WOMEN’S PORTRAYALS IN THE COMIC BOOKS : A Visual Grammar of the Heroines’ Portrayals in the Selected Comic Books Published by DC Comics and Marvel.
SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
(A Visual Grammar of the
Heroines’
Portrayals in the
Selected Comic Books Published by DC Comics and
Marvel)
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Languages and Arts Education of the Indonesia University of Education as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for Sarjana Sastra Degree
By:
SANI SATYA PRATIWI (0801270)
English Education Department
Faculty of Language and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Wo e ’s Portrayals i the Co ic Books
(A Visual Gra
ar of the Heroi es’ Portrayals i the
Selected Comic Books Published by DC Comics and
Marvel)
Oleh Sani Satya Pratiwi
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Sani Satya Pratiwi 2013 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
April 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian, dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu PAGE OF APPROVAL
Wo e ’s Portrayals i the Co ic Books
(A Visual Gra ar of the Heroi es’ Portrayals i the Selected Comic Books Published by DC Comics and Marvel)
A Research Paper
By
Sani Satya Pratiwi
0801270
Approved by
First Supervisor
Bachrudin Musthafa, M.A., Ph.D. NIP. 195703101987031001
Second Supervisor
Budi Hermawan, S.Pd., M.P.C. NIP. 197308072002121002
Head of Department of English Education Faculty of Languages and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
Prof. Dr. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed. NIP. 196211011987121001
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
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ABSTRACT
This paper entitled “Women‟s Portrayals in the Comic Books (A Visual Grammar of the
Heroines‟ Portrayals in the Selected Comic Books Published by DC Comics and Marvel)” is aimed at investigating how women, especially heroines are portrayed in the comic books and what the portrayals signify. The study is a qualitative study using the visual grammar theory proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) and the systemic functional linguistics theory proposed by Halliday (2004). The data are in the form of four online comics published by DC
Comics and Marvel. The study finds that heroines are portrayed in negative and positive ways.
The negative ways portray the heroines as sex symbols, the ones who sexually stimulate men‟s attention in their appearance, greedy, fragile (especially when the heroines play their character as alter ego). While, the positive ways portray the heroines as strong, brave, smart and impressive ones. The findings also show that no matter how strong the heroines, they are still in the subjection.
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ABSTRAK
Skripsi dengan judul “Women‟s Portrayals in the Comic Books (A Visual Grammar of
the Heroines‟ Portrayals in the Selected Comic Books Published by DC Comics and Marvel)” ini bertujuan untuk mencari tahu bagaimana wanita, khususnya pahlawan wanita digambarkan dalam buku-buku komik serta makna dari penggambaran tersebut. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan mengaplikasikan teori visual grammar (Kress dan van Leeuwen, 2006) serta systemic functional linguistics (Halliday, 2004). Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini berupa komik daring yang diterbitkan oleh DC Comics dan Marvel. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pahlawan wanita digambarkan melalui dua sisi: negatif dan positif. Sisi negative menggambarkan wanita sebagai symbol seks, orang yang menstimulasi rangsangan seksual pada pria melalui penampilan mereka, serakah, lemah, rapuh (khususnya ketika mereka sedang memainkan peran sebagai alter ego). Sedangkan sisi positif menggambarkan wanita sebagai makhluk yang kuat, pintar dan menarik. Hasil penemuan juga menunjukkan bahwa tidak peduli sekuat apapun pahlawan wanita digambarkan dalam komik, mereka tetap berada dalam
„penjajahan‟.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE OF APPROVAL ... i
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION ... ii
PREFACE ... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vi
LIST OF TABLES ... ix
LIST OF FIGURES ... x
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xi
CHAPTER I ... Error! Bookmark not defined. INTRODUCTION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1 Background ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 Research Questions ... 14
1.3 Scope of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.4 Aims of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.5 Research Method ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.5.1 Data Collection ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.5.2 Data Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6 Clarification of Terms ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.7 Organization of the Paper ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER II ... 19
THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ... 19
2.1 Stereotype, Portrayal and Representation ... 19
2.2 Gender Stereotypes and Portrayals ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.3 Comics as the Topic of Investigation ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.3.1 Panels ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.3.2 Balloons ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.3.3 Gutters ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4 Visual Analysis of Comic Books ... 27
2.4.1 Vectors and Narrative Processes ... 28
2.4.1.1 Action Process……….29
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2.4.1.3 Speech Process and Mental Process………29
2.4.2 Size of Frame ... 29
2.4.3 Salience ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.4 Participant ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.5 Visual Analysis Coding Sheet ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.5.1 Pose………..31
2.4.5.2 Body……….31
2.4.5.3 Clothes Type………32
