Critiquing the Characterization of Minority Identity in the Medium of Comics

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Designing Identity: Critiquing the Characterization of Minority Identity in the Medium of Comics

A thesis submitted to the College of Communication and Information of Kent State University in

partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

Alesha Erin Williams

November 2019

Thesis written by

Alesha Erin Williams

B.F.A, Columbus College of Art and Design, 2014

M.F.A., Kent State University, 2019

Approved by ______Ken Visocky O’Grady, M.F.A., Advisor, Professor, School of Visual Communication Design

______

Daniel Alenquer, Director, School of Visual Communication Design

______

Amy Reynolds, Ph. D. Dean , College of Communication and Information

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... iii LIST OF FIGURES ...... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... vi CHAPTER I. IDENTITY, CHARACTERIZATION AND CHARACTER DESIGN ...... 1 The Problem ...... 5 Limitations ...... 6 II. STEREOTYPICAL CHARACTERIZATION ...... 7 Extraño’s Characterization ...... 8 Sexual Orientation Characterization in Comics ...... 11 Stereotypical Characterization ...... 13 Stereotype Effects ...... 13 MODERN CHANGE ...... 15 III. OPPOSING CHARACTERIZATION ...... 16 Rape of Ms. Marvel ...... 18 Gender Identity ...... 19 Female Characterization in Comics ...... 21 Opposing Ms. Marvel’s Characterization ...... 22 Strong Female Character/ Opposing Characterization ...... 23 Summary ...... 24 IV. CONSCIOUS CHARACTERIZATION ...... 25 Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates ...... 25 Jon Stewart (Black Green Lantern) ...... 28 Conscious Characterization in Comics ...... 31 Summary ...... 33 V. BLIND CHARACTERIZATION ...... 33 Blind Characterization as Solution ...... 34 White Washing ...... 36 Summary ...... 37 VI. CHARACTER JOURNAL/ CHARACTER DESIGNS ...... 38 Black Male (Stereotypical) ...... 38

iii

Black Male (Opposing) ...... 39 Black Male (Conscious) ...... 40 Black Male (Blind) ...... 41 Gay Male (Stereotypical) ...... 41 Gay Male (Opposing) ...... 42 Gay Male (Conscious) ...... 43 Gay Male (Blind) ...... 43 Female (Stereotypical) ...... 44 Female (Opposing) ...... 45 Female (Conscious) ...... 46 Female (Blind) ...... 46 VII. FEEDBACK ...... 47 VIII. IMPACT AND CONCLUSION ...... 51 APPENDICES ...... 53 Appendix A: Characters ...... 54 Appendix B: Character Line Up ...... 57 Appendix C: Character Portraits ...... 60 Appendix D: Character Sketches ...... 63 Appendix E: Results ...... 78 Appendix F: Results Totals ...... 85 Appendix G: Interactive Pdf Sample ...... 86 Appendix H: Commentary ...... 92 REFERENCES ...... 99

List of Figures

Figure 1: Action Comics #1 ...... 2 Figure 2 ...... 3 Figure 3 ...... 4 Figure 4: White Wash ...... 5 Figure 5: Extraño ...... 9 Figure 6 ...... 11 Figure 7 ...... 12 Figure 8 ...... 13 Figure 9: Ebony White, Extraño, Egg Fu Comparison sheet ...... 15 Figure 10: Avengers #200 ...... 18 Figure 11: Avengers #200 (Marcus) ...... 19 Figure 12: Binary ...... 22 Figure 13: Green Lantern #87 Cover ...... 29 Figure 14: Kath Kane Coming Out Detective Comics #859 ...... 31 Figure 15: Graph of Correct Identification of Identity...... 50 Figure 16: Graph of Design’s Offensiveness ...... 50 Figure 17: Graph of Design’s Effectiveness ...... 51 Figure 18: Black Male Designs ...... 54 Figure 19: Gay Male Designs ...... 55 Figure 20: Female Designs ...... 56 Figure 21: Black Male Line Up ...... 57 Figure 22: Gay Male Line Up ...... 58 Figure 23: Female Line Up ...... 59 Figure 24: Black Male Portraits ...... 60 Figure 25: Gay Male Portraits ...... 61 Figure 26: Female Portraits ...... 62 Figure 27: Black Male Characters Sketches ...... 63 Figure 28: Female Characters Sketches ...... 64 Figure 29: Gay Male Characters Sketches ...... 65 Figure 30: Stereotypical Black Male Character Sketches ...... 66 Figure 31: Opposing Black Male Character Sketches ...... 67 Figure 32: Conscious Black Male Character Sketches ...... 68 Figure 33: Blind Characterization Black Male Character Sketches ...... 69 Figure 34: Stereotypical Female Character Sketches...... 70 Figure 35: Opposing Female Character Sketches ...... 71 Figure 36: Conscious Female Character Sketches ...... 72 Figure 37: Blind Characterization Female Character Sketches ...... 73 Figure 38: Stereotypical Gay Male Character Sketches ...... 74 Figure 39: Opposing Gay Male Character Sketches ...... 75 Figure 40: Conscious Gay Male Character Sketches ...... 76 Figure 41: Blind Characterization Gay Male Character Sketches ...... 77 Figure 42: Sample Test ...... 86

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank Dr. Tameka Taylor, Evangelia Philippidis and Rebecca Zomchek for their lovely letters of recommendation that got me into Kent’s graduate program. Cameron Thomas for saving me when I original editor tapped out. He introduced me to Charlotte Morgan my editor and I would like to thank them both.

Second, I would to thank my thesis committee Ken Visocky O’Grady, Douglas Goldsmith and

Jessica Barness. Dealing with my eccentricities truly takes a village and they survived. I would also like to thank Christopher Darling. Unfortunately, our time working together was short. I would have love to work with you more and see what this research would have become with you on my committee. Thank you to my entire committee.

The last thank goes to my parents. I have always loved art. I started drawing the second I could hold a crayon and my parents always encourage my creativity. They enrolled me in as many art classes as they could and brought me countless drawing supplies. When I told them, I wanted to attend Art College they didn’t hesitate. They rented a car (because the family car was a mess) and took me on a visit to art colleges. They have always support me, and I would like to express my deepest thanks and love to my mother Dr. Cassandra Harris-Williams and my father Alvin Williams.

Chapter 1

Identity, Characterization and Character Design

Identity is who or what are you. Are you a professor? Are you a student? Are you gay,

straight, female, male, black, white? Your answer to that question answer is your identity. We

have many identities coexisting at any given time. Currently I am a graduate student at Kent

State University. I am an African American, a member of the LGBTQ+ and a cisgender woman.

