Explaining sexism

Sexism is gender discrimination and there are many forms in which it manifests itself. As said, having female characters only in secondary roles is one of these forms, and maybe the most important.

Another form of sexism would be the over-sexualisation of these characters. And this is what the Enchantress actress doesn’t like about the movies: “Female superheroes are normally naked or in bikinis. No-one would be able to fight like that. Wonder Woman, how the hell does she fight? She would be dead in a minute.” (via Comic Book Movie).

We are bedazzled. Yes, women are sexualized when they appear in movies (all sorts of movies, to be more specific). However, we’ve had pretty strong female characters in superhero films too – and the two mentioned on the previous page are the best examples. And while Mystique does appear naked (because, well, she is mutant and proud), Black Widow is a rather normal woman, who knows that she is beautiful and who knows how to take advantage of this.

So this isn’t the kind of sexism we see in superhero movies. Of course, if we are to talk about comic books…

But what do you think? Is Wonder Woman unable to fight wearing her iconic outfit? What about Marvel’s Captain Marvel?

Hit 3 and check out what Chris Pratt has to say!