Gender and Cartoons: "Batman: The Animated Series"

The logo and end credits image of the series

Batman: The Animated Series is a cartoon based around the adventures titular popular superhero. Originally aired between 1992 to 1995, the television show was nominated for and earned several awards, including four Emmy awards, and has subsequently appeared on multiple "greatest of all time" lists. While originally intended as a program for older children, the show's complex, mature tone garnered praise for its adult appeal. The series spawned the DC animated universe, led to a sequel/spin-off titled The New Adventures of Batman, and included a theatrical full length animated film. Although gender was not at the forefront of the series, Batman: TAS featured various themes that tied into masculinity and femininity, some of which can be seen as positive while some are more negative.

Positive themes involved with masculinity are often tied to Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dick Grayson/the first Robin. When he isn't in his Batman persona, Wayne acts as the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. While some incarnations of the character feature Wayne treating his public persona as a spoiled, narcissistic playboy in order to hide his alter-ego, the Batman: TAS version of Wayne is more nuanced. This version of Wayne is more assertive, out-going, and intelligent, often directly involving himself in his company's work. Wayne is portrayed as a more humanized character in general, but he is especially humanized in regard to his parents, both in his public and caped personas. Wayne is portrayed as wanting to learn more about his parents, and suffers from moments of self-doubt in which he questions whether or not his parents would approve of his actions, and whether or not he wants to live up to their supposed expectations in the first place. Even though he's a masculine superhero, this version of Wayne still has flaws, challenging the belief that men must temper their emotions as showcased by Danielle Soulliere's Wrestling with Masculinity essay. Furthermore, while the show is violent for a cartoon, there are multiple instances in which Wayne and Grayson have to use their intellect to overcome obstacles. Batman retains his detective skills in this iteration, tying intelligence to masculinity.

Negative themes tied to masculinity are often linked to villains. While Batman and Robin consistently use violence throughout the series, neither purposefully mean to kill the majority of the antagonists they encounter, regardless of the crimes they've committed. The villains the pair encounter, however, aren't above murdering civilians, police officers, and politicians who stand in their way. Although this still normalizes the use of violence as a means of getting what one wants, it also reinforces the idea that the use of violence isn't necessarily a good thing, and can lead to death. Aggression and vengeance are also tied to negative representations of masculinity through the show's villains. Many of the villains are originally motivated by desiring vengeance against people who have wronged them, including the Riddler, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, and Two-Face. Two-Face is especially relevant here as his aggression is ultimately the cause of his split-personality, as he can't keep his anger and aggressive tendencies in check. The antagonists are generally defeated in their quests for revenge, though those responsible for wronging the antagonists are often punished as well.

From left to right: Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman

The shows messages regarding femininity are even more of a mixed bag. The majority of characters in shown in positions of power are male, establishing a mostly male hierarchy in the city of Gotham. There are few major female role models in the show as well. Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl very late in Batman: TAS, though she has an expanded role in The New Adventure of Batman. Batgirl serves as the show's primary positive female role model despite that. The most important female characters throughout most of the show are antagonists, mainly Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman. Whereas male antagonists have a variety of body types, the major female antagonists are all slim and sexualized to varying degrees, often portrayed as flirty while using their looks to seduce male characters. They also have "feminine" motivations: Poison Ivy and Catwoman are usually motivated by protecting nature (plants for Poison Ivy and animals for Catwoman) while Harley Quinn commits crimes out of love for the Joker. Despite her motivations, Harley Quinn's relationship with the Joker is portrayed as abusive, and is criticized by other characters in the show. Some episodes of the shows also emphasize their femininity, even if it's at odds with their characterization, such as one episode of The New Adventures of Batman in which Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn force Wayne to take them shopping. Femininity in the show is ultimately less nuanced than masculinity, despite a few positive elements.