2.4.5.4 Clothes Coverage……….32
2.4.6 Colors ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5 Verbal Text Analysis of Comic Books ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.1 Material Processes ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.2 Mental Processes ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.3 Behavioural Processes... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.4 Relational Processes ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.5 Existential Processes ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6 The Overview of Comic Book Publishers ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6.1 DC Comics (United States) ... 36
2.6.2 Marvel (United States) ... 37
CHAPTER III ... 38
METHODOLOGY ... 38
3.1 Research Problem ... 38
3.2 Research Method ... 38
3.3 Data Collection ... 39
3. 4 Data Analysis ... 40
3.5 Data Presentation ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER IV ... Error! Bookmark not defined. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1 General Findings ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2 Findings of Visual Texts Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1 Erotic and Semi-Pornographic ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.2 Mysterious, Tragic and Weak ... 67
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4.3 Findings of Verbal Texts Analysis ... 69
4.3.1 Confident ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.2 Smart and Impressive ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.3 Brave ... 76
4.3.4 Sexy ... 77
4.3.5 Fragile ... 77
4.3.6 Humiliating ... 78
4.3.7 Greedy ... 78
4.4 Discussion ... 78 CHAPTER V ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1 Conclusions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.2 Suggestions ... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the general description of the study. It covers background of the study, research questions, scope of the study, aims of the study, research method, clarification of the terms and organization of the paper.
1.1 Background
Oxford Dictionary (2008:435) mentions that “stereotype (n) is fixed idea of what somebody or something is like.” While portrayal (n) and portray (v) have more meanings: “1) make somebody or something in a picture; describe somebody or something in a piece of writing, 2) describe or show somebody or something in a particular way, 3) act a particular role in a film or play” (Oxford Dictionary 2008:342). In relation to this, Stuart Hall (1997:1) defines representation as “the production of meaning through language”.
Leaning on these, portrayal and representation can be understood to relate to how somebody or something is described. Representation can appear in both informational text such as newspapers and literary text such novels and dramas. For example how Lady Macbeth in
Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, is portrayed as a woman who has sexual lust of power which
gives her the image of having strong and raw power (Daniel, 2011).
There have been studies conducted in relation to human‟s stereotype, portrayal or representation, especially women‟s representation. The research goes back as far as the Post -World War II. For example Dunne (2012), focused on women representations in comic books
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published in post-World War II. Her research finds that from the debut of female superhero Wonder Woman, women representation was always within the frame of gender bias. Post-WWII, comic books represented women as wife, mother and secretary. In the era of Rosie the Riveter, women could handle men‟s work. Dunne also found that many superheroes have an alter ego, which means that a superhero has two different lives. In the end, Dunne discovers that comic books had the ability to both shape and reflect the changes in society. Comic books presented the fact that women were essentially „invisible‟, in both American life and comic books in the 1950s until 1960s. This indicated that there was an important relation between comic books and real life; art imitated life and in some cases, life imitated art- especially in pop-culture.
Another research with the same vein was conducted by Wood (1974) who analyzed women‟s stereotype in comic books. Wood found that girls in comic books were portrayed as a bad influence, greedy and threatening to leave their boyfriend if gifts were not offered. Girls could not protect themselves from bad guys. In the storylines, they were exploited and got captured by the villain. They were the objects to be rescued by superhero. Girls were also seen as a threat; a superhero, who fell in love with a girl often got into troubles.
Young (1991, 1993) also conducted a study related to women stereotype in comic world. He investigated Marvel Universe Trading Cards from 1991. From the analysis he found that the comic book universe was quite sexist. From all of the cards, heroines or woman superheroes were featured only 22%. The finding showed that women are in the minority in the Marvel Universe. Young also discovered that although men and women had an equal win or loss ratio in a battle, heroines fought in fewer battles. Man superheroes consistently have greater power and stamina.
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Sievers (2003), examined how women are stereotyped in American comics that are published from year 2002. She found that women continue to be in the minority. They are less likely to be main characters, the rescuer or the person in charge. They are also objectified visually by depicting them with large breasts, tiny waists, revealing outfits and uncomfortable poses. Surprisingly, heroines (woman superheroes) are also depicted the same as the women in comic book. They are almost always subordinate to man superhero. This can be easily seen when they battle with super villain. In several actions, they faint, overexert themselves and worry about smudging their make-up, even sometimes they still need others (man superhero) help in a battle.
