hentropy said:
I don't really know what to say about that. I didn't even know a she-Hulk existed before the video, and the video didn't really convince me that she's a feminist icon, even if she may not be totally sexist either. Does self-awareness make it less or not sexist?
In anime it's a common trope to have a kickass female protagonist who also happens to be wearing something incredibly skimpy. Take the example of Queen's Blade, a show with a very long list of kickass female characters- but it's also basically porn. Is the she-hulk not sexist because it never shows her in near-explicit sexual situations? Or are the various characters in the Queen's Blade series feminist icons as well?
Allow me to tackle this one.
Bob didn't cover HALF of the reasons She-Hulk is considered an extremely progressive, feminist comic book icon.
For starters, her self-awareness of comic book sexism was also SUBVERTED time and time again, pointing out the double-standards in comics (an example of which I posted above), all while channeling her attractiveness (despite being 7 foot tall and green) into something empowering.
It was, as one female writer stated, a power fantasy for women MORE than a sexual fantasy for boys. Here was a girl in comics that was considered highly intelligent, a self-made career woman and THE best lawyer on the block (sorry Daredevil), all asserting herself in a way that allowed her to seize and OWN her own power and sexuality like few other comic book characters had. To be both beautiful and also to be fearless, to be liberated from shame and ridicule, to feel safe crossing the street at night, to know that nobody would threaten or sexually harass you because they know you'd BREAK them if they so much as wolf-whistled in your direction.
But it also created a character largely known for her wit, intelligence, and humor, as THE funniest character in comics until Deadpool started copying the act SHE started. She was sexy, yes, but readers like myself read her book because she was a legitimately fantastic character that never failed to deliver a dry retort to a bizarre villain or to shrug of a nonsensical crossover with Howard the Duck. Bob mentioned her early books had C-list villains, but that served to add to the charm and, in the follow-up Sensational line, she got her own self-appointed arch-nemesis, Titania, who's only desire was to be She-Hulk's ultimate rival.
Beyond that, while she was attractive, even that was a-typical. Bob didn't talk about it, but one of David Goyer's rather questionable comments was he felt She-Hulk was "chunky" rather than typically sexy (which may explain the casting of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman... I can't BELIEVE that guy is writing Wonder Woman's first live-action theatrical debut...). She towered over most of the male heroes like Iron Man and Captain America. Her body was HARD instead of soft and muscular instead of thin. While her original run had her shredding her clothes when she hulked out (just like Hulk himself), over time she adopted various form-fitting uniforms and, quite recently, simple casual clothes and athletic gear. She'll wear a bikini to the beach, but she's not showing off her goods in battle (and even then, if any heroine has the right to, it's the one with indestructible skin).
Couple that with insanely progressive relationships (her main love interest was a guy more than okay with a girlfriend that could crush him, but he treated her like she was a normal girl regardless), and legitimately insightful explorations of her own balance of heroics, an active money-make job, a love life, a social life, and coping with societal standards that are outdated and unfair, tackling them all head on, and you have a very well-developed, fully-realized heroine in Marvel's library, and quite literally the OPPOSITE of everything David Goyer and co. claimed she was (especially existing for the Hulk to sleep with... since they're COUSINS...). She was popular enough with women that she even has her own female-orientated romance novel with women as the target audience.