 Mr. Freeze's origin story

It's also important to note that multiple villains are humanized by their backstories. As we briefly discussed today in class, cartoons and other forms of media intended for children have oversimplified worlds of good and evil, dehumanizing characters that serve as villains. Some of the villains featured in Batman: TAS are shown to be fundamentally human, though ultimately twisted. Harvey Dent is first introduced as Gotham's District Attorney, and is a recurring character in the show's early episodes. He's shown to be a friend of Wayne, and is portrayed as a seemingly normal person, interacting with others and going on dates. It is later revealed that Dent has physiological issues related to anger management, which spiral out of control after he's injured in an explosion. Even after becoming Two-Face, Dent still has some attachment to Wayne, showing his saner, more "human" side. Mr. Freeze's origin story is altered in this incarnation, making him seem more human compared to older versions of the character. In this version of the character, Victor Fries is mainly motivated by his wife, who is cryogenically frozen due to a terminal illness. After he is mutated in an incident involving his former boss, he takes on the Mr. Freeze persona to get revenge. This version of Freeze is generally portrayed as a tragic character. Other villains, such as the Riddler and Clayface, have similar backstories in which they're wronged and resort to crime to avenge themselves. While Batman: TAS attempted to humanize its main antagonists, The New Adventures of Batman drastically altered most of the cast in favor of a more "streamlined" art style similar to Superman: The Animated Series. This resulted in highly dehumanized villains. Scarecrow's redesign, for example, is often held up as one of the most radical departures, losing his former masked design in favor of a more inhuman appearance.

Gender, Art, and Advertising: "Fearless Girl"

Fearless Girl

On March 7, 2017, a statue of a girl was installed in Bowling Green in the Financial District of Manhattan. The statue, called Fearless Girl, was created by Kristen Visbal and installed by State Street Global Advisors as part of an advertising campaign engineered by McCann New York to coincide with International Women's Day.  According to State Street, the statue is intended to highlight the need for gender diversity in Wall Street and workplaces as a whole. The statue originally featured an accompanying plaque, which told observers to "know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference."

Fearless Girl and Charging Bull

The statue itself, according to Visbal, is actually based on two girls, including a Latina girl, highlighting Visbal's stated efforts to create something that everyone can relate to. Visbal has also claimed that she made sure to keep the statue's features "soft." Visbal intended to portray the girl as brave, proud, and strong, not belligerent or defiant. The statue's pose is different to the objectifying, weak poses that we examined in class, as the statue is posed as a powerful figure standing up to Arturo Di Modica's Charging Bull.

Young girls and women of all ages have taken photographs of the statue and have posed with it since it was installed. As shown in the tweets featured in the article, some people on social media sites like Twitter have praised Fearless Girl as a feminist symbol. Some people view the statue as something that extends beyond something that stands up to the gender gap in Wall Street, viewing it as something that empowers women in society as a whole. The statue was so popular among both New York citizens and tourists that its stay on Bowling Green was extended to March 2018. The current Public Advocate of New York City, Letitia James, has called for the statue to become a permanent fixture, as have others.

Others, however, have been far more critical of the statue. As noted earlier, Fearless Girl was originally devised as part of a marketing campaign by McCann New York for State Street, which calls the intentions behind the statue into question. Jillian Steinhauer refers to the statue as an example of corporate feminism in an article for Brooklyn-based art organization Hyperallergic. Steinhauer points out that the Board of Directors of State Street Global Advisors features more men than it does women. Emily Peck, writing for Huffington Post, also points out that less than one-quarter of State Street’s executive vice-presidents are women, and that only 30% of the company's new hires in 2016 were female. Both Peck and Steinhauer suggest that Fearless Girl's message stands at odds with what the company is actually doing in regard to women in the workplace, and that State Street is attempting to make people feel good about Wall Street despite its shady past.

The plaque included with Fearless Girl is especially notable for this argument. "SHE" refers to the statue itself as well as State Street's Gender Diversity Index, an exchange traded fund which uses SHE as a ticker symbol. While the latter meaning is potentially lost on many of the statute's visitors, the statue was originally intended to be a subtle advertisement. The plaque was removed in early April and replaced with a different plaque which omits references to the company's fund.