Identity is crafted by unique practices, beliefs, physical traits, culture, and history.

Characterization defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is, “the way that a writer makes characters in a book or play seem real” and “the way in which somebody/something is described or defined” (Oxford). Characterization are the practices, beliefs, physical traits, culture, history the make an identity unique. As an African American my family celebrates by eating soul food. I grow up listening to black musical genres like soul, gospel, funk, hip hop. My queer identity means I attend Gay Pride events. I feel more comfortable in a gay bar and I am more likely to seen in men’s clothes than women’s clothes.

In comic books, identity is

communicated through the narrative and

visual designs. Characters who identify

as superheroes perform heroic acts like

saving the innocent and visually

superheroes often have large muscles or

an athletic build. Their heroics and the

visual design convey to the reader that

they are heroes. Their characterization

from the narrative and the visuals and

this relationship communicates their

identity to the reader. If the

characterization is lacking, this can cause

confusion. If Superman’s physique was Figure 1: Action Comics #1 skinny or he didn’t wear his super suit or

he didn’t have superpowers would his superhero identity be effectively communication, would

the characterization be effective? Character design visually communicates identity. If an

emaciated Superman graced the cover of Action Comics #1 would the message of his super

strength be lost? Would there be tension between the design of Superman and the depiction of

him lifting a car over his head? Would the message feel like a contradiction? Superman’s physique communicated his strength which enforced his superhero identity. Character design is the visual communication of identity. The visuals characterize identity, so the identity is effectively communicated to the reader.

The coon caricature is stereotypical and racist character design. The origins of the coon are rooted in American Slavery. Slave Owners utilized the coon caricature to illustrate the flaws they saw in black slaves and black identity. The visual design of the coon depicts a character with clownish red lips, charcoal black skin and

“nappy” unkempt hair. The demeanor of the character is lazy, slow and is often depicted not working and eating watermelon. The coon is a Figure 2 mockery of black identity, especially when African slaves worked all day in many industries including cotton harvesting, construction, iron work; and as domestic servants, and blacksmiths, etc. Despite that fact, the coon caricature’s characterization of black identity became the definition of black identity. When slaves began demanding their freedom, the coon’s characterization of black identity was cited as a reason to deny slave’s request. Pro-slavery, white southerners used the laziness and childlike nature of the coon to justify keeping blacks enslaved. They believed black slaves were too simpleminded to handle the stress of freedom.

The Civil War and the ratification of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment grant America’s newest citizens their long-waited freedom. The Jim Crow Era would use the same imagery and pro- slavery southerner rhetoric to continue the dehumanization and marginalization of African

Americans (Pilgrim, 2000).

During the World War II Germany‘s Chancellor, Adolf Hitler commissioned the creation

of the Reich Ministry of Public

Enlightenment and Propaganda. Through

the visual arts, the Reich Ministry of Public

Enlightenment and Propaganda spread

Hitler’s message of hate and genocide.

They created dehumanizing illustration of

Jewish identity; and depicted Jewish people as the big-nosed, conspiratorial villains to Adolf Hitler’s Germany. The

Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda’s designs painted Jewish identity as impurity in Germany and this Figure 3 design are still used to mock Jewish people today (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2018).

Racist and stereotypical character designs were used to justify the atrocities of the dominant culture and continue the cycle of degrading minorities. In the “Power of Comics:

History, Form and Culture” by Randy Duncan, the author suggests that, “Art is often used as a tool to spread a dominant way of thinking, ‘Propaganda tries to reach a large audience through the use of mass media and attempts to create a uniformity of interpretation among audience members by using what are arguably manipulative techniques” (Duncan & Smith 2009:249).

The comic book industry

like all mass media has an

unfortunate history with

propaganda and racist character

designs. Known as the Golden Era

of Comic Books (1938-1956) this

stereotypical designs were Figure 4: White Wash widespread. Examples include

World War II comic books that often depicted Japanese soldiers with yellow skin, sharp teeth

and narrow mischievous eyes (Wright, 2003: 47). Characters like Whitewash from the comic

series Young Allies whose design took heavy influence from the coon caricature with his

massive red lips and dimwitted speech. (Cronin, 2010). As well as the character Egg Fu, who is a

giant sentient egg with narrow eyes, and a Fu Manchu mustache. Egg Fu’s design is based off

Dr. Fu-Manchu from The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu book series published by Sax Rohmer. The design of Dr. Fu-Manchu became the visual representation of the “Yellow Peril” or the fear of a

Chinese invasion of Western land (Seshagiri, 2006). These designs are now considered taboo and offensive. This design is considered mistakes in polite society.

The Problem

According to NPR, the demographics of comic are shifting. Comic book readerships is

increasingly diverse amongst race, gender and sexual orientation (Weldon, 2017). With this

increase of varied readers, the Modern Era of Comics (1986 – present) was an issue. After

decades of debasing minorities identities with stereotypical character designs, how do they now

cater to that same audience? The solution seems to be increasing the number of minority

character. DC and Marvel have added minority characters like Black Panther, Batwoman,

Ironheart, Myles Morales, Kamala Khan, Aqualad, NorthStar, Iceman, Storm, etc. to their comic

book universes. Though the quantity of identities does matter, the qualities of representation will

be critiqued in this thesis. The push for diversify often boils down to adding more minority

characters, but there are often gaps in the designing of identities. Frequently characters who

represented a minority’s identity can feel one-dimensional. Habitually being characterized by

their identity, this can lead to the character being labeled as token characters. The

characterization of their identities is lacking, and that results in characters that feel unauthentic or

gimmicky. The problem is quantitative, but there are gaps in the quality of representation. The

question being ask in this thesis is how is identity designed in the medium of comics? Is there effective method to create authentic identity? The goal of this paper is to critique the characterization of racial, gender and sexual orientation identities in the medium of comic books by using social sciences, visual art and historical context to evaluate the methods of designing identities.

Limitations

Comic books have a complex and long history. Modern comic book superheroes date back to 1938 with the creation of Superman and since then thousands of stories and characters have been created by thousands of writers and artists. That amount of work is impossible to cover and because of that limitations are a necessary. The focus of the character deconstructions will be on Western comic books characters published by Marvel and DC. Though comics are a world-wide phenomenon, manga, underground comix and indie comics, etc. won’t be explored.

Marvel and DC have a long history through the Golden Age up to the Modern Era and have

some of the most recognizable characters in the world. This make them perfect subjects of

analysis.

Comic books continuity is a further limitation. Continuity is the maintenance of

continuous action and self-consistent detail in the various scenes of a movie or broadcast.

