A recent TED Talk by Christopher Bell discusses the lack of representation of female superheroes in movies, television, toys, and children’s clothing.
For example, Guardians of the Galaxy was the third highest-grossing film in 2014 with $770 million. The powerful team of five consists of one woman, Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana. Gamora is a trained assassin and described as “lethal” by Saldana. Although she is one of the most powerful of the team, she is absent in the Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise.
Gamora isn’t the only female superhero who lacks representation in merchandise. The Avengers, for example, includes Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson. She is a skilled fighter who, despite having no superpowers, is one of the strongest on the team. Most merchandise for The Avengers includes Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and even secondary characters like Hawkeye and Vision, but no Black Widow.
New films such as Doctor Strange, Batman V. Superman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Black Panther, Aquaman, Gambit, Ant-Man, all have male leads, and that’s not even the entire list.
The lack of representation of female superheroes in movies can negatively affect little girls. When they see so many male leads, girls might think that positive characteristics, such as strength and leadership, only belong to men, when that is clearly not the case.
Although there are many male leads, we are moving towards more female representation in films, with upcoming movies such as Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel.
It is important for girls to see these independent woman as the protagonists, rather than merely the love interests of the films’ male leads or as side characters.
In a recent Space Channel interview, Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson said that she has been receiving pictures of young girls dressed as her character.
“I think it’s really cool to see a girl in a Batman costume or a Spider-Man costume, but I’m really excited that there’s a symbol of women. I think that’s really important,” Larson said at San Diego Comic Con over the summer.
Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot also spoke about the importance of her character.
“I feel that I’ve got the opportunity to set a great role model for girls to look up to a strong, active, compassionate, loving, positive woman,” Gadot told Entertainment Weekly.
Although the movie industry is slowly increasing in diversity, we still have a long way to go, as there is a whole comic book world of female superheroes, but few on the big screen.