Last week while promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner jokingly called Black Widow a “slut.” The joke wasn’t very funny and Evans and Renner apologized. However, earlier this week on Conan, Renner backed off from his apology and again called Black Widow a slut for merely being connected to four of the MCU’s Avengers. Renner brushed off his comments, saying that they were made about a fictional character. However, the way we think about and objectify fictional characters can impact how we treat real people.
I’m not a woman so I can’t claim to understand how it feels to be called a slut for behavior which would earn a man high fives. But the idea that the character of Black Widow is a slut for flirting with four Avengers is asinine. I can’t put myself in the shoes of a woman, but as a man I can get upset at another man for furthering double standards and misogynistic behavior.
Comic books don’t have a strong track record for female characters. Most of them are drawn with unrealistic proportions and through the years a number of female characters have been nothing more than damsels in distress. However, in recent years, some of that has started to change. A number of female comic book characters are much stronger and publishers are now starting to treat female characters with the same respect they’ve given male characters for years.
In a medium designed to reach teenage boys, I don’t know if comics will ever rid themselves of all objectifying and misogynism. However, here are some of my favorite female comic book characters, whom I appreciate for their strength.
Captain Marvel
Carol Danvers is not only one of my favorite female comic book characters, but she is just one of my favorite comic book characters period. Even before she got her powers, Danvers was a pilot in the Air Force, definitely a strong woman. After she got her Kree powers, though, she became something even greater: a hero. One of my favorite parts about Captain Marvel is how she wanted more for herself. In House of M, Danvers had become one of the world’s greatest heroes and liked what she saw. When the world went back to normal, Danvers decided that she wanted that dream to become a reality. She is a mainstay on the Avengers and a great example of a strong, female super hero.
Jean Grey
Jean Grey has always been one of my favorite super heroes. I have to admit that when I was younger I liked her because I thought she was pretty…as pretty as a drawing can be. However, the more that I’ve read X-Men comics, I’ve come to appreciate Jean’s internal strength. She definitely started as the damsel in distress, even her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #1 was as a timid new student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. However, over the years, Jean definitely found her strength. This is best exemplified in the Dark Phoenix Saga when she was able to control the Phoenix Force long enough to sacrifice herself to save the Solar System. Someone willing to sacrifice herself to save billions of lives definitely has a lot of strength.
Rogue
I’ve mostly read X-Men comics over the years, so it’s not surprising that another X-(Wo)Man shows up on this list. I really liked Rogue in the 90s when she had stolen Ms. Marvel’s powers and was one of the most powerful X-Men. Again, as I got older, I started to see the complexity in Rogue’s characters. As a boy who thought girls still had cooties, I didn’t really see what the big deal was that Rogue couldn’t touch anyone. When I added some more candles to my cake, though, I realized how cold and distant a life without human contact would be. I’m a few years behind in my comics, but at the point I’m at Rogue has lost Ms. Marvel’s powers but has gained the ability to control her own powers; she can now touch someone without stealing their memories and powers. While Rogue may have lost Ms. Marvel’s strength, she has definitely found a strength of her own. She has dealt with a lot of the demons from her past, which has enabled her to move forward. Fictional character or not, we all need that kind of strength.
As someone who works with a lot of young women, I always want to be someone who encourages them and elevates them. Renner’s joke was off-color and inappropriate. Perhaps not to him, but it was to me. I don’t want any of our female students to worry about a double standard or a world in which innocuous behavior gets them labeled as a slut. And if we’re not as willing to do that with fictional female characters, then we’ll be less willing to do it with real women.
Who are some of your favorite female comic book characters?
Leave a Comment