Fearless Girl can be seen as an example of corporate feminism which attempts to co-opt the message behind feminism, similar to Dove's various postfeminist campaigns as noted by Dara Murray's "Branding "Real" Social Change in Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty." Unlike the situation with Dove, it should be noted that the statue itself, as a piece of art, can still potentially be viewed as a pseudo-positive symbol despite its origins, as demonstrated by the positive empowerment it's already provided for young girls. It's possible that public perception of the work of art has transcended its corporate marketing origins, though people should still be mindful of those origins.

Gender and Toys

Toys represent a form of media sometimes taken for granted by parents and adults outside of academia. Toys, as a medium, are often used to impart expectations, societal norms, and knowledge to children through play. Advertising plays a key role in marketing toys to both parents and children, and often relies on preconceived notions of gender when it comes to selling gendered toys.

McDonald's happy meal tie-ins for The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Toys designed for girls tend to focus on the color pink, and are less "active" compared to toys designed for boys in mind. One stark example of this is displayed in the McDonald's happy meal toys for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The toys specifically for boys are mostly action-oriented, such as the spinning top, the car, and the action figures. The inclusion of a mask even allows boys to pretend to be Spider-Man. The toys for the girls' happy meals, on the other hand, are more passive and focused on fashion, a stereotypical "girlish" pastime. While boys can pretend to be Spider-Man through the partial mask, girls can merely show their admiration of Spider-Man through accessories, as noted by Chris Sims in the previously linked article. This distinction sets expectations for what young girls should be interested in, upholding current societal gender norms. The pink toys also stand out in contrast to the usual Spider-Man design, serving to only signify that these toys are for girls. This also places toys for girls as a nebulous category for "the other;" while the Spider-Man design that most people associate with the character is heavily featured in the boys category, the girls category is different and non-conforming to the set standard. Girls can be potentially alienated due to this.

The original ad for the Lionel Girls' Model Train set

Another genre of toys specifically aimed at girls comes in the form of existing products retrofitted for gendered play. This concept is similar to the Ms. Male Character phenomenon that we discussed earlier in the semester. As discussed by Gloria Steinem in our textbook's "Sex, Lies, and Advertising" article, Lionel created a train set designed specifically for young girls by applying various pastel colors to a pre-existing design. Advertisements for the set stressed gender parity while simultaneously focusing on the "girly" color designs. Ads also tended to show girls with their mothers, an inverse of the general father-son bonding theme present in the majority of Lionel ads. The ads and the set itself imply that girls can only enjoy specifically colored toys, and that the regular toy, which was otherwise largely gender-neutral, was something specifically for boys. The set was a disaster for the company, partially due to the lack of interest in the design compared to regular, gender-neutral designs which mirrored real-life trains. The set eventually became a highly sought after collector's item due to its original lack of popularity, something which was spun as a positive by Lionel.

Monopoly Pink Boutique Edition

Another example can be found in the Pink Boutique Edition of Monopoly. While the base game itself is essentially gender-neutral, Hasbro created an edition aimed at girls. Again, the board is plastered in pink, designed "just for girls." Properties for sale in this version of the game include boutiques and malls, linking femininity to consumerism and fashion. This sets a standard for younger girls to follow, reinforcing existing stereotypical gender norms. This edition of Monopoly stands out as an oddity compared to other, gender-neutral versions of the game, including a wide range of properties based on popular media for children like Pokémon, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Despicable Me.

An example of the Lego Friends product line

One final example is the Lego Friends line of sets. The Friends sets were intended to address the disparity between the amount of male and female Lego minifigures in the regular Lego sets while creating a product specifically for girls to enjoy. Despite being marketed at girls, the sets were considered to be "dumbed-down" versions of Lego sets with figures that looked "more like Polly Pocket than Lego." While the sets generally had less individual pieces at launch, the sets themselves were often focused on "girlish" pastimes, including fashion and shopping. The complaints about the character designs also highlights the fact that Lego could have instead created more "normal-looking" female minifigures in regular sets, which would have alleviated the original complaints about their products. As the previously linked article notes, Lego is potentially attempting to shape what girls want rather than giving them what they want, which could possibly have negative effects on their development.