Marvel’s and DC’s have decades of continuities and both publishers have rewritten, rebooted and retconned their continuities. This limitation will be flexible because of the nature on comic books continuity in Marvel’s and DC’s universes. Example Myles Morales, an African American

version of Spiderman was introduced in Marvel Ultimate’s universe which was separated from

Marvel main universe. After the Ultimate universe line of comics was discontinued, Myles was

introduced to Marvel’s main universe. Even with the flexibility of this limitation, one shot

comics, and “what if” comics won’t be explored.

The last limitation is a disclaimer. All identity has the traits, culture, and history but not

all people in that identity are the same. Identity is a complex concept with many variations.

Chapter 2

Stereotypical Characterization

As discussed in the introduction, the comic book industry has a colorful history with propaganda and racist character designs. December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy Air

Service attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. That attack marked America’s entry in World War II and as America’s men and women geared up for the war, the comic book industry contributed with its own brand of propaganda (Wright, 2003). Comic book narratives are often build on the simple dynamic of the hero versus villain, and comic books during World

War II casted America as the hero and the Japanese Imperial Army as the obvious villains.

Japanese identity was designed with cartoonish yellow skin, fangs or buck teeth, and claws.

(Wright, 2003). Comic books featuring this propaganda had title like, “The Terror of the Slimy

Japs” and “The Slant Eye of Satan” (Wright, 2003). The Japanese were portrayed as inferior to

American and the designs were clearly racist, and stereotypical. These designs are an offensive

parody of identity and are an example of stereotypical characterization which is characterization

by designing an identity based solely off typecasts of that identity. This is also known as a

caricature which is defined as making or giving a comically or grotesquely exaggerated representation.

Extraño’s Characterization

Extraño is a superhero in the DC Comic Universe. Created by Steve Englehart, Joe

Stanon and Ian Gibson, Extraño was introduced in 1988 limited series of comics called

Millennium. The Millennium comic series featured a superhero team called the New Guardians

(Englehart, 1988). The New Guardians are “super-evolved” humans who were given their powers by the character Herupa Hando Hu, a Guardian of the Universe and his partner Nadia

Safir. The New Guardians consisted of: Betty Clawman a cosmically aware aborigine, Floro/

Floronic Man a hybrid plant-man, Gloss, a Chinese heroine who draws her powers from the

“Dragon Lines”, R.A.M a Japanese electronic living organism, Jet a Jamaican heroine with fiery green hair, Thomas Kalmaku an Intuit gadget expert, Harbinger an ultra-dimensional being and

Extraño, the Peruvian magician (Englehart, 1988).

Though the cast was intended to be racial and sexually diverse, the New Guardians has

some stereotypical characterization. Both Gloss and R.A.M have abilities that reference a

stereotype of Chinese and Japanese identity. R.A.M is a highly intelligent computer and a

stereotype of Asian identity is that they are highly intelligent. Gloss’ power references dragons,

which are creatures commonly found in

Chinese mythology.

Both characters have some

stereotypical characterization in their

identity but the character Extraño’s is a

walking stereotype. During the

Millennium series, Extraño is never Figure 5: Extraño explicitly outed or states his sexual

orientation, but his mannerism, attire and general characterization is rooted in a stereotype of a

homosexual male. Extraño’s design and characterization is flamboyant. He is draped in a pink

cape, gold jewelry and high-heeled boots. His skin is a unique pink color and Extraño’s lexicon

includes colloquialisms like “honey” and “sweeties”. He even refers to himself as Auntie. In the

LGBTQ+ community it is more common for males to be referred to by female pronouns or terms associated with female identity like “sister” or “girl”. Extraño referring to himself as Auntie parallels this trait of the LGBTQ+ community and alludes to his identity being gay or queer.

Extraño’s names is another clue to his gay identity. The term Extraño translated from Spanish to

English means strange or queer (Melrose, 2016). Extraño is also the first HIV- positive superhero

(Melrose, 2016). For historical context, in 1981, the Center of Disease Control published its

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): Pneumocystis Pneumonia—Los Angeles.

This article documented a rare lung infection called Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in

five gay male patients. The disease would later be called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

or AIDS. Though the epidemic would take both heterosexual and homosexual lives, the disease

during the 1980’s has solely been associated with the homosexual male community with names like “gay cancer” or GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) (A Timeline of HIV and AIDS,

2019). According to Planned Parenthood, Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV is the virus

the causes AIDS (Parenthood, 2019). In the New Guardians #1 a new the debut of a new villain,

the Hemo-Goblin. Hemo- Goblin is “vampire created by white supremacists to eliminate non-

whites by infecting them with HIV”. Casually referred to as the “AIDS vampire” it is the

suspected that the Hemo-Goblin infected Extraño with HIV. Extraño’s design and

characterization is reminiscent of the pianist Liberace who was famous for wearing flamboyant

outfits covered in fur and jewel. He was suspected of being gay but never revealed his sexual

orientation during his lifetime. Liberace also died due to AIDS complication a year before

Extraño debuted. Though Extraño’s characterization is based on a famous “alleged” gay man, his

characterization relies heavily on stereotypes about gay man. His sexual orientation is never

stated but the characterization of his identity is clearly one of a stereotypical gay male.

Sexual Orientation Characterization in

Comics

The modern era of comics contains a lot of LGBTQ+ representation. Characters like

Iceman, Batwoman, Midnighter, Apollo, and

NorthStar are all queer characters. They tackle different aspects of queer identity. Iceman comes out to a disapproving family, Batwoman is discharged from the West Point United State

Military Academy for being a lesbian and

Midnighter and Apollo get married marking the first gay wedding in mainstream comics. Queer Figure 6 representation has increased in comic in the modern era but before the modern era queer characters like Extraño and NorthStar identity were hidden. The Comic Code Authority a self-regulated organization of comic publishers formed in

1954 to censor comics and end the corruption of America’s youth (Wright, 2003). Queer characterization before the modern era of comic was done through subtext. A character’s queer sexual orientation was never stated. The queer character would never say their sexual orientation or have a same-sex partner. Innuendo was used to characterize and communicate queer sexual orientation. Uncanny X-Men #120 written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by John Byrne introduced the character NorthStar to the Marvel universe. NorthStar or Jean-Paul was a member of the Canadian superheroes group Alpha Flight. NorthStar is a mutant, which in the Marvel

Universe means that he is a subspecies of humans called Homo Superior. Mutants most

commonly associated the superhero team the X-Men, and the X-Men are often used as an allegory from marginalized groups. NorthStar is noted as one of the first “openly” gay character

in American mainstream comic books (Claremont, 2005). Though NorthStar’s creator intended

for him to identify as gay, NorthStar queerness is reduced to subtext. In Alpha Flight #22 in

May 1985, Aurora, NorthStar twin sister is utterly shocked that her brother is in the company of

a women. In Incredible Hulk #418, NorthStar (dark blue suit) is shown talking and laughing with

a young gentleman at a bar. NorthStar is depicted a cold and serious character especially toward

women. One issue sees Rogue another mutant asking NorthStar to dance and he coldly rejects her. NorthStar being happy is a contradiction of his serious demeanor and the character break happening in the presence of a man further alludes to NorthStar attraction to men (NorthStar, 2019).