To sum up, all those studies revealed that women, even heroines are stereotyped as weak creatures, persons in charge, wife and in the minority (Young, 1991, 1993, Sievers, 2003). As mentioned before, the studies of women‟s stereotypes, women‟s portrayals and women‟s representation in general had been conducted by many researchers. However, as far as the research concerned, there hasn‟t been any study investigating the “newest” heroines. The “newest heroines” itself means that the selected heroines in this study were created a long time ago but they were published in comic books only recently. This study then focuses on the portrayals of heroines and their alter egos in the comic books published by Marvel and DC
Comics from 2012.
1.2 Research Questions
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1) How are heroines and their alter egos portrayed in American superhero comic books published by DC Comics and Marvel in year 2012?
2) What does the portrayal signify?
1.3 Scope of the Study
The present study is limited to only investigate how woman heroines and their alter egos are portrayed in selected American superhero comic books published by DC Comics and Marvel;
Phantom Lady and Doll Man (2012), Catwoman (2012), the Defenders (2012) and Red She-Hulk
(2012). This study further investigates what are signified by the portrayal.
1.4 Aims of the Study
Based on the two research questions above, the aims of this study are to examine the portrayals of heroines and their alter egos, and to investigate what the portrayal signifies.
1.5 Research Method
This study employs a qualitative descriptive method. It discusses the portrayals of the heroines and their alter egos in selected American superhero comic books published by DC
Comics and Marvel. The selected comics are Phantom Lady and Doll Man (2012), Catwoman
(2012), the Defenders (2012) and Red She-Hulk (2012).Van Leeuwen and Kress (2006) theory on Reading Images was used as the main framework to analyze the images in the comics. While,Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet (1998) was applied as the second framework. To analyze the verbal text accompanying the images, systemic functional linguistics (SFL)
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proposed by Halliday (2004) was also employed. Finally, Brannon‟s theory on gender stereotype (2004) was applied to further discuss the analyzed data.
1.5.1 Data Collection
The data are in form of online comic: images and verbal text published by DC Comics and
Marvel; Phantom Lady and Doll Man (2012), Catwoman (2012), the Defenders (2012) and Red She-Hulk (2012). The data are collected by downloading them from www.comicsall.com, www.indowebster.com and www.filecrop.com on May 2012.
1.5.2 Data Analysis
The collected data are in the form of images and verbal text. The data in the form of images are analyzed by using the main framework, Van Leeuwen and Kress (2006) theory on Reading Images and Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet (1998). Additionally, the data in the form of verbal text are analyzed by using Halliday‟s theory on systemic functional linguistics (2004).
In conducting the study, the following steps were taken:
Selecting four series of heroine online comics published by DC Comics and Marvel; 2 comics were taken from DC Comics and two other comics were taken from Marvel. Two comic from the different publishers feature independent heroines, two other comics feature heroines in a team of superhero.
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Analyzing the collected data from 2 aspects: images and verbal text. To analyze the images theory of Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) on Reading Images and Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet (1998) are employed. To analyze the verbal text, systemic functional linguistics (Halliday, 2004) is used. It covers the written text in the speech balloons and the comments of the text.
Interpreting and making conclusion of the analyzed data. 1.6 Clarification of Terms
To avoid misunderstanding, the following is the clarification of the terms used in the study: Stereotype
It is a broad generalization about an entire class of phenomena based on some knowledge of limited aspects of certain members of the class. (Wood, 1994)
Comic Book
Comic book is defined as a booklet of words and pictures integrated into a flexible and powerful printed format (Witek 1989:3)
Superhero
Superhero is a character in a film or a short story who has special strength and uses it to do good things and help other people. Superhero also can be meant as someone who has done something very brave to help someone else. (Cambridge English Dictionary)
Heroine
Heroine is a person (usually female) who is admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great. (Cambridge English Dictionary)
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Reading images or visual grammar is a framework that focuses on the structures or „grammar‟ of visual design – colors perspective, framing and composition. (Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, 2006)
1.7 Organization of the Paper
The paper of this research will be organized into five chapters as follows: The first chapter: Introduction
This chapter is the introduction which contains background of the study, which relates to the comics, research questions, aims of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, clarification of the terms, and organization of the paper.
The second chapter: Theoretical Framework
It consists of theoretical framework that provides literature review that is used to investigate the research problems.
The third chapter: Research Methodology
This section contains the research methodology, discussing the steps and procedures of the study, and the data resources in conducting the study.
The fourth chapter: Findings and Discussion
This chapter provides findings and discussion which is containing the result of the study after conducting the research.
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This last chapter contains the researcher‟s interpretation toward the result of the research findings in a form of conclusion and suggestion.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the procedures and steps in conducting the study. It consists of research problem, research method, data collection, data analysis and data presentation.
