Expert: Chris Brown - 4/12/2010

Question
Hi, I'm doing a large research paper on gender roles in comic books. I'm just curious about women in comics during the 30's-50's. I was wondering if you had any information in particular about gender roles and maybe some suggestions of comics for me? It would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Answer
Hi Christina

Wow, this is just a huge topic.  I'm not sure, when you ask for some suggestions, if you are asking for 50s comics that you might want to try to find on the back issue market (which may be quite expensive) or are hoping to find reprint collections.

There were, as you are probably aware, many different genres of comics in the 50s.  Different genres tended to portray women in vastly different ways.  For instance, women in crime and horror comics were often very uninhibited and unbound by societal conventions.  They often made a point of breaking societal taboos and championed their freewheeling disregard for social norms.

The other extreme would be the teen and romance comics.  Teen comics (like Archie) tended to show women primarily interested in having good clean teenage fun, like going to dances, going on appropriate dates, etc.  The whole Archie--Betty--Veronica triangle is a good example of the genre and the unrequited love, played out for humorous effect, that tended to predominate.  

Romance comics, meanwhile, generally showed young adult women struggling to come to terms with love in the "modern" world.  Often they would have to choose between career and romance, almost invariably choosing romance.  At other times they would choose between the humdrum local boy they grew up with and the fast-talking, exciting city-slicker that generally leads them into trouble.  These are two of the most popular storylines, but there's a wealth of material in this genre.

Then there are several other genres that could draw you in different directions.  Jungle comics with characters like Sheena (a female Tarzan), often with a male sidekick petulantly insisting the jungle is no place for a woman.  War comics, which didn't have a lot of women but would sometimes throw in a Korean woman--either as an ally or as an enemy.  All the women in the funny animal titles like Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck.  A range of "career-girl" titles, perhaps most famously Millie the Model, and many more like it that often portrayed women using their feminine wiles in the workplace to try to get their way.

Those are my quick thoughts.  I'm happy to discuss it more, but you will need to give me more guidance on what specifically you are hoping for.

Chris