In the Modern era of Comic his sexual orientation is firmly stated.

Stereotypical characterization

and innuendo have a way

mainstream comic book

publisher characterize

homosexual characters without

getting censored by the Comic

Code Authority. Outright

stating the character’s sexual

orientation would result in the

censorship. That doesn’t excuse

Figure 7 stereotypical characterization,

but it gives one explanation as to why characters like Extraño was so stereotypical queer.

Stereotypical Characterization

The list is of stereotypical characterization in comics is staggering. Japanese soldiers during WWII,

Egg Fu, Extraño, Whitewash even the legendary comic creator Will Eisner who created the comic series The

Spirit had controversial character called Ebony White.

White is the kid sidekick of the hero The Spirit and is portrayed as a poorly educated, black character, with huge pink lips (Eisner, 1940). White is clearly based off Figure 8 the coon caricature with roots in America slavery (Pilgrim,

2000). Stereotypical characterization even touches A-list heroes like Wonder Woman. When

Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America (the processor to the Justice League of

America), she was made into the JSA’s secretary. A character who strength rivals Superman, was answering the phone, and making copies (Lepore, 2015).

Stereotype Effects

In Thin Ice: Stereotype Threat and Black College Students, author Dr. Claude M Steele discusses the effect of stereotypes on marginalized groups. Dr. Steel seeks to understand the gap between African American and White college students standardized test scores. His study tests white and black students of similar academic achievement and socio-economic status. Steele discovers the phenomenon he calls “stereotype threat”, which is the “threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype, or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype” (Steele, 1999). In his research he found that African American college students earned lower scores when compare to white college students on standardized test when

this student perceived a stereotype threat. One stereotype associated with black identity is the

belief that black people have lower cognitive skills than other races. The coon caricature and its

characterization of black identity can be seen affecting modern society again. When testing

students, if the test was presented as a test of ability, black students perceived a stereotype threat

and performed poorly. What Dr. Steele learns is that when these students perceived the

stereotype threat they would work inefficiently. Phillip Uri Treisman, a Professor of

Mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin found that black calculus students would work

long hours, constantly rechecking their answer and focus solely on correct answers instead of

learning the concepts of the material. Referred to as “John Henryism” named after the black

folklore legend this psychological syndrome is defined as a “faith that discrimination and disadvantage can be overcome with hard work and persistence” (Steele, 1999). Luckily, when the test was presented as unrelated to ability, black students performed equally to their white counterparts. The effect of stereotypical characterization casts this stereotyped groups as inferior.

The negative characterization of an identity can affect the majority’s view of that identity as illustrated by the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and American

Slavery’s Coon caricature, however, as Dr. Steele discovered, the stereotyped groups are affected as well. Steele notes that this feeling isn’t exclusive to African Americans but all identities with an associated negative stereotype. White males performed worst on math test when they are told the test is designed to test why Asian students excel at math. Outside of academics, white male athletes performed worst when compared to black male athletes in golf when they were told the test was demonstrating natural athletic ability (Conaway, 2005). The stereotype being Asian are better at academics, and blacks are better at athletics.

Avoiding stereotypical and prejudice character designs seems to be the best option but

knowing the difference between culture and a stereotype must be noted. In Thin Ice, before the

students were tested Dr. Steele asked the group what their preferences in sports and music. The

options listed include basketball, jazz, hip hop preference more associated with black culture.

While preferences not associated with black culture tennis, swimming and classical music, were

also presented. When the African American students responded to the question, they showed less interest in the preferences associated with black culture than white students. But when asked again in a test that was presented as unrelated to ability, African American students strongly preferred the preferences associated with black culture.

Modern Change

Comic books are all about power and fantasy. There are no limits within the panels of

comics, except in the societies where those comics exist. Ebony White, Egg Fu, and Extraño’s

designs are considered taboo because they draw inspiration from stereotypes of racial and sexual

minorities groups. The modern era of comics

has tried to change their past. Comic

publishers are now either removing these

characters from their universe or un-

stereotyping these characters. Darwyn Cooke,

comic artist and writer designed the new

Ebony White (Cooke, 2007). Modern Ebony’s

is a well-read, streetwise kid and his new

design is modeled after actual black humans,

instead of racist propaganda. DC’s universe- Figure 9: Ebony White, Extraño, Egg Fu Comparison sheet

wide redesign, New 52 reintroduced Egg Fu. Egg Fu’s redesign loses the Fu Manchu inspiration,

and his modern design is designed after a crack egg with robotic spider legs. After the New

Guardians series ended, Extraño has lost in limbo until 2017 when the comic book series

Midnighter and Apollo debuted (Melrose, 2016). His resurrection dropped the Liberace

influence, and Extraño characterization as drastically tone down. The modern versions of the

characters are no longer was stereotypical. Stereotypical characterization is taboo and should be

avoided. To avoid stereotyping identities, new methods of designing identity have developed.

Opposing characterization, Conscious characterization and Color-Blind characterization. These

methods will be further analyzed and criticized in the next chapters.

Chapter 3:

Opposing Characterization

The demand for better representation and less stereotypical characterization has created a

new problem in character design. How do you create non- stereotyped character? How do you

avoid negative stereotype? One method of creating non-stereotypes characterization is the

complete reversal of any stereotypes associated with an identity. Opposing Characterization is the purposeful subversion of stereotypes. A common trope in comic books that fell into the category of opposing characterization is the strong female character trope. This trope contradicts the stereotypes associated with female identity. In this chapter, opposing characterization and the trope of strong female characters will be critiques and analyzed to answer the question of is opposing characterization an effective means of designing identity?

Ms. Marvel

Carol Danvers is a superheroine in Marvel’s Universe. She was created in 1968 by Roy

Thomas and artist Gene Colan for the 13th issue of Marvel Superheroes. Originally Carol was a

non-powered secondary character in the comic series, Captain Marvel. For clarity, in the Marvel

Universe there are two characters who use the alias Captain Marvel. The original Captain Marvel

is an alien, whose actual name is Mar-Vell. The second Captain Marvel is Carol Danvers, but she

wouldn’t take up the alias of Captain Marvel until 2012 (Ms. Marvel, 2019). Carol is an officer

in the United States Air Force. Initially she was meant to be a “liberated” female character.