3.1 Research Problem
This study is geared toward answering the following research questions:
1) How are heroines and their alter egos portrayed in American superhero
comic books published by DC Comics and Marvel in year 2012?
2) What does the portrayal signify?
3.2 Research Method
As what has been stated in the previous chapter, this study is a qualitative descriptive study. It employs a qualitative descriptive method and textual analysis since the data are in the form of images and verbal text, which are rich descriptions and context to be explored.
In answering the research questions, there are several frameworks used. To
analyze the images in the comics, Kress and Van Leeuwen‟s theory on reading
images (2006) has been applied as the main framework, along with Van
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Furthermore, to analyze the verbal text accompanying the images, systemic functional linguistics opposed by Halliday (2004) has been applied. It is employed to reveal what the verbal text means. The verbal texts accompanying the images are in the speech balloons. Finally, the discussion section applies
Brannon‟s theory on gender stereotype (2004). All approaches used for this study
is aimed to reveal how women are portrayed in superhero comic books published by the most two famous publishers DC Comics and Marvel in year 2012.
3.3 Data Collection
The data were collected from the online comic book downloaded from
www.comicsall.com, www.indowebster.com and www.filecrop.com on May 2012.
The collected data are four different comics that come from two different categories: independent heroine and heroine in a team. Below is a brief description of the comics.
3.1 Comics‟ Description
No. Comic Title Publisher Category
Year of the Comic Published 1. Phantom Lady and the
Doll Man DC Comics
Heroine in a
team 2012
2. Catwoman DC Comics Independent
heroine 2012
3. The Defenders Marvel Heroine in a
team 2012
4. Black Cat Marvel Independent
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The data in the form of images were collected by noticing two aspects: women when they play the character as a heroine and when they play their character as an ordinary woman (alter ego). After that, the images were then cut and pasted and stored in a folder to ease the visual analysis.
While the data in the form of verbal text were selected by noticing each sentences found in the speech balloons then listing particular sentences that can support how women are portrayed in comic books.
3. 4 Data Analysis
The selected scenes are first identified in terms of what are there on them then they are analyzed by using the main framework, Van Leeuwen‟s (2006)
theory on reading images and Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet (1998). Additionally, the data in the form of verbal text are analyzed by using systemic functional linguistics opposed by Halliday (2004).
In conducting the study, the following steps were taken:
Selecting four series of heroine online comics published by Marvel and DC
Comics; 2 comics were taken from Marvel and two other comics were
taken from DC Comics. Two comic from the different publishers feature independent heroines, two other comics feature heroines in a team.
Analyzing the collected data from 2 main points: images and verbal text. To analyze the images, there are two main steps highlighted; identification
that covers all the signs found in the comics by using Van Domelen‟s visual
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interprets the identified signs by using Van Leeuwen‟s (2006) theory on reading images.
Analyzing the verbal text by using Halliday‟s theory on systemic functional
linguistics (2004). It covers the written text in the speech balloons and the comments of the text.
Interpreting and making conclusion of the analyzed data.3.5 Data Presentation
The collected data are presented in tables such as following. The data are put in the appendix of the paper.
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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu 3.2 Sample of Images Analysis of DC Comics
Heroine/ Comic Series : Catwoman (Selina Kyle)/ Catwoman
Publishers : DC Comics
Category : Independent heroine
Identification Pose: the heroine appears with her gratuitous chest shot and gratuitous butt shot.
Body: her breasts are larger than her waist, the width of one breast is also wider than the head, her thigh is longer than total torso plus head height. She also has inhuman/ demonic part (claws and cat ears).
Clothes Type: the heroine is wearing a skintight bodysuit, the cloth she is wearing is made of black leather. She is also holding a weapon (a whip).
Clothes Coverage: the body of the heroine is fully covered but the outline of her body is clearly shown.
Analysis This is the cover page of the comic. The heroine is depicted as a
„catlike‟ heroine, who tears the paper which looks like she comes out from the inside of the book to introduce herself. The heroine is placed in the centred-margin since she is placed in the centre of the composition and she is also placed in a long shot since it presents the full figure (Van Leeuwen, 2006:124). By presenting
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the long shot, the interactive participant (the viewer) is able to identify every detail of the body of the heroine. The heroine is the most salient/ foregrounded element in the picture, which means that the heroine is the most important element. In the cover page, the heroine plays the role of actor since she is the only participant who does not do a thing to other participant. The heroine is wearing black leather suit. Black is the color of night, serene and mysterious (Manthor, 2009). This may relate to her life. Selina
Kyle‟s childhood was defined as tragedy. When she was a little
girl, her mother committed suicide, her father drank himself to death not long after. She was also separated from his sister and was remanded to an abusive state home for orphan and delinquent girls (DC Encyclopedia, 2008). The leather skintight bodysuit may relate to her natural skill; gymnast. Wearing this suit eases her in fighting with the villain yet makes her the slickest and slipperiest cat burglar that the Gotham City Police Department had ever had to deal with.
