Superman 1938

This source is quite representative of the sub-topic details as it shows a very fixed and traditional form of male gender identity. The character of Super-man conveys himself as very forceful and stereotypically masculine through the use of deontic modality with the modal verb ‘must’. He also uses the adverb ‘now’ to show that he ignores instructions which also implies a sense of arrogance. These qualities are features of the concept of toxic masculinity which was a significant part of society at the time, particularly since America was at risk of war so men were to be seen as masculine if they went to fight, something that would require traits of forcefulness and arrogance that they would win.

Avengers 1966

In some ways this source isn’t representative of the sub-topic info as the same ideas of gender identity from the 1938 comic of Superman are present in this comic from 1966, even though culturally there has been many improvements in society for the roles of women, including the amount of rights they have. In this source the female character is portrayed as inferior to the male characters. Her dialogue takes the form of an inner monologue, supporting Jones’ theory that one of main purposes of women’s speech is to gossip or share secrets. She uses the third person male pronouns ‘he’ and ‘him’ to emphasise that the purpose of her speech is to talk about a man and also uses the adjective ‘appealing’ which is an example of super politeness according to Lakoff’s deficit theory. Although this could be a reflection of traditional gender roles still being upheld in society, it could also be reflecting the fact that many of the writers would’ve been males, and this could be their reaction to the Second Wave of Feminism which was in fact changing gender identity, particularly of females, at the time.

Justice League 1977

This source was published in the second half of the 20th century so according to the sub-topic info, gender roles should be starting to become less fixed in comics. In some ways this comic does reflect this, particularly through the use of onomatopoeia, using attack words like ‘clang’ and ‘bam’. This conveys to the audience that a female character does possess strength and that she can be an equal match for her male counterparts. However, there is a phonological difference in the attack words for example ‘bam’ ends in a much softer bilabial sound whereas Superman’s attack words begin and end in harsh plosives. This suggests there is still a gap between genders with regards to their physical abilities. This idea of inferiority and lack of strength continues through the use of marked and unmarked terms. Wonder Woman is referred to with the common noun ‘princess’ whereas Wonder Woman refers to another male character in the comic with the common noun ‘master’. The use of ‘master’ reinforces this idea that men have more power, and the fact it’s spoken by Wonder Woman herself indicates a sense of submissiveness. This is very different to the common noun ‘princess’ which implies she is incapable or defending herself and needs a male’s support. This is not representative of the sub-topic info as these are the same ideas of gender that are present in comics from the 1940s.

Spiderman 1982

At the time when this source was published it was nearing the end of the 20th century so we would expect to see gender becoming more fluid and gender roles becoming blurred. This can be seen in this Spider-Man excerpt, particularly in the way Spider-Man uses the common noun ‘captain’ to address the female character. This is significant as it shows respect towards women and portrays a female character in a traditionally male job role, suggesting that she has instrumental power. This also is mirroring society in the way that women were starting to be accepted into all different types of job roles and not just the clerical ones they were used to. However, there are still traits of toxic masculinity in this comic which is made even more interesting by the fact Spider-Man is a much younger character. A semantic field of fitness is created through the use of the concrete nouns ‘balance’, ‘ability’ and ‘muscles’. In terms of pragmatics, he also uses sarcasm ‘you really should lock your windows captain’ which is a negative face threatening act through the use of the modal verb ‘should’. This implies he has both strength and power through belonging to a more dominant social group. As a result this source is not representative of the sub-topic info as although gender roles for women may have shifted, the traditional roles for men are still very much prevalent.  

The Avengers 1993

This is arguably the only source from all of my primary data that completely represents the sub-topic info. The female character here is portrayed as being completely equal to her male peers. She uses simple declaratives like ‘We have a problem’ which disproves Lakoff’s deficit theory that women use many interrogatives. It also shows certainty and confidence in herself that she is right; she doesn’t need reassurance from her male co-workers. There is also a semantic field of technology created through the use of concrete nouns like ‘scans’ and ‘energy echo’. This in itself breaks gender roles as she’s taking on a traditionally male role and showing that she has more expertise in this area than the male character. This is reflective of society at the time as it was now normal for women to go to university and study for different professions including those within STEM fields. There is also use of colloquialisms between the male and female character as they address each other with the nicknames ‘widow’ and ‘cap’. This breaks the traditional idea that women and men can’t co-exist in the workplace without becoming romantically involved and this is a much more accurate of a real-life workplace.