The not-so-super world of female superheroes.

s.
The not-so-super world of female
superheroes.
Mary Stortstrom
When one thinks of a superhero, the word usually conjures up an image of a person in
costume leaping from rooftop to rooftop in a city and saving people while taking out villains. Female
characters in superhero roles more often than not are less active than their male counterparts. The
male superheroes are more active—they are the subjects that propel the story. Female superheroes
are made out to be objects—the way they are dressed and posed makes them something to be
looked at rather than a person performing an action. The objectification of female superheroes is
related to the psychoanalytical theories of Freud, Lacan, and Jung.
Freud’s theory about the formation of the unconscious is important to understanding
superheroes as an extension of the human psyche. Freud describes the pleasure principle as the
desire for immediate gratification. People want to be better than themselves—better than human.
That is the gratification we get from stories about superheroes. Superhero stories allow us the
escape from our own limitations and weaknesses, whether physical, emotional, or mental. The reality
principle is that which Freud describes as the deferral of gratification that is sought through pleasure.
Reality hits superhero lore twice as hard as in other literature. First, there is the reality within the
story, the alternate identity of the hero as a regular person. Even heroes must keep their balance
between the jobs they are called to do by society and those jobs they must work to pay the rent. The
second way that reality hits is with the reader, who is reminded that people can’t be better-thanhuman (“superhuman”) in real life and that their hopes for extra skills and abilities are only a fantasy.
The repression that forms out of this imbalance between the pleasure and reality principles is the
unconscious, according to Freud. Keeping with this example, the superhero is a conscious
expression of the unconscious tension between the desires of everyday people to better themselves
in an extreme fashion and the fact that superpowers are not real.
Freud’s structural model of the psyche is divided into three main parts, with three subdivisions
among them. The first of the three main parts is the conscious, the functions of the brain that we are
aware of. The next of the main parts is the preconscious, which is readily available to the conscious
mind, although it is not in use. The preconscious is composed of latent thoughts and memories. The
unconscious is the last of the main parts of Freud’s structural model, and it can never be directly
accessed by the mind. The subdivisions come into play next, and they are the id, the ego, and the
superego. The id is the base desires and instincts of the individual. The id only communicates below
the threshold of consciousness, that is to say, it rules the unconscious. The id projects images and
dreams, drives and motivates the individual, and seeks instant gratification (pleasure). The ego is
present in everyday, waking consciousness, although it can be found in the preconscious and
unconscious as well. The ego represents the reality principle. The superego is found in the
preconscious and polices the individual’s thoughts. The superego understands the id language of the
unconscious as well as the ego language of the conscious and must maintain the balance between
pleasure and reality.
Jacques Lacan proposed a different theory of the human psyche and how it develops as
people mature. According to Lacan, there are three structures of the psyche: the real, the imaginary,
and the symbolic. The real is the world that we are born into as infants. We know nothing about it,
and do not remember it. It is abstract, and there is no way to define it since it is experienced before
we learn language. In comic books, the real can be represented by the panels of the page and the
space between them. The reader’s brain skips over them and focuses on content, but they are still
there and organize the story.
Lacan’s second structure is the imaginary,
which the child enters into once they learn
language. It is at this point that we are forever severed from the
real. For Lacan, Freud’s unconscious is structured as language
and is a formation as complex and sophisticated as
consciousness itself. Returning to the comic book analogy, the
imaginary stage is the graphic content of a comic. The images
that the reader sees are telling the story.
The final Lacanian structure of the psyche is the symbolic.
The symbolic is the individual’s entrance into society and
adaptation to dealing with the rules and dictates of society. The
symbolic is the social order of linguistic communication. In comic
books, the symbolic is the text that goes along with the images.
The symbolic is what is being said by the characters or the narrator in the story.
Another concept from Lacan that adds to the idea of the
symbolic order is the Name-of-the-Father. The Name-of-the-
Father is the set of rules and restrictions that control the
individual’s desire and communication. It is through the
recognition of the Name-of-the-Father that entrance into the
community of others is allowed. In the DC and Marvel comic
book worlds, the restrictions placed on female superheroes
show that they are living in a patriarchal society. The creators
of the DC characters Batgirl, Catwoman, and Wonder Woman
are all male, as can be found on the DC comics website.
Marvel, on the other hand, has a separate page on its website
for its female characters,
http://www.marvel.com/universe/Category:Women that includes
character bios for Spider Woman and Ms. Marvel but does not
have the names of the creators of the characters. In addition,
the outfits and poses that the female superheroes are drawn in
show them as objects to be looked at more than active subjects
who will save the day.
Looking at women can be defined in an idea called the
gaze. The idea behind the gaze is that the person looking feels
that they are in control of their eyes looking at something, but
that feeling of power is undone by the material looking back at
the viewer. By the object looking back at the viewer, the viewer
is reminded of their lack of power and that the symbolic is only
separated from the real by a small margin. Scopophilia is the
“love of watching”. It is gazing and deriving pleasure from it.
Voyeurism is scopophilia in which the viewer takes sexual gratification from watching others in secret.
Usually, the object that is looked at is engaged in a sexual activity.
Female superheroes suffer from being the
objects of the gaze and scopophilia. In the picture
of Ms. Marvel above, she is being looked at and
controlled like a puppet by a man who is watching
her. He appears to be enjoying it, so he could be
engaged in scopophilia or voyeurism. He is also
pictured as larger-than-life, looming over her with a
menacing grin. Strangely enough, Ms. Marvel’s
facial expression does not seem to show her too
upset about her situation. Then there is also the
fact that the reader is observing the entire scene
as well.
Ms. Marvel’s example is not the only one.
In the picture of Catwoman and Batman to the left,
both are on a rooftop high above Gotham city, but
the position they are in is a very suggestive one.
Batman is hanging on to Catwoman with his arm
around her waist, but with his other hand he seems to
be ready to hit her with his weapon. Catwoman is still
holding a fistful of jewelry, and with a calm expression,
has her whip around Batman’s neck, choking him.
They are looking at each other, but it is up to the reader
to decide if the two are about to kiss or fight.
Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious
states that there is a common unconscious shared
across peoples and cultures around the world. For
examples, myths of virgin birth stories are found in
other cultures besides Christian ones. People from
different cultures have similar dreams, Jung found.
This collective unconscious points to a shared
psychological connection between all people.
There is also a common theme to the way
female superheroes are drawn. They are all thin, yet
very curvy and muscular. Their costumes are skin tight,
and those who wear masks have their entire faces
covered. Compare Wonder Woman to Batgirl in the
following pictures. Wonder Woman has a similar costume
in that it is very tightly fitted, but she does not wear a mask.
Batgirl on the other hand, has her entire face and body
covered. Her costume echoes that of Spider Woman, who
is also entirely covered in a tight costume, with a full face
mask.
It has now become clear how the phenomenon of
the objectification of female superheroes occurs. From
Freud’s theory on the formation of the unconscious, we
understand why superheroes exist as an extension of the
psyche. Lacan’s three stages of development, the real,
imaginary, and symbolic, can be found in different
elements of comic book pages. Lacan also put forth his
idea of the Name-of-the-Father, the idea that to enter into
the symbolic phase of development and join a community
of others, an individual must learn and adhere to a set of rules and restrictions. Female superheroes
are also under a set of rules and restrictions in a patriarchy, as their creators are male, and they are
objectified to the gaze. Finally, Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious can be applied to the
common theme of superhero costumes. Female superheroes are not subjects who take action, but
are subjected to objectification through a set of patriarchal codes.