According to Gerry Conway a writer on several issues of Captain Marvel, he explained that Ms.

Marvel’s “quest for identity” parallels “the modern women’s quest for raised consciousness, for

self-liberation, for identity” (Robbins, 1996). Carol was initially meant to be a gender-denying character but after meeting Mar-Vell she would fall into the more “gender appropriate” role of love interest/damsel in distress. Once she developed romantic feeling for Mar-Vell and found herself being kidnapped by one of Mar-Vell’s enemy, Yon-Rogg, her plight resulted in Carol gaining her own superpowers. In Captain Marvel Vol. 1 #18, a massive explosive fused Carol and Mar-Vell’s DNA, resulting in Carol now having superhuman abilities like strength, flight, and durability. The super powered Carol take the alter ego of Ms. Marvel and in 1977 received her own solo series.

Rape of Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel’s original solo series lasted 23 issues before cancellation left Ms.

Marvel as a nomad character.

She would bounce around the

Marvel Universe, from comic series to comic series before landing on The Avengers’ doorstep. The Avengers are one of Marvel’s many superhero groups, often led by Captain

America that has a revolving Figure 10: Avengers #200 roster of superheroes. As Ms. Marvel settled into being an Avengers, in Avengers #200, she would discover that she was pregnant. The issue begins with Ms. Marvel being three days pregnant. Carol is confused by the pregnancy because she does not remember being sexually active before the pregnancy. Despite her confusion, the other members of the Avengers are happy and celebrate Carol’s soon to be motherhood. The next day Carol would deliver a full- term baby boy. The child who names himself Marcus, ages at an accelerated rate and within the span of day was a fully-grown man. Now an adult, Marcus would proceed to explain the rapid pregnancy, himself and the entire situation to the Avengers. According to Marcus, he is an immortal god, trapped between dimensions (Limbo). Wanting to escape Limbo, he would develop a plan and needed the help of an Earth woman. Marcus’s plan was to teleport a woman

from Earth to Limbo, seduce her, impregnate her with himself, then teleport her back to Earth in

order to be reborn on Earth. Marcus would pick Carol as his target. When Carol reached Limbo,

she would initially reject Marcus. He would use mind-control to “convince” Carol and seduce her. After hearing Marcus’s explanation Carol would find herself becoming romantically drawn to her son/ impregnator. Avengers #200 ends with Carol leaving the Avengers to live with

Marcus in Limbo (Strickland,

1980) (Ms. Marvel, 2019) (Layton,

1980).

Gender Identity

Female characterization is determined by our notions of femininity but defining femininity or female characterization is a Figure 11: Avengers #200 (Marcus) difficult task. Though the Merriam Webster dictionary defines femininity as “the quality or nature of the female sex: the quality, state, or degree of being feminine or womanly” (Merriam-

Webster, 2019). What qualities are womanly? The French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan explains

in his book The Meaning of the Phallus his definition of the relationship between genders. Lacan

describes men as “having” and women as “lacking”. In Judith Butler’s book Gender Trouble, she determines that Lacan’s characterization of women is “in need of masking and who are in some unspecified sense in need of protection” (Butler, 2015 pp 63). Lacan defines femininity as lacking masculinity. This definition establishes a binary system between genders that also establishes a dominant and subordinate system, as one gender are the “haves” and the other are the “have nots”. Luce Irigaray, a French philosopher considers femininity an act or masquerade

that women adopt when entering society. She writes, “a woman has to become a normal woman, that is, has to enter the masquerade of femininity […], [has to enter] into a system of values that is not hers, and in which she can “appear” and circulate only when enveloped in the needs/desires/fantasies of others, namely men” (Irigaray, 1985, 133-134). Though Irigaray consider femininity an act that woman perform, her definition parallels Lacan’s idea of a binary system of gender and a dominate/subordinate relationship between genders. The dominate gender is “male” and the subordinate gender is “female”. Both Irigaray and Lacan’s definition of

Femininity or female characterization relies on the definition of masculinity. Lexico.com defines masculinity as “having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with men, especially strength and aggressiveness” (Lexico, 2019). The Oxford definition coupled with Lacan’s, gives a solid definition of femininity. Femininity can be defined as the opposite of masculinity. Traits of femininity are weakness and timidity. It should be noted the Judith Butler states in q that “if one “is” a woman that is surely not all one is” she states that gender, “ is not always constituted coherently or consistently in different historical contexts and gender intersects with racial, class, ethnic, sexual and regional modalities of discursively constituted identities” (Butler, 2015: pp 4).

Meaning this definition of femininity is not a solid definition for the entirety of female identity.

The definition of femininity changes with history, culture, class, etc. Carol’s characterization seems to be defined by femininity. Before she became Ms. Marvel she was characterized as helpless, weak and in need saving from the masculine identity, Mar-Vell. In Avengers #200,

Carol is a character without autonomy, despite her power as a superhero she is helpless in this narrative. She gets pregnant against her will and has no choice in the father of her child. The only choice she makes is leaving with her son/rapist. Carol acts in way that doesn’t benefit herself and only benefits Marcus. Ms. Marvel characterization is stereotypical female because she fits in the

roles of sex object and damsel in distress. She is weak and her purpose relies on the male

identities surrounding her even though the intention is for Carol to be a strong female character,

the narrative contradicts the intention.

Female Characterization in Comics

During the Golden and Silver Era of Comic Books female characters fell into a small pool of identities. They were either love interests, damsels in distress or vixens. This limited range of roles meant that female was often characterized as either sex objects or objects need

saving. Invisible Girl a character from Marvel’s Fantastic Four was characterized as weak, and

emotionally fragile. She would often become overwhelmed by using her own superpowers which

would result in fainting (Robbins, 1996). Wonder Woman a character who was meant to the

ideal independent “New Woman” found herself bound and gagged in almost every issue of her

comic. Her creator William Moulton Marston admitted that “when a lovely heroine is bound to

the stake, comics followers are sure that the rescue will arrive in the nick of time. The reader’s

wish is to save the girl, not to see her suffer” (Lepore, 2014). Ms. Marvel evolution from love

interest, to a damsel, to hero, to rape victim to interdimensional incubator did sit well with art

historian Carol Strickland. She wrote the article, “The Rape of Ms. Marvel”, which highlights the problematic narrative in Avenger #200, which was meant to be a celebratory issue marking the milestone of 200 issues published (Strickland, 1980). Carol’s characterization needed a redesign.

Ms. Marvel character to this point has been boiled into a functioning uterus and sex object with not autonomy. How can Ms. Marvel be redesigned and un-stereotyped?

