AN ANALYSIS OF EMBODIMENT AMONG SIX SUPERHEROES IN DC COMICS

Abstract

AbstractThis study analyzes the changes in physical presentation of several DC comic book superheroes, finding that the bodies of superheroes have become far more sexualized, exaggerated, and unrealistic in recent years. The comic reader's upon the bodies of the characters produces an intersection of spectacle and narrative that cannot disconnected from both the physical body and the costume of the hero. Literature on the bodies of male and female bodybuilders reveals a connection to the hyper-embodiment of male and female superheroes, which represent the ego ideal of Western representations of perfect gendered bodies. The study concludes by asking if contemporary comic books must shift from the Modern Age to the Postmodern Age in order to break out of their practices of reaffirming gender binaries. The argument expands on work by Jean Baudrillard and Judith Butler.IntroductionThe goal of this article is to understand the ways in which male and female superheroes' bodies express not only their superpowers, but also their gendered identifications. Through an analysis of images from more than 70 years of DC comic book history, this study suggests that superhero characters have become hypersexualized, while their embodiment has increasingly represented hegemonic assumptions about males and females. This shift is most likely due to the fact that the comic book industry is male dominated, as is its consumer base (Taylor 2007; Yabroff 2008). This results in gendered narratives that reflect the imaginings of these males with almost no consideration whatsoever for the intervention of women. Although it can argued that men dominate many elements of cultural production, these men must consider the effect their decisions have on female consumers of their products. This necessity is virtually nonexistent in comic books because of the general lack of a female audience. Therefore, this study will strive to show the repercussions of this nearly exclusive male gaze on the physical presentation of characters.The masculinity of superhero comic books is not new: the birth of the superhero form in comic books can most readily traced to the creation of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1938. In many ways, Superman serves as the archetype for the superhero form, both in plot and uniform. He pioneered spandex, popularized the characteristics of a secret identity and powers greater than that of any mere mortal. Superman also emerged from and represents the male-centricity of superhero comic book production; he was created as a representation of masculine fantasies. According to Siegel, Superman represented the stereotypically idealized male body type and potential for power, as reflected in Siegel's claim that some of his ideas for Superman came from his childhood desire to terrific so that girls would like him (Harvey 1996)1.This study reveals that male-centric production and consumption of comic books results in a hyper-masculine character presentation of male characters and a hyper-fetishized and hypersexualized presentation of female characters. In addition, these character types have become more exaggerated during the seven decades that this study analyzes. The result is that the most hyperbolic bodies for male and female characters appear in contemporary comics. Furthermore, this study argues that the bodies of contemporary superheroes have moved in a postmodern direction, in which the gender signifiers lose all connection to real human bodies, becoming simulacra. This postmodernity is limited, however, by the comic book world's obsession with gendered bodies. Although in postmodernity the human body should be understood as multiple and without center (Call 2002:130), comic books maintain an ambivalent relationship to this idea. Ironically, this limiting obsession with bodies also pushes superhero characters toward their postmodern nature as simulacra in the first place. …