I’ve decided to focus my paradigm shift projects on the evolution of female representation in comic books. In the ’40s and ’50s, women in Marvel Comics were primarily only there to be hot or be rescued. These characters rarely had any depth or important roles. In the ’60s, characters like Jean Grey, Susan Storm, and Carol Danvers were created. These women were members of powerful superhero teams like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, but they were still weaker and less important than their male counterparts. At the same time that this change in comic book characters was occurring, the “second wave” of feminism had begun in America. The first wave of feminism is typically defined as the movement surrounding the right for women to vote, while the second wave began in the ’60s. Proponents of feminism at the time fought against the gender stereotypes and roles that were forced upon them, contesting the popular belief that women should tend to the household as men work. Since then, as the feminist movement has grown and become more prevalent, women have continued to have larger, less sexist roles, greater strength, and better character development in comic books. I hope to make this evident by focusing on the entire time period from the 60s until present day.

This paradigm shift is an important topic because it shows how representation in entertainment and media can be completely altered by the circumstances and cultural movements of the time period. If you looked at a different medium (television, film, etc.), you would likely see an incredibly similar shift that directly correlates with changes in feminism and cultural attitudes towards women. I chose to focus on comic books because of how completely different the representation of women is from the 1960s to the present. Now, many female characters have long running series or are crucial parts of superhero teams, while in the past, female team members were traditionally there to wear revealing costumes. Many specific characters have had incredibly interesting shifts over time as well like Captain Marvel and Black Widow because their stories have been told for 50 or more years. Numerous changes in beliefs can be seen by looking at their character arcs.