Gender in August Wilson's "Fences"

The trailer for Fences

August Wilson's Fences, originally a play written in 1985, is a slice of life drama focusing on the Maxson family during the 1950s. Much of the narrative's focus is given to Troy Maxson, a garbage collector turned truck driver and the head of the house, played by Denzel Washington. Other important cast members include his wife Rose, played by Viola Davis, and his son Cory, played by Jovan Adepo. Other supporting cast members include Troy's son, Lyons, from a previous relationship, played by Russell Hornsby, and Troy's brother Gabriel, played by Mykelti Williamson, who suffers the effects of a head wound received in World War II. While the narrative features multiple themes, gender, especially in terms of responsibility and aggression, is one of the major themes of Fences.

Troy ties responsibility to masculinity early on in the film, repeatedly explaining that taking care of his family is his responsibility throughout the story. In one of the early scenes, he tries to tell Lyons to take care of himself by getting a well-paying job instead of hanging around bars to indulge in his passion, playing music. Troy also attempts to teach Cory a lesson in responsibility after he quits his job to play football for high school, forcing Cory to go back and get his job back. After Cory asks why his father has never liked him, Troy explains that it's his responsibility to take care of Cory because he's his son, and that liking him has nothing to do with that. Troy later discovers that Cory never got his job back and forces Cory to quit the football team, partially due to his belief that Cory will never succeed in professional football due to racism and partially due to jealousy.

Despite doing his best to provide for his family, Troy wrestles with self-doubt over his responsibilities. Troy feels guilt for using the $3,000 that Gabriel received from his injury to buy a house, and later feels guilt for accidentally institutionalizing Gabriel due to his inability to read. Troy also feels guilt for not being around for Lyons' childhood, and gives him money when Lyons comes to visit to make up for it. Feeling inadequate, Troy has an affair with a woman named Alberta, ultimately failing to live up to his standards of responsibility.

August Wilson also criticizes the aggression often linked with masculinity. Troy reveals to his friend, Bono, and Lyons that he was forced to leave his home and "become a man" after getting into a fight with his father, protecting a girl in the process. He would eventually go to jail for attempting to rob a man to support Lyons and his mother. Throughout the film, Troy attempts to steer Cory away from falling into the same aggressive pattern that he was caught in, giving his son three "strikes" over the course of the movie. Troy himself continues to act aggressive during the film, however, at one point grabbing Rose's arm to the point of hurting her. Cory, angered by his father's infidelity and his refusal to let Cory succeed in football, lashes out, culminating in Cory attempting to hit his father with a baseball bat. Cory is thrown out of the house, and is forced to join the Marines in order to live on his own. Cory's aggression is punished just as Troy's was, though Cory ends up making better decisions than his father did.

Troy and Rose Maxson

Rose, the only female character for the majority of the narrative, is established as being a stay-at-home mom whose duties lie in the home. Although Troy loves her dearly, he often refers to Rose as "woman" and orders her around the house. Rose is shown to handle the household's cooking throughout the film, and is shown handling stereotypical "female" tasks, such as hanging clothes up to dry. Rose also handles the family's money, despite Troy's status as the family's bread winner.

While Rose is portrayed as a typical 1950s housewife, she ironically tackles responsibility with more success than Troy. Viola Davis stated that the things Rose sacrifices, personally, during the film become a very powerful symbol of the role of women, particularly at that time. After Troy confesses to having an affair, Rose rejects Troy, ignoring him while still with him in the same house. Troy's mistress eventually dies in childbirth. Instead of abandoning Troy's newborn daughter, Rose decides to raise her as her own child while rejecting Troy, calling him "a womanless man." The daughter, Raynell, seems to live a good life during the film's epilogue, when Rose once again stresses that she will raise Raynell to have a better life than she had. Rose sacrifices much of her life to ensure that Raynell's life is better, meeting the standards of responsibility that Troy couldn't meet.