Women in Comics: Heroines and Vixens of the 40's and 50's (Library Exhibit)

[Scrooge]

I can email you a better scan of that Jungle 99 if you need one. PM me if interested.

 

"Comic book dealt with women in equally cavalier fashion [scrooge Note: as compared to blacks] in the postwar decade, but here the direction was sexist. The stop for a strong female character could stop with Wonder Woman, although she was not without her weaknesses. [...] The aforementioned jungle queenscan be dismissed on several grounds, not the least of which involved their proximity to some kind of sidekick (usually a man but sometimes an animal) who bailed them out of trouble on a regular basis. [sN: just look at Tiger Girl for a typical example]"

 

"Beyond carrying the banner for the white race, the jungle queens were there primarily for cheesecake, as were many other women. They catered to what passed for prurient interest among adolescent male readers, and sometimes they posed prettily for an older audience of servicemen. They reflected male criteria for the ideal woman: long hair, long legs, large breasts, physical agility, and proclivities rather more emotional than intellectual."

 

"Lois Lane, of course, demonstrated that it was perfectly all right for a professional woman to behave like a insufficiently_thoughtful_person while mooning over the man of her dreams. It was expected that a handsome fellow could turn any female's brain to mush at first glance and without even trying. Indeedm he might do it by exhibiting complete indifference as much as by resorting to charm. Criteria for male conduct in comic books were established by artists, writers, and editors who were men - the same ones who established criteria for the appearance and behavior of comic-book women. So, in the matter of interpersonal and group relations, boys and girls received quite similar instructions from comic books, to the extent that they derived from the same set of male notions concerning the proper place of women in society."

 

"The messages to both genders on the subject of the relationship between the sexes were specific and consistent. Women were out to marry, or else they were not virtuous - and if that were the case, they were out to take advantage. Marriage was out of the question for heroic males because it cramped their styles, and so they managed to avoid it. Males could do as they pleased, and females were in for a good deal of frustration. The only places where women might achieve some degree of satisfaction were in the pages of romance comics, because they specialized in love stories from the female point of view. Romance comics focused almost exclusively upon the rituals of courtship, suggesting that the chase was everything, and proving it by losing interest in the protagonists once they had gone down the aisle. Here, too, women were offered up as emotional basket cases, responsible for their own misery because they either misjudged their men or tried too hard to play the field. Even though they might eventually find happiness, the implication was that they could have found it much sooner, if they only had not been so silly, devious, crass, or deceitful. Sometimes the women in romance comics were victimized by no-good, two-timing rate; but that was their fault too, just like everything else. It would never have happened if the ladies had possessed two grains of common sense."

 

All the above excerpted from William W. Savage, Jr.'s Commies, Cowboys, and Jungle Queens: Comic Books and America, 1945-1954. Hope it helps.

 

A good example of the Jungle Queen in need of rescue from her servant & animals is this cover of Fight -

[Paratrooper]

1st Seniorita Rio, Heroine?

[tabcom]

More comics to be on display . . .

 

[tabcom]

[Paratrooper]

Nice Headlight shot!

[Paratrooper]

Paratrooper here to save the day!

[Paratrooper]

definately the Heroine here,

 

[Paratrooper]

Now for Valkyrie, major villain in the Airboy world

 

[tabcom]

Those posters are neat. Did you have them made or did you buy them?

 

I'm in the wide format printer biz (sales\service). I made them myself.

 

Can you show close-ups of the ones you've made. Quality looks to be very good!

 

[adamstrange]

Thanks!

[tabcom]

Here are some pix of the display . . .

 

[tabcom]

[tabcom]

[Scrooge]

Looks great! I know it would stop me if I was a patron.

[Blind Owl]

Super Exhibit!!!! Great Idea!!! Hope it's a Smash Success!!!!

 

Maybe after this one is finished you could do other genre!!! Sci-Fi,War, etc...

 

It's really a good thing for our hobby to get others interested in comics!!!!

 

 

:golfclap:

[ciorac]

Tab, is that just really clean glass on the front of those cases, near the exit? Or is there no front glass???

[tabcom]

Tab, is that just really clean glass on the front of those cases, near the exit? Or is there no front glass???

No front glass.

Pictures were taken before I closed and locked the glass doors.

[tabcom]

From the Tom and Kara Bush Collection . . .

 

[Paratrooper]

Those posters are neat. Did you have them made or did you buy them?

 

I'm in the wide format printer biz (sales\service). I made them myself.

 

Can you show close-ups of the ones you've made. Quality looks to be very good!

 

 

Where I got my idea for poster sized comic covers.

[tomc]

very cool idea and very cool books!!!! good luck with the show.