Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Opinions: Character Gender Change

Say what now?

If you're into superheroes, Marvel comics, and frankly hunky men (or if you've simply perused the latest headlines), you might have seen that Marvel character "Thor" is no longer a male in the comic books.


When I clicked on the original headline on FoxNews about Thor becoming female, I was initially angry. I'm not saying I'm against feminism or strong female characters (look at my latest work-in-progress and Pinterest boards to verify), but frankly I'm sick of the obsession to cater to female audiences just because…they're female. Does anyone else see a slight problem in this?

However, upon doing a little more research, turns out the male character of Thor supposedly is to lose his ability to wield the hammer, and a female picks it up. While it has been noted the writers wanted to cater a bit to the audience of today and there are many gaps still to be filled, this storyline seems straightforward.

If the character of Thor had been completely replaced by a woman, erasing the male existence that's been with us since 1962 just because "there aren't enough female superheroes," I would've been greatly disappointed. (Which, by the way, there are at least over a hundred listed on Wikipedia from comics and television). However, I'm tentatively excited to see how this will play out, how others will respond, and if this will spill into the Marvel Studios movie franchise.

I intend to write more posts concerning views on heroines in the future, and I fully understand that others might not agree with me. That's great — we can't all think alike or there would be nothing to talk about. I'd love to hear your opinions in the upcoming posts, so feel free to leave comments here on the blog or on my pinterest account (also vote on the poll!). Just keep it civil, peeps ;)

So…what do you think about Thor's character change?

(I wrote an article on News for Shoppers that highlights what little detail we have been given from the Marvel Editor in Chief concerning the new female Thor. You can read it here.)

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