Okay, before I go writing a novella on this topic let me get one thing out of the way REAL quick: I'm just presenting what I know from reading, taking classes, researching and in general being passionate about this kind of stuff. I'm presenting what I know, as best I can, and any specific examples herein are just EXAMPLES and aren't meant to be anything more than that. This can be a really touchy subject so just...errybody chill.
cracks knuckles
One of the things I'm SUPER passionate about is representation in media, and media can be, well anything! From music, to comics like we make, to novels or movies and games!
You ask a great question in "Why are male protagonists so popular vs female ones?" This is a good question! It's a wonderful question and in order for us to grow as people, and as a society questions like this need to be looked at. Notice I said 'looked at'. There's a big difference between understanding something and doing something about it. In order to DO something we first have to understand what the problem is.
And the answer to your question is (drum roll, please!): Lack of representation!
So, the word representation traditionally means a person or group that speaks or acts for or in support of another person or group. Now, that's a nice definition but it's...kinda broad. So, let's go with this one:
Representation constitutes the link between concepts and language that allows us to refer to objects, people, and events in the "real" world, or to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people, and events (as in films or literary texts) - Stuart Hall
Kinda wordy, but it works a bit better for our purposes.
So, how does a lock of this kind of representation equate to more male characters being popular in comics or any other media we run into? The short answer is because men are largely the people behind making media of all types.
Now before you go calling me a man-hating-jerkbender, just hear me out! First of all I want you to think on a bigger timescale. Let's go from...okay say the Bibilical times to now. So way back when Moses was yellin' at the pharoh cultures (for the most part) just didn't really allow women to read, much less learn to write. It wasn't something women were really meant to do (and in the exceptions - because there were exceptions - they were remarkably few). Okay so we trot along past most of western history and art and as we wave to Leonardo Davinci we see he, and a bunch of the other Renaissance artists completely overshadow the likes of Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, and arguably the most popular (in modern times) female painter Artemesia Gentileschi. Historians of that age and time just...didn't talk about them even though these women were doing amazing works. They were women, who is Artemesia to the great Leonardo? And so many of those women were just...lost until recent times. Okay so what about math and science? Again we have the same issue, the works breakthroughs of female scientists were at best considered hobbies and at worst outright stolen. You keep going down the line and it's not really until magazines and newspapers come around where women are able to write and stamp their name on things that we see women really making a bigger impact on this theoretical scale.
Now all of this isn't even taking in the context of what it was like to be a Woman of Color during these periods. People wonder what happens when someone isn't born, but it's more horrifying to me seeing how many people were born and then flat out barred from being educated. Everyone talks about how wonderful the suffragettes were, but so rarely do we ever learn about how racist they were as well. "Votes for (white) women!" The initial famous fight for women's voting rights didn't include women of color at all. Women had it hard, but the woman of color (especially during the colonization craze) often times had it much, much worse.
I know a lot of this may seem off topic, but I'm trying to put a lens over this. All this systematic over arching timeline of repression has had a long, long time to build up. While, yes, we've made great strides for the better, there's still a lot that needs work. Look how far we have come, yes, but don't forget how far we have to go.
Now let's settle on comics.
Comic creation is largely run by men. Women have almost always been a footnote in that industry until recently. It's only now that we're seeing the shift of gender balance evening out, and even then, we get folks railing against female comic creators like they're fan artists at best or the spawn of satan at worst.
For generations you've had males dominating what gets created, what gets printed, what gets to be on which store shelves. When the people controlling what media you get to see are largely white men, well...what do you expect they're going to create?
This isn't to say that white men are awful or horrible or any such negative stuff. It's just the truth of the matter. You see more white males on tv, in comics, in movies and music because white men are deciding which shows get made, and then telling more white men to go write it, which in turn is given to a white male director to film it, or a white male artist to paint. The entire media industry has been dominated, while YES women are finally getting a foothold, you'll notice the majority of them are white as well.
In the movie/tv industry white and male = $$$ it's not risky, people will absolutely buy whatever it is because if there's a white guy on it, it'll sell. Nevermind how many movies out there with male protagonists have flopped. Let's take a look at two films here:
Catwoman (Yes, that one): Granted, a grade A awful movie. Starring Halle Berry. In most executive circles the idea that this movie flopped was because "no one wants to see a black woman hero." It wasn't because it was a narrative mess, or used seriously lame tropes or just...plain awful movie making. It was because Halle Berry was the star and she was a black woman.
Battlefield Earth (google it): BOMBED hardcore at the box office. Huge sci-fi piece, lots of effects, supposed to be summer blockbuster magic with the white male leads (and a side black lead for 'spice') and executives just couldn't understand it. Execs listened to the critiques from other film makers, bad narrative, confusing character development, etc.
Do you see the difference? Battlefield Earth bombed because it was a badly created film. Catwoman bombed because it had a black woman as it's hero. There's a disconnect there that's staggering once you see it, but I digress...
Why do male characters draw in move views? Because we have more male characters per-capita than we have female. The same can be said for comics featuring people of color as well. Most comics here on tapastic feature white leads, or predominately white casts. There's just MORE of them out there so they have a larger chance of being selected as popular. Subconciously, folks are also known to see things with a PoC on it and pass it over.
Now, I am not, in any way at all, sitting here saying that anyone whose created a male character is bad, sexist, evil, etc. That just isn't true. We as artists create what we make, because we're products of our environments. Our work comes from us with a world view that is unique to us as a creator. But if we, as creators, are surrounded by media that features largely male, and largely white heroes...how can we be expected to create something different when those creating in the 'safe box' are the ones getting the attention?
There's a lot of questions that this single idea of 'Why do male characters draw in more views" and I hope my little foray into this wasn't confusing. If it was I'm here to answer questions and provide resources.
Speaking of: If you're interested in learning more about representation I'd really suggest checking out these few links as a great place to get started!
- Womens Media Center
- Gender Bias Without Borders
-
2015 Hollywood Diversity Report
-
Get Real About Diversity in Comics
-
Crunching the Numbers in July 2013 by Gender/Ethnicity
