Off My Mind: Female Superhero Costumes - Practical or Exploitive?

lol

Yeah make them more credible

The thing for me is, I love the costumes, I adore the fantasy of it all but what I don't like is the readers creating the sexual innuendos. The women most of the time are drawn with class, but readers do their own art that sexualises them far to much.

Most villians they fight are male. Males are distracted by tummy window. Male loses fight to scantily clad woman. 
Ok maybe thats a tad simple after all they do fight female villians. However distraction is a major part of fighting whether you are feinting a punch, flapping your cape, using a smoke bomb, or bouncing your plentiful assets in your opponents face.

Now that I have made these costumes seem almost reasonable lets face the fact that most artists are men and most men love the female form. That they endow these women so well must be working because the books continue to sell. And that after all is what it is all about. If super skinny, blue haired, three fingered women sold comic books I am sure that is what you would see drawn.

ermmm think you're forgetting a serial perpetrator!!   

In Birds of Prey, Canary pointed out if she had abs like Huntress, she'd be showing them off too.

Babs is DEF a serial perpetrator...  NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!  :D

" ermmm think you're forgetting a serial perpetrator!!   

Practical. XD "

Comics have always emphasized physique - it's one of the ways to convey physical prowess through art since antiquity. That has historically meant skin tight costumes, or lots of exposed skin, male or female. Also, drapery is one of the hardest things for artists to render properly. This isn't inherently sexist, this is just the facts when it comes to art - and is pretty much applied to characters of both sexes.

The spandex makes sense because it is form fitting and provides minimal impediment to movement. Every step beyond that is clearly exploitation. As a heterosexual male, I'm not complaining, but I can see how it would make female readers feel upset or even insulted.

The writers are man nerds, the artists are man nerds. I completely agree that the females deserve more respect. There's this flawed assumption that when a woman decides to fight crime, the first thing she does is jump into some creative lingerie. 

Well in all honesty its just pure fantasy. Some people just decide to take it to seriously 

red sonjas adimited using here coustme to keep men from not noticing her sword before its to late 

Nothing wrong with showing a little skin, here and there.

" In Birds of Prey, Canary pointed out if she had abs like Huntress, she'd be showing them off too. "

I fail to see how changing a character's outfit is somehow meant to make me, as a reader, respect the character more. I also fail to see how the way someone dresses their character in a comic is somehow disrespectful to the character's gender.

Ummm i kind of agree with you G-man. 
I read comics for the stories and not whose in the story or what theyre wearing. 
But women deserve respect? Thats where i draw the line.
(im just kidding)
Not only do the female characters look like a bunch of hookers, but they dont update theyre constumes. When i think of those vagina crotch costumes some heroes wear, it makes me think of the 70s. If Black Canary wore pink leg warmers and a matching headband what would you think? Nowadays very few people wear such revealing clothing. Unless of course they are sluts or models.

Well...admittedly those female characters costumes are probably not very practical but comic book character's costumes in general rarely are. You have characters wearing their underwear on the outside (Superman) and you know that in real life a cape could easily get stuck when the characters move around as much as they do.
 
That said I can't really argue against comic book women showing off their bodies more. I like Huntress' costume a lot and I think its nice to see her tummy. ^_^; I also have to agree with Icemizer. I know that if I was a criminal I would be really distracted if I saw Huntress wearing that. ^_^;

Ah, along with this, I've always wanted to see some chubbier guy comic characters. Sometimes it feels a little off putting, when my flub sits down to stare at the Greek masterpieces of male anatomy.
 
Might be hard though, because they all keep in good shape. >_<

I've aired my opinion on this plenty of times on this site so I'm not going to bore anyone by writing a huge essay. I'll just say, if a book has realistically-proportioned character art (male and female), I will buy it (if it's a book I'm interested in anyway). If the art is grossly misrepresentative of the human form, I probably won't, because I don't find it attractive. It's that simple.
That image of Huntress up there - yes the outfit is revealing, but she's drawn in a way that is not overtly sexual; the pose, the proportions, the fact that she has muscles!! I'm actually really loving that image, who drew that? I guess if it's generally a leering sort of image that's clearly just there to please the male audience, then I'm not ok with it. If it's a good image that happens to have a revealing outfit (more revealing than any male character's outfit), then it's still not that great, but at least the artist is trying to get away from the stereotype so it's a step forward I guess.