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Heroine/ Comic Series : Red She-Hulk (Elizabeth Ross)/ Red She-Hulk
Publishers : Marvel
Category : Independent heroine
Identification Pose: this picture presents a gratuitous chest shot and a gratuitous butt shot of the Red She-Hulk.
Body: the heroine has breasts that are larger than her waist, the width of one breast of hers is wider than her head. She also has inhuman/ demonic part (red skin, red eyes).
Clothes Type: she is wearing a skintight bodysuit made of black leather.
Clothes Coverage: the outline of the heroine‟s body is drawn, less than half of each breast is covered.
Analysis This picture is the cover page of the comic. The picture shows the heroine who is dragging a villain. The villain seems powerless, this indicates that women can also „oppress‟ men, women can also defeat men, women can be stronger than men. The represented participants in this picture are the Red She-Hulk, the wreckage, the villain and another flying superhero. The Red She-Hulk plays the role of reacter since she
is the „doer‟ who does a deed to other object (phenomena). The heroine
is placed in the centred-margin because she is placed in the centre of the composition yet she is also placed in a long shot since it presents
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the full figure. By presenting the long shot, the interactive participant is able to identify every detail of the elements found in the picture. The most salient elements of the picture are the Red She-Hulk, the villain and the flying superhero. However, the face of the villain cannot be identified yet the image size of the flying superhero is smaller than the heroine, these may infer that both the villain and the flying superhero are less important. The heroine is wearing a black leather suit. Black is the color of night, serene and mysterious (Manthor, 2009). The color of her suit may relate to her „gloomy‟ life. Her mother died when she was a teenager, her father then „dumped‟ her from his life without any certain reason (Marvel Encyclopedia, 2009). The leather skintight bodysuit she is wearing can ease her in fighting the villain. While red, the color of her skin comes from gamma radiation. Red also reveals anger, whenever the heroine angry, she will turn into a red monstrous woman.
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No. Character Textual Evidence Comment
1. Selina Kyle (alter ego of Catwoman)
Friend : Can you handle a situation like that, miss Kyle?
Kyle : Sure can. This job fits me perfectly. (taken from “Catwoman #00”, 2012, p.2)
[I] [am] sure [I] can [handle] circ. Material
This job fits me perfectly Phenomenon mental senser
This conversation happens between Selina Kyle (alter ego of Catwoman) and her friend in a closet. Her friend asks her to sneak out the guest in a ball. Selina Kyle answers “sure can” and adds “this job fits perfectly” in the end. Those two sentences reveal her confidence. The word “sure” itself means “given to feelings of confident certainty” ( merriam-webster.com). From the explanation, it can be inferred that
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Image 1 – image 4
Visual Characteristics Image 1 Catwoman (DC Comics) Image 2 Catwoman (DC Comics) Image 3 Catwoman (DC Comics) Image 4 Selina Kyle/ alter ego
of Catwoman (DC Comics)
Pose Displaying gratuitous
chest shot. Displaying gratuitous butt shot. Displaying gratuitous chest shot. Displaying spread-legs crotch shot. Displaying gratuitous chest shot. Displaying spread-legs crotch shot.
Displaying the alter ego who is standing next to her girl friend.
Body Breasts are larger than
waist.
The width of one breast is also wider than the head.
Thigh is longer than total torso plus head height.
The heroine has inhuman/ demonic part (claws and cat ears).
Breasts are larger than waist.
The width of one breast is also wider than the head.
Thigh is longer than total torso plus head height.
The heroine has inhuman/ demonic part (cat ears).
Breasts are larger than waist.
The width of one breast is also wider than the head.
Thigh is longer than total torso plus head height.
The heroine has inhuman/ demonic part (cat ears).
Breasts are larger than waist.
The alter ego does not have inhuman/ demonic part in her body.
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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu 3.6 Findings of Verbal Texts Analysis
Text 1 – Text 4
Verbal Text
Characteristics Text1 Text2 Text3 Text4
Text Kyle : Sure can. This job fits me perfectly.
(taken from “Catwoman #00”, 2012, p.2)
Kyle :But I want more. (taken from “Catwoman #00”, 2012, p.7)
Friend : Only a year and you‟ve gotten yourself an important promotion! You‟re a bright girl. I‟m very impressed!
