http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-super-black-macho-one-baad-mutha-shutch-yo-mouth-black-superhero-masculinity-in-1970s-mainstream-comic-books/ Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:29:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-super-black-macho-one-baad-mutha-shutch-yo-mouth-black-superhero-masculinity-in-1970s-mainstream-comic-books/comment-page-1/#comment-12 risa Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 /?p=9#comment-12 <a href="#fnote1up" name="fnote1down">(#1)</a> Lois's need for rescue is obvious, but in her language and outrage one could also hear a woman's plea for justice, for right-ness, and for Clark not only to be a man by fighting for her, but by refusing to let another man treat her like an object. In fact, Clark's actions- the words he says outloud seem even more objectifying- allow yourself to be passed around in order to avoid a scene. Or, alternately, his words in this scene might be understood to mean- humour the clod, pretend you're his equal by giving him a dance, allow that his desire might be the equivalent in humanity to his (Clark's), but suggest that violence is a human urge of a lower level. After all, Superman has a pretty intense, one might say super-human, moral code. It is in interactions with humans- with their passions and messy morals and racial and gender inequalities- that Superman gets tripped up. I think this analysis of comic book masculinities is spot on. It's got me thinking about the nature of comic books- how something in their structure and phrasing allows multiple subjectivities as well as stereotypes to emerge, coexist and sometimes conflict. The comic book is, in this way, a good example of Bakhtin's 'dialogic novel'. (#1) Lois’s need for rescue is obvious, but in her language and outrage one could also hear a woman’s plea for justice, for right-ness, and for Clark not only to be a man by fighting for her, but by refusing to let another man treat her like an object. In fact, Clark’s actions- the words he says outloud seem even more objectifying- allow yourself to be passed around in order to avoid a scene. Or, alternately, his words in this scene might be understood to mean- humour the clod, pretend you’re his equal by giving him a dance, allow that his desire might be the equivalent in humanity to his (Clark’s), but suggest that violence is a human urge of a lower level. After all, Superman has a pretty intense, one might say super-human, moral code. It is in interactions with humans- with their passions and messy morals and racial and gender inequalities- that Superman gets tripped up. I think this analysis of comic book masculinities is spot on. It’s got me thinking about the nature of comic books- how something in their structure and phrasing allows multiple subjectivities as well as stereotypes to emerge, coexist and sometimes conflict. The comic book is, in this way, a good example of Bakhtin’s ‘dialogic novel’.

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