Whenever I blog about the exaggerated breasts or ass of a female cartoon character, commenters respond that I have nothing to complain about: all cartoons are caricatures.
There’s a difference between exaggerating muscles and exaggerating someone’s butt. Here’s artist Kevin Bolk’s take on “The Avengers.”
Of course, “The Avengers” model, with its pathetic 5: 1 male/ female ratio and then sexualizing that lone female, is not unique to that group of superheroes.
Check out the Justice League’s latest cover. Notice any similarity?
Here’s the artist Coelasquid’s “If Superheroes Posed Like Wonder Woman.”
I love Coelasquid’s art because it shows so clearly that it’s not only the clothes put on female characters but the poses they are in.
Though of course, the clothes don’t help much. Here’s Theamat’s “If I Don’t Get Pants, Nobody Gets Pants:”
Wonder Woman with no pants was created by (and for?) grown-ups but it leads to Wonder Woman with no pants showing up as a LEGO minifig.
Or most recently, in the ensemble movie “Pirates!” for kids, in theaters right now, there’s one female and she shows up looking like this:
Females are half of the population, yet because they are presented as a sexualized minority in so many movies for adults, they are also presented as a sexualized minority in movies for kids. Those roles are then replicated in kids’ toys and most tragically, in kids’ imaginary play.
Female characters account for only 16% of all characters in movies for kids.
Here’s an interesting coincidence: across the board in all professions, women at the top don’t make it past 16%.
Do you think limiting females in the imaginary world limits them in real life? Unfortunately, your kids do.