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THE MODELS OF EMPOWERED FEMININITY WE OFFER YOUNG BOYS: AMERICAN ANIMATED ACTION TEAMS AND THE TOKEN FEMALE

Diebler, Matthew David
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1174684882

Abstract Details

2007, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Popular Culture.
The very nature of a hero is to stand as a cultural ideal. The heroes we produce for our children are meant to function as their idealized cultural models, teaching them the positive value of specific embodied traits. This extends to gender: the gendered ideological statements made by these heroic characters promote a gendered cultural ideal. Traditionally, academics interested in female gender representation and children’s television have focused on shows targeting young girls. However, it is just as important to examine the representation of the heroic women in television shows aimed at young boys. Young boys grow into adult men and, in our patriarchal society, male expectations of women play largely into their expectations of themselves. Therefore, the heroines of series marketed at young boys represent the ideal cultural models of empowered femininity, influencing the expectations and criteria these boys will have for “strong” women as they grow into politically powerful men. With all this in mind, it then becomes important to examine these models of ideal empowered femininity. By examining the token females in American animated action/adventure team-based television series marketed toward young boys over the past 30 years (starting with Super Friends in the late 70s, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, ThunderCats, and G.I. Joe in the 80s, Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Gargoyles, and X-Men in the 90s, and Justice League and Teen Titans in the 00s), this study examines a string of token females, teasing out the ideologies of ideal empowered femininity each promotes and discussing it within the cultural context of the time period in which it was produced. By utilizing textual analysis, gender studies, and psychoanalysis, this study shows a movement from flat, two-dimensional characters restricted to traditionally feminine encoded powers and overshadowed by hypermasculine heroic leaders to complex, powerful, highly masculinized women often reigned in by a reinforcement of female bodily signifier, finally ending with a nod toward the rising cultural neo-conservatism, reflected by a return toward heroines that enact more traditional gender expectations.
Jeffrey Brown (Advisor)
151 p.
Super Friends; He-Man; ThunderCats; G.I. Joe; X-Men; Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego; Gargoyles; Justice League; Teen Titans; gender studies; feminism; token female; animated heroines

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Diebler, M. D. (2007). THE MODELS OF EMPOWERED FEMININITY WE OFFER YOUNG BOYS: AMERICAN ANIMATED ACTION TEAMS AND THE TOKEN FEMALE [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1174684882

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Diebler, Matthew. THE MODELS OF EMPOWERED FEMININITY WE OFFER YOUNG BOYS: AMERICAN ANIMATED ACTION TEAMS AND THE TOKEN FEMALE. 2007. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1174684882.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Diebler, Matthew. "THE MODELS OF EMPOWERED FEMININITY WE OFFER YOUNG BOYS: AMERICAN ANIMATED ACTION TEAMS AND THE TOKEN FEMALE." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1174684882

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.