Reframing the Debate About Female Superhero Costumes
Some issues demand a radical, button-pushing, searingly hot take. But not this one. Not for me, anyway. Honestly, considering how many times I’ve flip-flopped on the topic of female superheroes and their sexy costumes, I’m not in a great position to give you anything but honest thoughts and candid, personal experiences. I know right? Drag.
A History of Ambivalence
I took a hard pro position at age five, defending She-Ra’s leotard against slander from Meegan, the bitchy second-grader on my street who had just learned what the word “sexist” meant. I shut her down on the basis that She-Ra’s ginger work-husband, Bow, also dressed in revealing garb.
In my teens, I flipped. I constantly pointed out that Storm needed to tie her hair back so it wouldn’t whip her in the eye at 250 knots. In college, I flopped. I read some Camille Paglia and decided the outfits were a sex-positive expression of, like, reclamation and stuff.
I became a mom and flipped again for like 30 seconds. My daughter went through that toddler phase when kids are fervidly obsessed with gender, and I began vainly trying to dilute the…
