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Sex Roles (2015) 72:211220 DOI 10.1007/s11199-015-0455-3
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Empowering (Super) Heroine? The Effects of Sexualized Female Characters in Superhero Films on Women
Hillary Pennell & Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz
Published online: 11 March 2015# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract The present study was conducted with female undergraduates in the Midwestern region of U.S. to examine the potential positive and negative influences of the gendered depictions of women in superhero films. This study utilized social cognitive and objectification theory frameworks to experimentally examine the short-term effects of exposure to sexualized female characters in superhero films on 83 female viewers gender role beliefs, body esteem, and self-objectification. Results show that exposure to the sexualized-victim images of women in superhero films decreased egalitarian gender role beliefs. Exposure to the sexualized-heroine images resulted in lower body esteem. Additionally, a positive effect emerged with a greater belief in the importance of body competence to the self-concept for women who were exposed to the superheroine characters. This study demonstrates short-term effects from viewing sexualized images of women in superhero films and provides a significant understanding of how sexualized female representations may impact gender related beliefs as well as perceptions of ones self-esteem and body objectification.
Keywords Superhero . Sexualization . Objectification . Gender . Stereotyping
Introduction
This research explores the short-term effects of exposure to gendered representations in superhero films on female audi-
ences. This study was conducted with female undergraduates in the U.S. to examine the potential positive and negative influences of the representations of women in superhero films. According to the U.S. Movie Market Summary, in 2012, 1.3 billion tickets were purchased, and the U.S. film industry earned an impressive $10.8 billion. The popularity of film has held steady over the years, but certain genres of film have become more recognizable than ever. Action films, more specifically comic book/superhero films, have become increasingly popular in the since the beginning of the new millennium (McCallister et al. 2006).
Although U.S. comic book-based films have greatly contributed to the U.S. film industry since the 1930s (McCallisteret al. 2006), with new technology, todays comic book films have become Bblockbusters^ and sure successes for movie studios. These blockbuster comic book films are characterized by big action sequences coupled with computer generated image...