Opposing Ms. Marvel’s Characterization

After Avengers #200, comic writer

Chris Claremont reintroduced Carol Danvers.

Claremont didn’t shy away from Carol’s assault and in The Avengers Annual #10,

Carol returned to the Marvel Universe. Upon her return she doesn’t contact her former team the Avengers and goes into hiding in the X-

Men’s Mansion. By the end of Avenger

Annual #10, Carol confronts the Avengers, telling them that they betray her and abandoned her in a crisis. The Avengers try to defend their actions, but Carol doesn’t accept Figure 12: Binary it and continues to rip into her former teammates. The Avengers leave the mansion heads hung low. Carol continues with the X-Men in a non-member capacity until Uncanny X-Men #164, where Carol got a redesign with new powers and a new name. Now Binary, Carol gains almost god-like powers, and she decides to leave Earth stating “returning with you means rejecting my heart's desire, but fulfilling that desire means leaving everyone, everything I love. Earth was

Carol Danvers' home ... but I fear it has no place for Binary” (Abad-Santos, 2016). Carol’s transition into Binary marks a completely new character. After her assault, Carol Danvers’ characterization becomes more dominant. She gains new powers, scolds the Avengers’, and decides for herself to leave Earth because of her lack of empathy towards her former life.

Claremont’s redesign not only gives Carol additional power, it gives her autonomy. She decides

to leave Earth, she decides to avoid the Avengers and to start a new life. Binary’s characterization is the opposite of Ms. Marvel’s characterization. Ms. Marvel is a weak character while Binary is a strong character.

Strong Female Character/ Opposing Characterization

Carol Danvers’s transformation into Binary is perfect illustration of the strong female character trope. Strong female character trope is an example of opposing characterization because it contradicts the stereotypical characterization of female character. Opposing characterization for female characters often casts a once weak and fragile characters like Ms.

Marvel into the role of a strong and dominant characters like Binary. The trope subverts our definition of femininity and female identity by opposing the traits of associated with feminine identity. Binary is an un-stereotyped Ms. Marvel. Characters like Wonder Woman were created purely to subvert the stereotypical characterization. Wonder Woman debuted in All- Star Comics

#8 (December 1941- January 1942) (Lepore, 2015: pp 176). Marston in a press release (1942) wrote that Wonder Woman was meant to “Combat the idea that women are the inferior to men, and to inspire girls to self-confidence and achievement in athletics occupation and professions monopolized by men” (Lepore, 2015 pp 176).

Opposing characterization isn’t limited to female characters. We see this characterization with other identities as well. The feminine male, the dumb Asian, the genius black character are all examples of opposing characterization. The X-Men’s Prodigy is a black character who is highly intelligent because of his mutant powers of mimicking knowledge, mental skill and abilities. The stereotype Prodigy is contradicting the stereotype that black people are less intelligent than other races. Midnighter is an ultraviolent former black ops agent, who identifies as a gay male. Midnighter’s characterization contradicts gay stereotypes, like weakness,

campiness and femininity. Midnighter’s gay identity runs contrary to Extraño gay identity.

(Comic Vine, 2018) Though these characters are example of opposing characterization Prodigy,

Wonder Woman, and Midnighter are well rounded character and are not solely characterized by

the contradiction of varies stereotypes. (Comic Vine, 2019)

Summary

Opposing characterization can un-stereotyped a character and in the case of Ms. Marvel return a character dignity. Ebony White modern redesign un-stereotyped his identity but does this method of characterization provide better effective representation? Does reversing stereotypes limit the characterization of identity, and create a binary system of character design?

Back to Wonder Woman, her creator William Moulton Marston intended to subvert stereotypical female characterization by giving Wonder Woman strength and independence, but he also intended for Wonder Woman to be feminine as well. Marston reject the idea that femininity meant weakness. He wrote, “Who wants to be a girl? And that’s the point; not even girls want to girls so long as our feminine archetype lack force, strength, power. Not wanting to be girls they don’t want to be tender, submissive, peace loving as good women are. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman” (Lepore, 2015 pp 187). Though Marston’s intended characterization of

Wonder Woman has not been upheld throughout her many decades of existence, Wonder

Woman was meant to subvert stereotypical female characterization while embracing and celebrating femininity. Does opposing characterization limit complex characterization of identity by solely basing the characterization of identity on contradicting stereotypes?

Chapter 4

Conscious Characterization

If opposing characterization doesn’t produce quality representation, maybe conscious

characterization is a more effective method. In sociology the theory of Color-

consciousness states that equality under the law is not enough; it rejects the concept that there is

a fundamental racial difference between people, but holds that physical features, particularly

skin color, can and do negatively impact some people's life opportunities (Appiah & Gutmann,

1996). Being conscious of identity means one recognizes that some groups have been

marginalized due to superficial differences. Designing characters consciously means the designer

is aware of the cultural, historical and physical trait of an identity and try to have these traits

represented in the design of the character. Conscious characterization can be accomplished

simply by incorporated culture into the characterization of the character. A Jewish character

wearing a kippah, a black character celebrating Black History Month, or a female character

getting her period, these are all ways to recognize the differences amongst identities and

designing consciously.

Black Panther: A Nation Under our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Black Panther is recognized as the first mainstream black superhero, created by the legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Black Panther made his debut in Fantastic Four #52 (1961).

Black Panther or T’Challa is the king to the fictional African nation Wakanda. Wakanda is characterized as a wealthy, technically advanced, hermit nation. Wakanda wealth comes from the abundance of Vibration, which is a rare, nearly indestructible mineral that can absorb sounds waves and kinetic energy. Its rarity and indestructible nature make the mineral valuable. Notably items in the Marvel Universe like Captain America’s shield and the Black Panther Suit are made

of the mineral. T’Challa receives his superhuman strength and speed from exposure to magically

herb. Wakanda and the Black Panther have a unique relationship because the Black Panther is

not only the king of Wakanda but the main and first line of defense (Burger & Engels, 2019).

When creating Black Panther, Stan Lee purposely avoided stereotypical characterization.

In an interview published in the magazine Alter Ego #104 (2011). Lee detailed his creative

process while creating Wakanda and Black Panther’s African identity. “To avoid stereotyping,

he doesn’t live in a regular tribe and so forth; he is the prince of a nation, and the nation is hidden

under the ground. It’s a country called Wakanda, and he is one of the greatest scientists in the

world and his area; his country is more scientifically advanced than any,” Lee continued. “When

you get to the hidden entrance and go down to Wakanda, it looks like you’re in a scene from a

science-fiction movie of the thirtieth century! But, in order not to be discovered by the rest of the

world, ’because he doesn’t want his nation contaminated by today’s civilization, it’s hidden

underground, and up above it looks like just thatched villages where nobody would ever suspect

what’s really below” (Thomas, 2011: 38).

