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The Empowering (Super) Heroine? The Effects of Sexualized Female Characters in Superhero Films on Women


Caroline Chase 20'
(journal article)
The study of Pennell and Behm-Morawitz analyzed “the effects of sexualized female characters in superhero film on women.” They conducted studies on some women in a Midwestern university. They showed the women shots from Spiderman and X-Men where the women in the film were either showed as a sexualized damsel in distress or an oversexualized heroine. They predicted that, upon seeing these clips, the women would have their self-esteem lowered and have a more acute sense of self-objectification. They indicated through previous research that US action films commonly exploit women for their bodies in a film rather than focusing on who they are as people. The authors took into consideration the rejection of the usual value in modesty, yet they found through their study that women did indeed have a higher consciousness of their bodies after viewing the oversexualized women in action movies. This article shows with a sample group an example of female sexualization in film. The study also helps to show the effect film and media can have on people. The work of Pennell and Behm-Morawitz draws completely on my topic of how the sexualization of women in film contributes to the feeling of inadequacy and lack of self-esteem because of the over-sexualization of women.

Pennell, Hillary, and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz. "The Empowering (Super) Heroine? The Effects of Sexualized Female Characters in Superhero Films on Women." Sex Roles, vol. 72, no. 5-6, 2015, pp. 211-220.
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