(taken from “Catwoman #00”, 2012, p.9)
Jennifer : That‟s not gonna happen. So just go ahead and do your psycho thing.
(taken from “Phantom Lady and Doll Man #2”, 2012, p.4)
Processes Mental: fits Mental: want Mental: impressed Material: go, do
Circumstances This conversation happens between Selina Kyle (alter ego of Catwoman) and her friend in a closet. Her friend asks her to sneak out the guest in a ball. Selina Kyle answers “sure can” and adds “this job fits perfectly” in the end. Those two sentences reveal her confidence. The word
This conversation happens while Selina Kyle is stealing diamonds in a jewelry shop. When her friend asks her to stop because someone‟s coming, Selina Kyle answers “but I want more.” Her answer indicates that she is not satisfied yet with the
This dialogue comes from Selina‟s friend as a compliment to her for achieving important promotion. Since there are the words “bright‟ and “I‟m very
impressed”, it can be easily concluded that Selina Kyle is a smart and impressive woman.
This conversation happens when Jennifer is kidnapped by the villain. The villain will break her but Jennifer doesn‟t seem afraid, she even challenges the villain by saying “… so just go ahead and do your psycho thing.” This indicates that
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
“sure” itself means “given
to feelings of confident
certainty” (
merriam-webster.com). From the
explanation, it can be inferred that Selina Kyle is a confident woman.
jewelry she has got. This is also supported by the analysis that shows mental process; all that comes into Selina‟s mind is getting more jewelry. The word “more” itself means “greater”
(merriam-webster.com). From the explanation, it can be inferred that Selina Kyle is a bit „greedy‟
since it means „having or
showing a selfish desire for wealth and
possessions‟
(merriamwebster.com).
The impressive and smart Selina can also be seen from her friend who is impressed, which is shown by the mental process in the analysis.
Jennifer Knight is a brave woman.
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions
The study is conducted to investigate how heroines are portrayed in the superhero comic books published by DC Comics and Marvel. This study is also geared toward answering the meaning of the portrayals found in the comics. In analyzing the comics, this study uses two approaches; visual analysis and verbal text analysis.
The visual analysis applies the theory of reading images (visual grammar), proposed by van Leeuwen (2006) as the primary frame work and the visual analysis coding sheet proposed by van Domelen (1998) as the secondary framework. While in analyzing the verbal text, systemic functional linguistics proposed by Halliday (2004) has been employed.
Based on the analysis of the visual texts, the study finds that heroines in the superhero comic books are portrayed as erotic women. Their erotism is revealed by the pose they make; displaying breasts gratuitously, displaying butt shots and spread-legs crotch shots. The erotism is also portrayed by revealing breasts that are larger than waist, the width of each breast that is wider than head and thigh that is longer than total torso plus head height. Leather and spandex are cloth material mostly worn by the heroines because this material can reveal the outline of the heroines’ bodies. In
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several images, these two kinds of cloth material make each breast of the heroines less covered. The visual texts analysis also reveals the tragic and mysterious lives of the heroines, which are represented through the black outfit they always wear. The narrative processes used by the heroines in the comics are actor, reacter and
phenomena. While the sizes of frame used are long shot and close shot.
The analysis of verbal texts finds that the heroines are also portrayed as confident, smart, impressive, brave, sexy, fragile, humiliating and greedy ones.
Those portrayals mentioned above reveal that the proportion of the women’s body (especially the heroines’), are not realistic. Those ‘fictitious’ erotic bodies and poses are built to attract men’s attention, which means that women in the comics are presented as sex symbols. On the other hand, the black colors of their superhero outfits symbolize their tragic and mysterious lives. While the soft colors of their alter ego’s outfits reveal that they can have more peaceful lives when they become ordinary women. The women in the comics are also portrayed as the strong ones. This is revealed by the role of reacter they play. This role presents the women who are able to do ‘impossible’ things, such as flying and fighting woman or even man villains with their own super power. However, the role of phenomena is rarely played. This role is mostly played when the women play the character as the alter ego. When a woman acts as the alter ego, they tend to be weaker and more fragile.
The portrayals above reveal that no matter how powerful women are depicted in the comic books, they are actually still ‘oppressed’. The ‘oppression’ is in the form
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
of they being described as having gratuitous breasts, tiny waist, gratuitous butt, the skintight outfits they wear, etc. Hence this becomes the object of men’s fantasy.
To sum up, heroines in comics are portrayed in two ways; negative and positive ways. The negative ways of portraying the heroines can be seen from how they become sex symbols, how they humiliate the villains and how greedy they are. While the positive ways can be seen from how brave and impressive they are in doing something, such as doing their job in the office or fighting the villain.