I'm always surprised at how defensive the reaction is to the notion, the mere suggestion women get the short end of the stick when it comes to comics. Is there any denying it? Besides dissecting the costumes to determine what indicates sex and what doesn't, just look at the numbers. Not as many women read comics and I think it's largely because they're alienated by these images, it seems to solely appeal to men. 
 
Apparel is extremely important, costumes are important, artists spend a lot of time defining the iconic images of these superheroes for marketing and comic books as a whole are a very visual landscape. They transcend even the page to cartoons, action figures, and movies. And mainly, from what I've seen, a lot of what defines a strong, capable woman in the eyes of men is 1 part kick ass and two parts of the classic cop-out "comfort with one's own sexuality" (a trait men seem to never need to beat the crap out of someone). A great example is the recent portrayal of the Black Widow in Iron Man 2, she just so happens to have a portfolio of images of herself in lingerie (so covert), she just happens to have to change in front of Happy (and the director of the film btw), she takes a pose between every judo move, and though she is kick-ass, she's mainly there for closeups and glamor shots. The Black Widow, in spite of the fact she's one of the most relevant characters in that whole movie only got a few lines.
 
I've also seen an uncomfortable amount of up-skirt shots of female characters which is another thing that really irritates me. I read an issue of X-men: Manifest Destiny where the recently downgraded (and suddenly helpless) Tabitha Smith aka Boom Boom goes out to shop and there are like 4 or 5 panels that peer dangerously near her upper thigh. Why would an artist take that perspective? Women generally don't wear skirts in hopes someone will look up them, as a matter in fact, men get arrested for doing so but almost any female character who wears a suit that involves a skirt gets an upper-thigh or pantie shot, it's firstly dumb but also extremely creepy. 
 
And if you've any doubts as to how much regard certain titles have for their female characters check out something like that new "Marvel Girls" issue by Chris Claremont and illustrated by a pornographic artist where he has them conveniently bound and gagged in certain situations, making constant O-faces, and hanging around in thong-bikinis.

if you're talking function-over-fashion, the X-Men uni's in the films basically made it impossible to fight in (they couldn't even step over a short brick wall).  it's all about the aesthetic, unforch.

dumb. i hate how all comic book girls are "sexy" and wear almost no clothes and if they are wearing clothes its always skin tight. whats the point? its a comic. i know sex sells but it just takes away from the stories sometime because theres not enough diveristy. i mean, people get mad because artists "draw girls all the same" but i got news. they almost always have the same body type exactly! kinda lame

Female superheroes' costumes are supposed to be revealing. It distracts their enemies. :3 

 Nowadays very few people wear such revealing clothing. Unless of course they are sluts or models. "

It always surprises me how many people get worked up over this topic. The fact the women are drawn sexy is because comics have always been and will always be marketed towards boys/men. Heck even the comics targeted towards girls/women are drawn in revealing costumes. Its just the way the business is run, they have created a fantasy world so the heroes and heroins look like they don't belong in this world.
 
Also spandex would be the preferred clothing for a crime fighter because it doesn't imped movement and it breathes rather well.

I don't think less revealing costumes will encourage respect. There are still parts of the world where women are treated abysmally and socially wouldn't dream of wearing revealing clothes. Anyone who's read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale will tell you that modesty will not necessarily facilitate respect.

They're all fictional characters, so I don't see why this is even relevant. 

You know what's funny?   The distraction argument is also used by Punisher.   The explanation for putting a big white skull on his chest was to draw enemy fire towards his kevlar armor rather then his exposed head.
 
...and lets not forget how the white-on-black slims down his waist line :P
 

Distraction to the villains? I'm sorry I don't want to stare at your boobs once I conquer the world I have all I want women, men even horses if I wanted yes, 18 of them. Come on guys if your Kang the Conquer or Doctor Doom a very good looking woman naked is not going to cost you the world and if does well shame on you

" @icefrog0 said:

" In Birds of Prey, Canary pointed out if she had abs like Huntress, she'd be showing them off too. "

So is Huntress showing off?
 
i agree completely with Tony on this one... Sometimes the outfits make me wonder the credibility of the strength of the female character (that was a lot "of"). Sure it might be the appeal for male readers but let me put it this way...
Rogue is mostly covered to prevent any physical contact (or at least she was) and using the same artist that @Baddamdog: mentioned who drew Psylocke he also drew Rouge:

She's completely 'covered' here and yet that sexiness that (I'll admit it) we all love is still there. So there is not so much a need for 'windows', fish nets or "distractions"... "

" They're all fictional characters, so I don't see why this is even relevant.  "

I think lady characters should have more armor, and less revealing costumes. I think female character are less empowered when they have giant boobs and skinny waists. Female characters are strong and meaningful, but when artists and writers and fans want to see "hot chicks in costumes" rather "a strong women heroes"  women in comics take a few steps backwards.

