Oh, my god! I CAN FLY!’: female agency in Marvel’s <i>Runaways</i>

Clark, Catherine; Henderson, Jennifer

doi:10.1080/21504857.2018.1437053

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Some of the scenes that show her lack of agency are related to the notion of authority, which she seems to lack or not put on display. Clark and Henderson [20] are cited in Barker (2003) [20] to claim that "'culturally generated agency' arises from a differing distribution of social resources, which means that certain people in specific situations will possess a greater ability to act, or access more agency, because of cultural and social structures." For example, Susan's brother Peter can act and speak his mind with more ease.…”

Section: B Susan Pevensie: the Traditional Stereotypes Of Women As Heroinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Peter still insists on acting on his decisions, and Susan is compelled to follow him. Karolina from Marvel's Runaways [20] often offers novel suggestions for her group, but these ideas are not influential enough to alter the main plot. According to Nickel [10], this lack of effect proves that Karolina exercises less power in the group, which deprives her of the opportunity to gain more agency by excluding her from important decisions and actions.…”

Section: B Susan Pevensie: the Traditional Stereotypes Of Women As Heroinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Nickel [10], this lack of effect proves that Karolina exercises less power in the group, which deprives her of the opportunity to gain more agency by excluding her from important decisions and actions. It can be said that "her agency is limited socially" [20]. In Susan's case, her suggestion is either not heard or is not considered important enough to the decision-making process because Peter obstructs the consideration of Susan's suggestion.…”

Section: B Susan Pevensie: the Traditional Stereotypes Of Women As Heroinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Susan’s Disempowering Portrayal in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and its Source Text

Andani¹,

Hapsarani²

2020

Proceedings of the International University Symposium on Humanities and Arts (INUSHARTS 2019)

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Films are often motivated to correct social anomalies, and some recent movies have sought to empower women through the depiction of strong, foregrounded female characters whose voices and actions would otherwise fade into the background. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) [1] is a film adaptation of a 1951 children's novel. The film delivers the plot differently from its source and institutes substantial changes. Particularly, Susan Pevensie's character is portrayed in a more empowering manner in the film. Using the qualitative method, this study aims to demonstrate that while Susan's character is more empowered in the film than in the original novel, her treatment in the film does not achieve gender equity. This study utilizes Trites's [2] agency theory, Hall's [3] representation theory, and Bordwell and Thompson's [4] elements of film analysis to identify the differences in the actualization of Susan and the male characters and to comparatively analyze her agency, voice, and power in the source novel and the studied film. The results of the investigation reveal that Susan's standing in the film is not very different from her positioning in the novel as inferior to the male characters. Some mise-en-scènes still represent the patriarchal system in gender-stereotyped portrayals that are counterproductive to the film's effort to empower Susan.

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Section: B Susan Pevensie: the Traditional Stereotypes Of Women As Heroinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Susan Pevensie: the Traditional Stereotypes Of Women As Heroinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Susan Pevensie: the Traditional Stereotypes Of Women As Heroinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Susan’s Disempowering Portrayal in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and its Source Text

Andani¹,

Hapsarani²

2020

Proceedings of the International University Symposium on Humanities and Arts (INUSHARTS 2019)

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“…Alexandra therefore comes to this decision without the support of her family. What she does can be analyzed as an independent action-an action taken independently without permission or support [17]. She believes that her power alone will enable her to pursue her goal.…”

Section: B Supernatural Power As the Source Of Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Supernatural Woman and Wartime Female Agency in The Foreshadowing (2006)

Larasati¹,

Hapsarani²

2020

Proceedings of the International University Symposium on Humanities and Arts (INUSHARTS 2019)

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Female characters in patriarchal settings must often navigate through society using their own agency. One form of power with which they are sometimes endowed is supernatural power. The Foreshadowing ( 2006) is a children's novel set in England and France during World War I. Unlike most war-themed children's literature, the main character is a teenage girl named Alexandra. This novel is also notable for its use of supernatural power as a source of agency. Using a theory on gender hegemony proposed by Schippers [1] and another on female agency proposed by Trites [2], this study examines Alexandra, her father, her mother, Tom, and Jack. We show that the novel is ambivalent in its portrayal of supernatural power in relation to female agency. On one hand, the novel demonstrates that supernatural power is a powerful tool that threatens the patriarchal system represented through the father. With the help of her supernatural power, Alexandra uses her agency to overcome the boundaries placed on her by the gender roles of that era. On the other hand, the novel itself is still limited by the era's gender roles because it allows no possibility for the female character to take an active part in the war.

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The gendering of Americanness and citizenship narratives in Spider-Man comic books: The case of Mary Jane Watson

Bukač

2022

European Journal of American Culture

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This study is premised on the concept of citizenship theory, primarily what is often called cultural citizenship and how this kind of approach can provide insight on narrative development of superhero comic book characters Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Mary Jane Watson. By positioning the analysis within discourse theory (enforced by representational theory) it relies on the idea of the private and public sphere, the starting point of Lauren Berlant’s notion of citizenship, and how gender roles framed Mary Jane Watson and superhero Spider-Man in the process of gendering national identity. This article draws on two main sets of analyses – the wedding ceremony of Peter and Mary Jane that happened outside comic book panels, at the Shea Stadium in New York in 1987, and Tom DeFalco’s story Maximum Carnage from 1992. These cases are tackled from the position of gender representation with the focus on elaborating how the discourses about gender and citizenship positioned the character of Mary Jane and Spider-Man into the realm of gendered Americanness. The embeddedness of these findings places Mary Jane as a vital part of Spider-Man stories while pointing out specific discursive forms of gendered nationality in American popular superhero narratives: domesticated female identity and active male identity.

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Oh, my god! I CAN FLY!’: female agency in Marvel’s Runaways

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Susan’s Disempowering Portrayal in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and its Source Text

Susan’s Disempowering Portrayal in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and its Source Text

The Supernatural Woman and Wartime Female Agency in The Foreshadowing (2006)

The gendering of Americanness and citizenship narratives in Spider-Man comic books: The case of Mary Jane Watson

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