The popularity of the superhero is something that dates back far beyond the invention of the comic book. History is rife with examples of “supermen” of sorts—brave, strong men that, by their own power, will, and occasionally supernatural help have achieved great success in their endeavors and overcome adversity whenever encountered. The cultural backdrop of the Western world has a perception of the infallible, usually male superhero that is rooted in the psyche of everyone exposed to even minor amounts of comic book, film, or video game culture. I believe that this portrayal of male superheroes is based on antiquated beliefs regarding the role of men in society, and that the trope of the selfless male superhero that is tasked with the responsibility of protecting innocents speaks to the larger issue of male objectification in modern society. Furthermore, I believe that male masculinity is inherently threatened by the singular portrayal of men in comic books and related superhero fiction—these mediums inherently stereotype the male into pre-defined gender roles that modern sexual equality movements have sought to overcome. The influence of the comics across the broad spectrum of media is impressive, and has clear objectification of men in superhero universes.
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I think the narrative offered by Goodlad in his book. “Why We Love Madmen,” offers a fascinating insight into the ways in which the duality of story characters can reflect extreme hypersexuality (34-113). For instance, Don Draper is the focus of Goodlad’s piece, and is main protagonist of the show. Goodlad uses Draper to illustrate the duality of the male stereotype—on one hand, Draper is an ethical business man, a good boss, and a protective manager, yet on the other hand is a philandering husband to his wife. From my own view, I think Goodlad described him as an “icon of masculinity-in-crisis for the 21st century” and someone that is worthy of admiration, respect, and pity for the situations in which he finds himself (63-91). I also noted that in some way, there is some similarity in idea with Warshow’s analysis The Gangster as a Tragic Hero. To begin, Warshow stresses the dilemma of the gangster—the gangster is someone who’s “while life is an effort to assert himself as an individual, to draw himself out of the crowd” and in response is always killed because “he is an individual […] a failure” (Warshow 585). I think Warshow feels that the gangster, much like Draper, is “doomed” because “he is under the obligation to succeed” and is not allowed to express himself as an individual within the constraints of society (585). There is an intrinsic fear of success in this approach, and I also noted that in these scenarios, the gangster is someone that repeatedly attempts to break away from his pre-defined role in society and achieve independence, but is unable to ever do so.
According to Brown, male superheroes and masculinity exist in a world where many argue that the “heterosexual male is the site of gender and sexual privilege in North American culture” (25). From my view, I concur with Brown that the depiction of men in superhero fiction is “perceived in extremes”; that is, the male is seen as either an utterly dominant physical creature with massively exaggerated attributes, strength, and sexual appeal and prowess, or he is seen as a “98-pound weakling” that is utterly and totally inept at even the most basic forms of social interaction (para 4). For instance, I have observed that rarely, if ever, are readers ever exposed to the average man in the many universe of the superheroes, with even innocuous characters like Uncle Ben of Spiderman fame portrayed as a paragon of virtue, patience, and wisdom; the “average man”, so to speak, is almost completely lacking in comic book and superhero fiction overall.
Calhoun argued that “societies have, in addition to economic systems, sex/gender systems that produce particular gender identities” (225). In other words, there are codified systems in place that exist in society that drive the evolution and development of particular gender identities; superheroes and the portrayal of masculinity in the world of popular fiction is certainly one of these. Gender identity is a social construct that is manipulated and molded by powerful forces in society—while superheroes may be seen as a small part of this, their overall cultural influence cannot be denied and is representative of broader themes in society regarding the objectification of males and male masculinity (para 3).
In a broad sense, I believe superheroes represent the totality and culmination of all the good traits and values present in humans. Marvel’s famous Captain America, also known by his civilian name Steve Rogers, exists as a character that is fundamentally perfect as a human male—his physical prowess, honor, dedication, and selflessness are an inspiration to even the godlike figures in the Marvel universe, and this portrayal of masculinity represents an ideal to which viewers naturally aspire. Captain Rogers is more than a mere soldier; he is the ultimate archetype of what defines the perfect male. In the case of Mad Men’s Don Draper, it is clear that the ideal of masculinity can take on a more practical form—Draper offers “sexual tension”, has a “genius for spinning fantasies”, and is a shrewd businessman that knows how to use his personal charisma, charm, and sexuality for his own gain (Goodlad 227). Draper, however, breaks with the comic portrayal of superheroes in that he is dishonorable in his dealings with his wife, yet exceedingly loyal to business ethics, protective of those employees that work under him, and a reliable father, all of which work together to stress hypermasculinity of the character, tempered by his character flaws.
