‘‘Sweetheart, This Ain’t Gender Studies: Sexism

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Karl-Erik Maripuu FLGR.01.344 06.01.12 ‘‘Sweetheart, This Ain’t Gender Studies’’: Sexism and Superheroes” Carol A. Stabile My review takes a broad overview of the article “Sweetheart, This Ain’t Gender Studies’’ : Sexism and Superheroes” by Carol A. Stabile. The author tells us how different superheroes have born of different crises – like Superman and Batman from the depression and the rise of fascism. So it is not a miracle, that after the 9/11 attacks, there has been a bloom of various superhero blockbuster movies. But there are other problems risen, aside to the fear of terror and the desire for secular heroes. This is where the author quickly gets to the problem in hand. Namely, that pop-culture cannot see a woman nothing more, than a victim. Femininity is seen as a condition of vulnerability. She relies her arguments on the television series Heroes, which follows a group of characters endowed with superpowers while they fight off evil. Seemingly is the show gender neutral and more, the cast is multicultural and - racial. Women have seemingly been thrust into positions of power and equality with their male counterparts. Actually it’s far from that. While the women on the show possessing superpowers equal to that of their male counterparts, Heroes is far from being shamelessly sexist. Everything seems to be contemporary, where gender issues would not be a problem, but when the viewer should peel back the layers of the show, it would not take long to see that Heroes relies on traditional stereotypes in terms of the gender lines of protection. Although it’s my opinion, and I am not the quintessential chauvinist in any way, I think that there are two sides to this matter. Those women who like the idea of being protected and those who want to stand up alone for themselves. Meaning, while the female and male characters may possess equal powers, but the

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