“Afrofuturism” is a term widely used in genre criticism. When it is used to refer to literature, films, visual art or music, it denotes a narrative of a possible future for Africans,

Africa or the black diaspora (Burger & Engels, 2019).” The term was coined in the 1993 Mark

Dery’s essay, “Black to Future”. Afro futurism fuses science fiction with the African and African

American experience. What is Stan Lee conceptualized for Wakanda back in 1961 would now be called Afrofuturism. Though Lee’s forward-thinking wasn’t entirely conscious, the character the

Thing refer to Black Panther as “some refugee from a Tarzan movie” (Burger & Engels, 2019).

Stan Lee’s Wakanda is an Afro futuristic utopia. Wakanda is wealthy, technological advanced and untouched by European influence and greed. Ta-Nehisi Coates the author of Black Panther:

A Nation Under our Feet would describe Wakanda as “the first fictional African countries whose

prosperity and richness is not obtained owing to western influences like colonization. Instead, it

owes its economic welfare and stability primarily to the presence of the fictional element

‘vibranium’” (Burger & Engels, 2019). Though Stan Lee’s characterization of Wakanda is more

opposing than conscious, Wakanda’s identity would develop into a more conscious

characterization under the pen of Coates. In 2016, author Ta-Nehisi Coates would take over

writing duties for eighteen issues of Black Panther (Burger & Engels, 2019).

Black Panther: A Nation Under our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates challenges the idea of

Wakanda being a utopia for black people. Coates referring to Wakanda states that “It’s not this perfect gleaming Pan-African paradise anymore.” Coates states, “He is imagining what state a country with so much collective trauma would be in (Burger & Engels, 2019). Coates’ book begins with a fractured Wakanda. Outside forces are attempting to invade the nation and plunder

Wakanda’s Vibranium mines. The invasion kills Wakanda’s princess and the acting Black

Panther Shuri. T’Challa, Wakanda’s king and protector is busy gallivanting with the Mighty

Avengers. When T’Challa returns to Wakanda, tensions in the nation are high. Vibranium miners are revolting against the monarchy. Suicide Bombers seek to destroy Wakanda. And warlords have used to civil unrest to kidnap and threaten to rape Wakanda’s women. Wakanda’s fictional turmoil parallels many conflicts in the real Africa. Though Africa is more than the stereotypical characterization of huts and starving children it has its own issues. South African apartheid,

Rwanda’s genocide, the plundering of the Congo, etc. Africa like all continents has a colorful history and Coates consciously add that characterization to Wakanda (Ellis, 2018).

Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet’s illustration are inspired by the Afro futuristic aesthetic. Brian Stelfreeze’s illustrations draw reference from African culture mainly Southern

Africa’s Zulu people and black characters have phenotypical African features and culturally appropriate hair styles like afros and dreads. Stelfreeze’s illustrations embrace Afrofuturism and uses it to bolster the story conscious design. Even the name of the comic references Steven

Hahn’s book A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from

Slavery to the Great Migration. Everything about ANUOF screams black identity. Black identity is so woven into the fabric of this narrative that removing the blackness would dismantle the narrative. Coates’ characterization of Wakanda coupled with the Afro futuristic visual aesthetic of ANUOF clearly colors the comic with African culture and identity (Burger & Engels, 2019).

Jon Stewart (Black Green Lantern)

In the DC comic Universe, the Green Lantern Corp are a group of heroes who get their powers from green intergalactic space ring. Like Captain Marvel, the alias Green Lantern is used by many different heroes with the original Green Lantern being Alan Scott. The ring is powered by willpower and gives the wearer the ability to project super strong constructs from the ring.

The first appearance of a Green Lantern (Alan Scott) was is All-American Comics #16 (July

1940). (Finger, 1940).

The fourth Green Lantern is John Stewart.

Created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, John is one of DC’s first black heroes making his debut in

Green Lantern #87 (1971). John Stewart is a United

States Marine from Detroit. As a marine John demonstrated his advanced skills as a marksman’s.

After becoming a Sergeant, John was deployed to

Gotham City to evacuate citizens from an incoming storm. In Gotham, John broke rank from his superior officer who was stirring up conflict amongst the refugees. John broke rank to save innocent civilians Figure 13: Green Lantern #87 Cover from his superior officer. This brave action caught the attention of the Guardians of the Universe, the leaders of the Green Lantern Corp, who because of his action made John into a Green Lantern. (Jensen, Levitz, & Soule , 2015). This origin story for John originates in the comic, Secret Origins #9. There is nothing conscious about this origin as it pertains to John’s black identity. Unlike Coates’ Wakanda, black identity is not oozing from the narrative, but this isn’t John original origin story. John’s original origin story was retconned from DC universe. Retcon is a shortened form of retroactive continuity and refers to a literary device in which the form or content of a previously established narrative is changed. Retcons are often encountered in serial formats such as comic books or television series (Merriam- Webster,

2019). John original origin story was a lot blacker.

Green Lantern #87 introduces John Stewart as the newest Green Lantern. John is picked by Guardian of the Universe to replace the injured Green Lantern Guy Gardner. Hal Jordan,

another Green Lantern, objects to John being the newest Lantern. Hal considers John to be to

hotheaded and angry. Casting John as the “angry black man”. Once John receives his power ring,

his first mission is to protect a politician. John verbally objects to this mission, stating that the

politician is a racist, but Hal ignores John’s concern. John begrudgingly accepts the mission to

protect the politician.

Secretly, the politician is plotting to start a race riot by “having a white police officer

killed as a result of a phony attempt on the politician’s life by a black gunman” (Nama, Super

Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes, 2011). Throughout the issue John’s race is

constantly mentioned. John is an architect and during the Lanterns first meeting Hal stated that

there’s limited work for black architects in America. Hal is dismissive of John when he states he

doesn’t want to help a racist. Hal tells John he can’t judge whether the politician is a racist, then

an hour later the politician is calling black people “darkies” (Fox, Maggin, & O'Neil, 1971).

According to Adilifu Nama’s Super Black, John’s debut is “buried under a mound of racial rhetoric and anxiety concerning … Black Power politics” For historical context black identity in 1970’s was heavily tied to the Black Power Movement. The ideals of Black Power included Black Nationalism, black pride and a resistance of white culture in America

(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). Also, at this time Blaxploitation films like “Super Fly, Sweet

Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song”, and “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” were extremely popular

(Nama, Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes, 2011). These films further characterized of black identity as philandering, fighting the white man, and living in the ghetto.