Dill and Kathryn indicated that male superheroes represent the ultimate paragon of masculinity—they are invariably strong, brave men that are capable of overcoming evil and adversity through the application of their will and power (855). Bestowed with godly physical attributes, a host of powers and abilities that make them unassailable by even their most ardent foes, superheroes are everything men in society are taught to be. I think the descriptions given to them from most literatures are that they are stoic characters that are expected to be selfless, caring, and emotional but only when absolutely necessary, and are seen as the principle defense of women, children, and hapless, weaker men. Comic book masculinity “characterizes for young readers a model of gender behavior that has traditional struggled” with the idea of balancing the weak male with the strong and has effectively “slipped into the domain of the almost exclusively hypermasculine” (Brown 25). Men are hypersexual, hypermasculine entities in superhero fiction, and this lends itself towards adverse effects on the attitudes of masculinity that men and women hold.
Superheroes portray both genders in objectified terms. For men, superheroes have extremely exaggerated “macho characteristics […] specifically hardened sexual attitudes toward romantic partners, a desire for action and anger, and the acceptance of physical violence” as a means to an end (Dill and Thill 852). I noted that these “macho” characteristics are intrinsically linked with the presentation of masculinity in a physical sense. Male body image is an important and vital element in how superheroes portray and affect the average man. This is also echoed by Dill and Thill, “stereotypes of hyper-masculinity are connected with the drive for muscularity, motivating boys and young men to engage in unhealthy practices such as compulsive weight training and illegal steroid use” (852). In most instances, male superheroes are endowed with massive muscular physiques and even the “98-pound weaklings” are rarely portrayed without some redeeming sexual quality, including but not limited to clearly visible abdominal muscles or attractive facial features.
Moreover, Brown pointed out that the male body has become the principal mechanism through which male masculinity is presented. The body is an “external signifier of masculinity [and] has come to represent all the conventions traditionally linked to assumptions of male superiority” (27). Male muscles and strength has come to completely define the idea of what the male in society is about—the “muscular body is a heavily inscribed sign […] nothing else so clearly marks an individual as a bearer of masculine power” (para 2). In addition to this, the idea that a muscled physique is intrinsically linked with masculinity has led to changes in how women in are viewed in society, as women that actively seek out muscle-building activities and begin to show “noticeable muscularity” are derided as attempting to be seen as masculine (para 4). Specifically, this is seen as the result of women attempting to cross gender lines and adopt the attributes and traits of the other sex (Feingold et. al.).
I think that this highly sexualized and physical image of the male, however, is rooted in more than just the depiction of hypermasculine men. For the hypermasculine to exist, there must be an opposite qualification that allows the hypermasculine to appear as exaggerated as it does. This occurs in two ways: firstly, hypermasculine men are placed in opposition to the hypomasculine treatment of men in superhero fiction where weak, helpless men are seen as soft and useless. This is most often seen in supporting characters that act in opposition to the superhero—they can be the stereotypical bookworm scientist that does his best to aid the superhero in his quest to vanquish a particular foe, or in the portrayal of a superhero’s nemesis that has the exact opposite physical attributes of the hero. In this sense, the antagonist exists in opposition to not only the superhero on the battlefield, but also in the sense that the hypermasculine superhero is expected to, and eventually will, defeat his hypomasculine, physically inferior foe. While most supervillains are not portrayed as physically weak and most often share the same exaggerated physicality of the superhero, there are some that represent this archetype.
However, the “cultural pressure on the individual to achieve the elusive, idealized physical fitness” of the classic superhero is not without its limits (Taylor 351). Not only are the highly stylized male bodies present in many heroes, but there is a growth away from this image of men as musclemen and towards the incorporation of more “passive, contemplative bodies” that seem “worse for the wear”, as seen in the fictional street wizard John Constantine (para 5). I think this approach represents a significant break with the traditional image of the masculine superhero, but is considered a rarity in modern comic books and the overall trend that superheroes remain highly sexualized is clear.
