated Captain Marvel, we are introduced to Vers, a former female US Air Force officer known as Carol Danvers. She survived a freak crash that not only gave her enormous powers, but that also affected her memory. Danvers was trained as a military soldier on Earth and by the Kree alien race. A battle leads her to crash into earth in the 1990s where she begins to further question her origin and discovers who she is.

Released on International Women’s Day, it is in many ways ground-breaking, having had many women involved in the production of the film. Her battles are more than just with an alien race however and each moment, each challenge, leads to another enlightened understanding of who Danvers once was and who she was ultimately meant to become. Women today face similar battles. It is Danvers’ path in finding herself through understanding her past that leads to discovering her true powers and accepting who she once was and now has become.

During the six years with the Kree, Danvers was unaware of her true power thanks to the implant they put in her. In training, she would be told to control her emotions. However, even though her physical powers were suppressed, Danvers was strong and could hold her own. “You don’t have to be a sex symbol to be successful,” says Nic Dawn, who has a BA in Psychology from Brock University, who saw the film multiple times. “You can be successful in and with your own strength and knowledge”.

Often women are relegated to the “damsel in distress” or love interest within movies and comics. For girls to be able to see a strong woman lead in a major film shows that they are just as smart, strong and able to be the main hero as any male. “This type of film would not have succeeded 10 – 20 years ago,’ says Hugh Towes, an avid Marvel and DC comic fan and performing arts graduate from McMaster University. “The cinematic scene for women back then was closer to either outrageous boobage and partnership to the main male character, or a femme-fetale that could not be tamed.”

Captain Marvel brought together a single mom,
a community that had been ostracized,
and stood up for what was right and for what needed to be done.

Nic Dawn

Danvers’ strength is her resilience and determination that pushes past stereotypes. “I think this movie shows a strong woman moving forward on her own strength while utilizing the assets and skills in her friends around her,” says Dawn. “Captain Marvel brought together a single mom, a community that had been ostracized, and stood up for what was right and for what needed to be done.”

The number female-leads in films is helping change the industry. “I think that the many-female cast in creation helped perpetuate the image that women [in the entertainment industry] can be powerful as well,” agrees Towes. “It isn’t as if they were never there, it’s just with this release as well as previous movies like Wonder Woman or on TV (Supergirl) that women are transcending the idea of being pretty eye candy.”

Captain Marvel stays true to herself as a woman and makes what some consider her weakness her greatest assets. A hero is “a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Captain Marvel illustrates that women today are more than supporting characters – they are heroes to their own stories and the people around them. “There are more and more women in key leadership roles and the messages works right alongside that,” says Dawn.

We live in a society where more and more women have stepped out on important issues and having strong role models on and off-screen empowers those that come after us. “I have always struggled with the glass ceiling and the fact that women are sometimes given key positions but not always paid well or treated equally to that of their male counterparts,” says Dawn. “I think there is a shift and I think this movie again shows a strong woman moving forward on her own strength while utilizing the assets and skills in her friends around her.” Towes agrees ad feels that the movie benefits the campaign to equalize gender norms. “Having so many women working on a movie just shows how far society has come in allowing women to create and be equal.”

Throughout the film we see fragments of Carol’s identity appear to her, and each is amplified by discouraging and insulting remarks by men. However, it’s her will to pick herself up, fight on, and succeed that shines through.