5.2 Suggestions
Further study can enlarge the scope of the study by using different objects such as printed comic books, cartoon advertisements or cartoon films that contain women’s portrayals. The analysis of the data can be done by using different tools such as visual grammar and critical discourse analysis. Men’s portrayals are also interesting to investigate. The data can be taken from men’s supplement ads or men superhero comic books. The tools used can be visual grammar and systemic functional linguistics. All the future studies are expected to present more thorough
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu REFERENCES
Academic Dictionaries and Ecyclopedias. (2009). Speech Balloons. Available online at http://en.academic.ru. Current as of 7 December, 2012
Arnott, L. (2009). The Visual Parts of a Comic Book Page. Available online at http://www.suite101.com. Current as of 20 March, 2012.
Bellis, M. (2010). The History of Comic Books. Available online at http://www.inventors.about.com. Current as of 20 March, 2012.
Brannon. (2004). Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity. Available online at http://www.feminish.com. Current as of 12 March, 2012.
Cohn, Neil. (2005). A Visual Lexicon. Available online at http://www.emaki.net. Current as of 5 December, 2012.
Coleman, B. (2010). Media Portrayal of Women. Available online at http://www.suite101.com. Current as of 20 March, 2012.
Comic, M. (2012). Marvel Comic Database. Available online at http://marvel.wikia.com. Current as of 3 March, 2012.
Comics, DC. (2012). DC Comics Database. Available online at http://dc.wikia.com. Current as of 3 March, 2012.
Comics, DC. (2008). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: DK Publishing. Coville, J. (2000). Platinum Age. Available online at http://www.thecomicbooks.com.
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Comics, DC. (2010). Wonder Woman. Available online at http://www.dccomics.com. Current as of November 2012.
Daniel, S. (2011). Lady Macbeth Feminism. Available online at http://www.dsuh2012.hubpages.com. Current as of August 2012.
Digital, J. (2012). Vectors. Available online at http://www.joeydigital.me. Current as of January 2013.
Dunne, Marryjane. (2012). The Representation of Women in Comic Book Post WW II
Through the Radical 60's. McNair Online Journal.
Halliday, M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hall, Stuart. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying
Practices. India: Sage Publications.
Leeuwen, G. K. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge.
Lirola, M. M. (2008). A Critical Analysis of the Image of Immigrants in Multimodal
Texts. Spain: Equinox Publishing.
Manthor. (2009). The Meaning of Colors and Which Superheroes they Fit. Available online at http://forums.comicbookresources.com. Current as of 5 May, 2012.
Marvel. (2009). The Marvel Encyclopedia. New York: DK Publishing.
Marvel. (2009). X-Men. Available online at http://marveldirectory.com. Current as of November 2012.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
McDonald, L. (2012). Feminism Lost in Comic Books: Hyper Sexualization of
Female Heroes Alienates Women. Available online at http://www.polycymic.com. Current as of 3 December, 2012.
McGlaun, K. (2003). Jackson Creek Middle School. Available online at http://www.mccsc.edu. Current as of 10 January, 2013.
Merriam Webster. (2012). American English Dictionary. Available online at http://www.learnersdictionary.com.
Sievers, M. (2003). Brain, Brawn and Breats: How Women are Depicted in Today's
Action/ Adventure Comic Books. North Carolina.
Thacker, C. (2008). Comic Life in the Classroom: Panels. Available online at http://wiki.fms.k12.nm.us. Current as of 10 November, 2012.
Wignell, L. G. (1995). Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Australia: Gerd Stabler.
Wood, Susan. (1974). The Poison Maiden and the Great Bitch: Female Stereotypes
in Marvel Superhero Comics. San Bernardino, CA: The Borgo Press.
Wrigth, M. (2005). Stereotypes of Women are Widespread in Media and Society. Available online at http://quchronicle.com. Current as of 1 January, 2013.
Young, Thomas. (1991). Are Comic Book Super-Heroes Sexist. Sociology & Social Research, 75(4), 218.
Young, Thomas. (1993). Women as comic book super-heroes: The “weaker sex” in
the Marvel Universe. Psychology, 30(2), 49-50.
Ziegler, B. (2009). Including the Gutter Will Help Authenticate Your Organization’s
Story: Gutter. Available online at http://www.colaborativejourneys.com. Current as of November 2012.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
of they being described as having gratuitous breasts, tiny waist, gratuitous butt, the
skintight outfits they wear, etc. Hence this becomes the object of men’s fantasy.
