(Lots and lots of) Questions on a hypothetical superheroine
A few weeks ago I saw a comic on the internet about people trapped in a burning building. Don't worry: Sexy female superheroes in tight costumes swoop in and carry them to safety... except for one guy who has to hold on to the love-handles of a morbidly obese, male, hairy, flying superhero.
This got me wondering what a realistic superheroine would be like.
Would she get judged by her costume and looks?
Would she get sexually objectified and judged for being pretty or not pretty?
Would everything she does get over-analyzed and every mistake get contributed to her being a woman?
And when the other side calls to cut her some slack, would the answer be that superpowers don't make a superhero and that a male superhero wouldn't make all those mistakes?
Would she get called selfish for even having superpowers and not sharing the power/technology with mankind? After all, she's just a fickle woman and this is way too much responsibility for her. Old white men should make those decisions behind closed doors.
Would sexual fetishes spring up, centered around her? Would there be superheroine porn? What would the porn be like, given that the woman in question is strong and decisive? Would it be damsel-in-distress situations where an even stronger super-masculine superhero swoops in and saves and bangs her? Would the porn be about "putting her in her place"?
Would there be questions why she's superheroing at all? Why isn't she at home with kids? Is her husband/boyfriend okay with this?
She shouldn't be out there superheroing because she encourages other women to do the same and "out there" is dangerous, better stay at home.
Wait, does she even have husband/boyfriend? What would it be like being in a relationship with such a woman?
If you compare these images, you can see that she changed her hair-cut. Is she trying to win back her boyfriend?
Having a secret identity is very demanding and time-consuming, which means she doesn't have a boyfriend, which means she's promiscuous and maybe dysfunctional and an alcoholic due to all the stress.
Her behavior is clearly not lady-like. And would it be so difficult to put on some lipstick once in a while? This would make her look far more pleasant.
Have you noticed how massive and armored her outfit is? She's clearly a lesbian.
Would there be legislation superficially aimed at her but really about men controlling womens' lifes?
You want equal pay? Guess what, you have a superhero and we don't. Life isn't fair.
...and this is why this dangerous individual is the reason why we should do away with abortion.
And we haven't even touched on the most dangerous subject yet:
A superpowered woman is proof for the women taking over the planet by force and enslaving all men and wait there is even more with lizard-people and aliens and witches yargle-blargle...
Beware: She's out there, looking for a good sperm-donor to harvest him and use his seed to create a female master-race to take over the planet!
Would people try to kill her for the singular fact that she's a woman beyond their control?
Would those very same people kill random women they suspect of being the superheroine?
Would domestic violence increase because some men would be afraid that the mere existence of the superheroine inspires women and would lead to men losing control over their women?
Would religious extremists treat her as evil because of her violating the religious rule of women being inferior to men?
Now to my original scenario: She carries someone out of a burning building.
What if she gets groped?
Can she punch the guy?
How would the media react to her punching the guy?
What if the guy simply groped her to get his 15 minutes of fame?
What if it happens again?
What if she decides to no longer let the people she saves get up-close to her? What if this decision leads to someone dying?
Should she accept being groped as a workplace-hazard that cannot be avoided? If she doesn't accept it, she won't be able to save some people.
What if she decides that being a superheroine is not worth dealing with all that bullshit?
Would she get called out for being a fickle woman that puts her desire to not get groped over her duty to society to save people?
Or would she get called a polarizing figure creating dissens with her mere presence and she should please just go away?
We are sorry. We are simply not ready yet for a female superhero, maybe in the future. All those problems and tumults... You retiring from being a superhero and public figure would make them go away.