The other way that hypermasculinity is identified is through the use of the female gender role in comic book universes, which largely portray women as the “soft other”, which stands in opposition to the “hard male” (Brown 27). Specifically, the “despised other that masculinity defines itself against conventionally includes not just women but also feminized men” (para 4). I believe that the use of women, who are almost invariably portrayed as relatively soft, weak , and vulnerable, acts in such a manner as to allow the hypermasculinity of the male superhero to exist in opposition and find identification in that opposition. This contrast not only makes the hypermasculinity of the male form more potent, but it draws a misogynistic line against the positive portrayal of women. Women are portrayed as weak, feisty objects that the male superheroes are required to save, whereas weak male characters are perceived as usually helpful, but ultimately only assistants to the main superhero in action.
To my opinion, I think that the superhero portrayal of men is not limited to its negative effects on men, however. As discussed earlier, hypermasculinity exists in a world that is defined extremes; hypermasculine characters are completely opposite from their highly feminized counterparts, as well as opposite from the weaknesses of hypomasculine men. Women, too, suffer from the objectification of this opposition; specifically, we see this expressed in the famous Diana Price, also known as Wonder Woman. This classic example of a “golden age” superhero is, similar to Captain America, the paragon of female virtue. Wonder Woman’s “identity moves […] into the domestic, feminine realm and away from the masculine realm of politics and war”, something that is representative of the shift of American women away from competition with “returning servicemen for employment” and to act as a supporting character for the male-dominated cast of the superhero world (Emad 967).
Females in superhero fiction are almost invariably portrayed as helpless, and “the fate of most women in comics was dependent upon the male heroes to only rescue them, but to give them a sense of purpose” (Ema 966). Put simply, female superheroes, despite their fantastical qualities, are nonetheless “powerless without a man”, though Wonder Woman would go on to break this stereotype with her developments in the revival of DC Comics in the early 1980s (Emad 966). Continually plagued by gender transgressions and interference with the male-dominated approach to superhero activities, I observed that the Wonder Woman would face serious opposition from literary circles in her efforts to break the masculine stranglehold on superhero gender images.
The portrayal of men in superhero fiction “betrays male gender anxieties”, specifically with regards to the implications of sexual potency that result naturally result from the hypermasculine image of men in these universes (Mathes 76). Male sexuality is fundamentally a question of the ability to perform, and the idea of the weak male that is unable to perform sexually is a serious social implication that is reflected in comic book and other mediums of superhero presentation. With male sexuality intrinsically linked with the “performative construction of masculinity”, the male body undergoes an objectification that stresses the importance of their “desirability as a mate” (Dill and Thill 853). Dill and Thill further elaborated that while the tight spandex and form-fitting clothing of the male superhero outlines his exaggerated physicality, only rarely do comic book writers and artists ever address the issue of what Taylor refers to as the “superpenis”, which, in a world where “any part of the anatomy has the potential to be super-powered, the superpenis is still strictly taboo” (para 6). Men are at once highly sexualized, perfect specimens equipped with an outrageous amount of implied sexual prowess, yet are still largely resilient to the actual act of sex itself.
Sexuality, moreover, continues to play a central role in the comic books and the superhero’s portrayal of men. Indeed, “superhero comics continue to capitalize on the eroticization of the body and increasingly violent sexuality” (Taylor 345). I observed that the superheroes are granted super-sexuality, which goes hand in hand with the dramatization of sexual violence and aggressive behavior in the characters—“females, perpetually bending over, arching their backs [and] males with their pin-heads and boulder-muscles and steroid-veins” all act to help promote the hypersexuality of the “superbody” (para 5). Male superheroes, moreover, are seen as “preening bodybuilders” that have “glistening muscles [and] glorious, anguished contortions [expressed in] endless posing” (Taylor 352).
In a way, we can view comic book gender roles as a highly stylized form of pornography, in the sense that both masculinity and femininity in each medium feature pre-defined gender roles for each sex (Wasserman). Not only are female and male characters alike thrust into a world where they expect a particular level of sexual responsibility, but both superheroes and pornography bask in the glory of the highly stylized perception of human sexuality. As Wasserman illustrates, pornography features excessively hypersexualized males, engines designed specifically to engage in sexual activity. Women, too, are seen as objects for the male sexual desire to exert itself upon—women in pornography typically exist as vessels for the male to impress himself on, which speaks to the gender objectification of men as purely sexual beings and women as submissive, weak-willed sexual creatures.