To sum up, heroines in comics are portrayed in two ways; negative and positive ways. The negative ways of portraying the heroines can be seen from how they become sex symbols, how they humiliate the villains and how greedy they are. While the positive ways can be seen from how brave and impressive they are in doing something, such as doing their job in the office or fighting the villain.
5.2 Suggestions
Further study can enlarge the scope of the study by using different objects such as printed comic books, cartoon advertisements or cartoon films that contain
women’s portrayals. The analysis of the data can be done by using different tools
such as visual grammar and critical discourse analysis. Men’s portrayals are also
interesting to investigate. The data can be taken from men’s supplement ads or men
superhero comic books. The tools used can be visual grammar and systemic functional linguistics. All the future studies are expected to present more thorough understanding of women’s or men’s portrayals in media.
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu REFERENCES
Academic Dictionaries and Ecyclopedias. (2009). Speech Balloons. Available online at http://en.academic.ru. Current as of 7 December, 2012
Arnott, L. (2009). The Visual Parts of a Comic Book Page. Available online at
http://www.suite101.com. Current as of 20 March, 2012.
Bellis, M. (2010). The History of Comic Books. Available online at
http://www.inventors.about.com. Current as of 20 March, 2012.
Brannon. (2004). Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity. Available online at http://www.feminish.com. Current as of 12 March, 2012.
Cohn, Neil. (2005). A Visual Lexicon. Available online at http://www.emaki.net. Current as of 5 December, 2012.
Coleman, B. (2010). Media Portrayal of Women. Available online at
http://www.suite101.com. Current as of 20 March, 2012.
Comic, M. (2012). Marvel Comic Database. Available online at
http://marvel.wikia.com. Current as of 3 March, 2012.
Comics, DC. (2012). DC Comics Database. Available online at http://dc.wikia.com. Current as of 3 March, 2012.
Comics, DC. (2008). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: DK Publishing. Coville, J. (2000). Platinum Age. Available online at http://www.thecomicbooks.com.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Comics, DC. (2010). Wonder Woman. Available online at http://www.dccomics.com. Current as of November 2012.
Daniel, S. (2011). Lady Macbeth Feminism. Available online at
http://www.dsuh2012.hubpages.com. Current as of August 2012.
Digital, J. (2012). Vectors. Available online at http://www.joeydigital.me. Current as of January 2013.
Dunne, Marryjane. (2012). The Representation of Women in Comic Book Post WW II Through the Radical 60's. McNair Online Journal.
Halliday, M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hall, Stuart. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. India: Sage Publications.
Leeuwen, G. K. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge.
Lirola, M. M. (2008). A Critical Analysis of the Image of Immigrants in Multimodal Texts. Spain: Equinox Publishing.
Manthor. (2009). The Meaning of Colors and Which Superheroes they Fit. Available online at http://forums.comicbookresources.com. Current as of 5 May, 2012.
Marvel. (2009). The Marvel Encyclopedia. New York: DK Publishing.
Marvel. (2009). X-Men. Available online at http://marveldirectory.com. Current as of November 2012.
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SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013
Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
McDonald, L. (2012). Feminism Lost in Comic Books: Hyper Sexualization of Female Heroes Alienates Women. Available online at http://www.polycymic.com. Current as of 3 December, 2012.
McGlaun, K. (2003). Jackson Creek Middle School. Available online at
http://www.mccsc.edu. Current as of 10 January, 2013.
Merriam Webster. (2012). American English Dictionary. Available online at http://www.learnersdictionary.com.
Sievers, M. (2003). Brain, Brawn and Breats: How Women are Depicted in Today's Action/ Adventure Comic Books. North Carolina.
Thacker, C. (2008). Comic Life in the Classroom: Panels. Available online at
http://wiki.fms.k12.nm.us. Current as of 10 November, 2012.
Wignell, L. G. (1995). Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Australia: Gerd Stabler.
Wood, Susan. (1974). The Poison Maiden and the Great Bitch: Female Stereotypes in Marvel Superhero Comics. San Bernardino, CA: The Borgo Press.
Wrigth, M. (2005). Stereotypes of Women are Widespread in Media and Society. Available online at http://quchronicle.com. Current as of 1 January, 2013.
Young, Thomas. (1991). Are Comic Book Super-Heroes Sexist. Sociology & Social Research, 75(4), 218.
Young, Thomas. (1993). Women as comic book super-heroes: The “weaker sex” in the Marvel Universe. Psychology, 30(2), 49-50.
Ziegler, B. (2009). Including the Gutter Will Help Authenticate Your Organization’s Story: Gutter. Available online at http://www.colaborativejourneys.com. Current as of November 2012.
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Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books