" I'm not suggesting we do away with the revealing costumes altogether. I understand that some readers might really enjoy comics or characters that have them. I just think that there should be more to the characters, especially to the female ones. They deserve to be seen as more than just a body. Often, female characters that can literally kick ass are not taken seriously. I don't buy comics just because there's a female wearing a revealing outfit. I'm buying comics for the characters and stories."

" Ummm i kind of agree with you G-man.  I read comics for the stories and not whose in the story or what theyre wearing.  But women deserve respect? Thats where i draw the line. (im just kidding) Not only do the female characters look like a bunch of hookers, but they dont update theyre constumes. When i think of those vagina crotch costumes some heroes wear, it makes me think of the 70s. If Black Canary wore pink leg warmers and a matching headband what would you think? Nowadays very few people wear such revealing clothing. Unless of course they are sluts or models. "

Yep had a comment to make but im sure you all know what it entails 

Feminism is a bit of a sticky topping for me. Whilst I agree with equal rights, respect and all that I don't think that, if a woman wants to dress a certain way they shouldn't. Even if the only reason they do it is to arouse men. There was a feminist petition at my university that was all in aid of getting a "Playboy Bunny night" baned. My problem is that the people going are not being forced to go or to wear revealing outfits if they choose to go. So at that point it becomes about women wanting more, not wanting equality. The equal thing to do would be have a playboy AND playgirl night. Not stopping it all together. 

Now, with comics you obviously have a different thing all together. This isn't about equal rights its about equal representation. In terms of body form all comic characters are idealised, male and female. So really there is no lack of fairness there. Because, honestly, what % of people actually look like that?  
 
Costume choices however, are somewhat different, and I think stem from older media taboos. For example many years back it would have been totally inappropriate to show a female's bare legs. That was still the case in photo realist media even as it started to be used in drawn/rendered media. This being the case, rendered media had a bit more of an open passage to run more revealing imagery. And so they did. Costume designs being what they are means some of these will stick, become iconic and cause up raw if changed. Black Canary's fishnets for example. They are as much part of her character as Superman's blue and red with red boots, cape, and speedos. Granted other characters have had costume changes and got away with it no problem or were just created with a full body costume. Huntress is one of those characters who fits that category. Her costume changed to become one which logically seems more practical (although whether you have a bit of thin fabric over you stomach or not doesn't really make any odds to practicality to me) where she was fully covered. That fits her character but she has had a costume without so inevitably she will flip-flop between them depending on your artist and what the character looks like in their mind. (Just look at Green Arrow's costume consistency over the last year or so.) Male costumes tend to be far focused on assets because penises are far more taboo. There are plenty of characters who go around bare chested or have their costume ripped to shreds at regular intervals but male bodies have far less notable assets making this seem less important. In the end its all how you look at it. Because both sides of this (and any other feminism argument) can be argued equally from either point of view. 
 
I have no interest in revealing costumes on fictional characters. (People who do, worry me) So I don't notice them. But I do like costumes to stay somewhat continuous and appropriate. Black Canary's fishnets, Superman's Red and Blues and Lady Blackhawk's uniform all work fine for me. 
 
In the end, it's all how you look at it.

Spandex is so 20th century.~  Isn't it mostly leather, latex, and pvc nowadays?

This is exactly what I've been trying to talk about for several blogs.

I can name alot of  Female Characters who dont wear revealing clothes: 
 
-Renee Montoya (the Question)
-Donna Troy 
-Soranik Natu(Green Lantern Corps)
-Batwoman 
-Dust 
-Ice (justice League International) 
-Ravager 
-Jubilee 
-Celia Reyes 
-Dawn Granger(Dove 
-Jade (Current) 
-Mera 
-Alura(Current) 
-Spiral 
  
I can go on... But hey, the dude have always worn Skin tight, testicle huggin uniforms... 

Is Wonder Girl's outfit bad? Why not mention Wonder Woman's outfit? I personally like Supergirl's outfit. It seems appropriate for her age.