Super Women

Superwomen

Women in Comics

Comic books have been around for well over 70 years. Since its inception women have been a part of comics. What roles do these women play? Is there a set standard when creating a woman specifically for a comic book? My idea is to look at comic books from its beginning in the 1930s to modern day comics and uncover the truths behind females in the comic book world. I will be discussing the roles of women in comics, its reception with the comic book audience, and what types of female characters are out there. Also, I will be discussing what the "woman in refrigerator" syndrome is. I thought that this would be an interesting paper that few would know about. Hopefully I'll be able to uncover some truths about the clichйs of women in comics.

Contrary to popular belief, there was a time in which more girls read comic books than boys did. The history of comic books are said to be divided into several different "ages." The Golden Age of comics are said to be from the 1930s to 40s. At this time, the majority of people who read the comics were female. The most popular comic amongst women at this time was the Archie Comics. During the earlier years of the Golden Age, it was very easy to predict what a woman's role would be in the comic. Women portrayed in these comics always portrayed one of three different roles. First is the career-oriented woman. Popular characters that fit these roles had such names as Nellie the nurse, Tessie the typist, and Millie the model. The second role that women played was the role of a romantic. Typically this role is separated into two other models known as a "good girl" and a "bad girl." The good girl gets her heart broken while the bad girl breaks the heart of others. All the while they have the same goal of obtaining a mate. The last role that women are typically cast into is the perky teenager. Betty and Veronica are both good examples of both the second and third role. So basically, during this time, the woman was