In terms of the impact on the audience, the extremely sexualized way that comic book heroes portray men can be seen in the ways in which objectification leads to “damaging consequences” and a “reduction in perceived humanity” (Loughnan et al 710). Central to this is the idea of depersonalization, which I think makes the individual feel as if it is being perceived as only an object, and not as a person. Objectification naturally occurs when men and women are exposed to objectifying images and perceptions of themselves; men, for example, have been shown to have increased rape-supportive attitudes after viewing pornography and other objectifying material. With regards to the impact on the audience, the constant portrayal of men as hypersexualized, physically dominating specimens supports the idea that “objectified male targets may have an equal or even greater effect on the perception of males as it does on the perception of females” (Loughnan et al 715).
In other words, men suffer from the same, and perhaps even greater, negative effects of depersonalization that results from the objectification of male gender roles. Goodlad might argue here that the duality of the male “macho” stereotype comes from an objectification of the male body in media that makes the male mind more susceptible to the impact of depersonalization. On the other hand, I noted that the Warshow’s piece illustrates the importance of striving for independence in terms of social and gender roles; Warshow could argue that men suffer from this portrayal of masculinity in superhero fiction as a result of their failure to succeed in stablishing themselves as independent, rational, and emotional creatures.
In conclusion, it is my opinion and argument that the portrayal of men in superhero fiction is based on pre-determined sexual and gender stereotypes that rely on the hypersexualization of men and women in order to create the image of the ultimate male. The cultural backdrop of the Western world supports the existence of male heroes that are paragons of traditional male virtues—strength, honor, and loyalty dominate the character narrative of male superheroes, while at the same time the hypersexualization of their stylized and dramatic forms and bodies acts as a powerful force that promotes the and objectification of the male form.
The duality of the “macho” stereotype is further revealed in the ways in which Goodlad and Warshow approach the issue of identity in society. Goodlad’s analysis of Mad Men’s Don Draper is based on his existence as an “icon” of masculinity that is caught in the gangster’s dilemma of Warshow—Draper needs to become an independent man, free of his societal constrains, but it is only through his failure to succeed that the audience is able to appreciate the character’s internal qualities.
With the male form thus sexualized, the harmful effects become clear. Not only is the stereotyping of the entire male population as purely sexual beings offensive, it promotes the depersonalization of the male mind and leads to a reduction in the independence of the mind’s capacity to understand that it exists as a person, not just as a sexual object. This is not to say that women are not adversely affected by sexualization in superhero universes; rather, women are also victims in that they are used to draw a contrast between the paragon of the ideal male and the weak, “soft Other” of the female form. It is clear that the portrayal of men in superhero universes is largely based on a cultural stereotype that has its roots in the sexualization and objectification the male form.
Works Cited
Brown, Jeffrey A. “”Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero.” African American Review 33.1 (1999): 25-42. Print.
Calhoun, Cheshire. “Taking Seriously Dual Systems and Sex.” Hypatia 13.1 (1998): 224-31. Print.
Dill, Karen E., and Kathryn P. Thill. “”Video game characters and the socialization of gender roles: Young people’s perceptions mirror sexist media depictions.” Sex roles 57.11-12 (2007): 851-864.
Emad, Mitra C. “”Reading Wonder Woman’s body: mythologies of gender and nation.” The Journal of Popular Culture 39.6 (2006): 954-984.
Feingold, Alan, and Ronald Mazzella. “Gender Differences in Body Image Are Increasing.” Psychological Science 9.3 (1998): 190-95. Print.
Goodlad, Lauren. “Why We Love ‘Mad Men'” Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Loughnan, Steve, et al. “””Objectification leads to depersonalization: The denial of mind and moral concern to objectified others.” European Journal of Social Psychology 40.5 (2010): 709-717.
Mathes, Bettina. “Doctor Faustus Impotent? Fantasizing the Male Body in the Historia Von D. Johann Fausten.” Women in German Yearbook 15 (1999): 73-95. Print.
Taylor, Aaron. “”“He’s Gotta Be Strong, and He’s Gotta Be Fast, and He’s Gotta Be Larger Than Life”: Investigating the Engendered Superhero Body.” The Journal of Popular Culture 40.2 (2007): 344-360.
Warshow, Robert. “Robert Warshow’s Essay – “The Gangster as Tragic Hero”” Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Wasserman, Marlene. “Positive, Powerful Pornography.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity.28 (1996): 58-65. Print.
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