John’s black identity draws reference from the Black Power Movement and the Blaxploitation film genre. John’s first mission sees him fighting racism and the white man like many protagonists in the Blaxploitation film. In one scene John refuses to wear the traditional Green

Lantern mask telling Hal that, “this black man lets it all hang out” (Fox, Maggin, & O'Neil,

1971). John even tells Hal to call him “Black Lantern” (Nama, Super Black: American Pop

Culture and Black Superheroes, 2011). John’s dialogue mimics 1970’s, African American vernacular English. In Super Black, Nama concluded that “Stewart is a cocky, anti-authoritarian, angry, and race-conscious figure.”

Conscious Characterization in Comics

Conscious Characterization can be a double-edged sword. It can further stereotype an identity like John Stewart or add culture and history to the character like Coates’s Wakanda.

Characters like Batwoman benefit from conscious characterization. The original Silver Age

Batwoman, Kathy Kane was introduced to Gotham in Detective Comics #233. Kathy was a wealthy heiress who spent her youth as a circus acrobat. Her adoration for Batman made her dawn the cowl and start crime fighting herself (Hamilton, 1956). Batwoman’s creation is interesting because she created to prove Batman and Robin weren’t gay. Seduction of the

Innocent is controversial book that criticizes the comic book industry for being racist, anti-

Semitic, xenophobic and sexually deviant. The author Dr. Fredric Wertham charges the comic industry with being the newest thing corrupting the young. One of Wertham’s biggest indictments was against Batman and Robin; he accuses the dynamic duo of promoting homosexuality. Wertham Figure 14: Kath Kane Coming Out Detective Comics #859

believes the Batman and Robin’s relationship was a “wish dream of two homosexuals living

together.” Further evidence for the duo homosexuality is Robin revealing uniform which shows

his bare legs and Batman standing with his legs open. Robin or Dick Grayson is an orphan child

character who is adopted by Batman (Wright, 2001). In response to Wertham’s indictment,

Kathy Kane is introduced to be a sideline character and evidence for Batman’s heterosexuality.

Her niece Betty Kane or alter ego Bat Girl acted as Robin’s cover. The Silver Age Batwoman’s

final appearance was Detective Comics #485. Modern Batwoman, Kate Kane was a similar

background to the original. Both are wealthy and both started crimes fighting because of Batman

but Kate Kane unlike Kathy is a lesbian. Written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by J.H Williams,

the modern age’s Batwoman is a military brat with both parents serving in the United States

Army. She would eventually enlist herself in United States Military Academy, West Point

(Rucka, 2009).

The conscious characterization of Kate Kane begins with her enlistment. Don’t Ask

Don’t Tell was a former official United States’ policy (1993–2011) regarding homosexuals

serving openly in the United States Military. Introduced under President Bill Clinton, this policy

forced homosexual military service men and women into the closet. The closet or closeted is

term in the LGBTQ+ community meaning a person is not openly stating their sexual orientation.

“Under the terms of the law, homosexuals serving in the military were not allowed to talk about

their sexual orientation or engage in same-sex sexual activity, and commanding officers were not allowed to question service members about their sexual orientation” (Britannica, 2019). If a service man or woman was outed (discovered to be LGBTQ+) they could discharge from the service. In Detective comics #859, Kate Kane’s superior officer finds out that she is having a same sex relationship with another female cadet. Because of her father’s military service Kate is

given the option to end the relationship and stay closeted or leave West Point. Kate choses to

come out and leave West Point. Kate’s characterization follows the experiences of many in the

LGBTQ+ community, a coming out, the first relationship, hiding that relationship and dealing with homophobia legislation like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Kate’s queer characterization is authentic to queer identity.

Summary

Conscious characterization is the recognition of an identity’s uniqueness. It can enrich an

identity characterization like Coates’ ‘Wakanda or degrade an identity with modern stereotypes

like the original Green Lantern. Is Conscious characterization a solution to un-stereotyping

identity? Can conscious characterization go too far and turn into a parody of an identity? Adilifu

Nama wrote in his Brave black worlds: Black superheroes as science fiction ciphers that, “Black

readers initially had to identify with white heroes, which caused internalized feelings of racial

inferiority. It has been just over forty years since black superheroes made their entrance in

science fiction comic books. These characters are important because they offer “alternative

possibilities” and provide ‘a more complex and unique expression of black racial identity’

(Nama 2008:135-136).

Chapter 5

Blind Characterization

If opposing and conscious characterization don’t result in better representation, how can

identity be designed effective. In sociology the concept of racial-blindness or color-blindness is

defined as the ideal of a nonracial society wherein skin color is of no consequence for individual

life chances of government policy (Schaefer, 2008). After the Jim Crow era of American history,

the concept of color-blindness became a popular ideology. To contrast the Jim Crow era’s

obsession with race, this new post-civil right era’s ideology launched in the opposite direction.

(Schaefer, 2008).

Blind Characterization as Solution

Designing Identity is a complex mine field. Avoiding stereotypes while providing

effective representation can be difficult, and some may want to avoid identity and design blindly.

Blind Characterization avoids the previous mentioned method of characterizing identity. Blind

characterization solely represents identity through visual design, innuendo or a designer stating

the characters identity outside the literature. Blind Characterization avoids stereotypes, culture

and history associated with identity. One example of blind characterization is Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is a character who has only been depicted as being heterosexual. In an interview

with Glamour Magazine, comic writer Greg Rucka states that Wonder Woman identifies as

queer (Odiamar, 2016). Rucka states that Wonder Woman was always queer because Wonder

Woman is from an island populated with only women. Despite Rucka’s statement, Wonder

Woman never expresses her alleged queerness in the narrative and Rucka statements seems like a

retcon. Blind Characterization is diverse representation without diverse characterization.

Blind Characterization can be an effective solution to quality representation because the

baggage associated with the identity is dropped. The character is judge by the “content of their

character” and not by their identity. With conscious characterization there is a temptation to

make a character into a mouthpiece of their identity. Green Lantern #87 ended with John

stopping a race riot and Hal Jordan admitted he was wrong about John and his “reckless” style.

In response, John states that “style isn’t important any more than a color”. John’s character transitions from Shaft to Martin Luther King Jr. It an odd transformation but John as black man can be utilized as a voice for blackness. He can speak out against racism, fight racist, and fight

against negative black stereotypes as a black superhero. Green Lantern #87 uses John as the

mouthpiece to condemn racism, though it is odd that only John is tasked with fighting racism. A

blind narrative of Green Lantern #87 would introduce John Stewart without the race storyline,

which DC eventually did when they retconned this story from their universe and replaced it with

his military origin story. With opposing characterization there a temptation to make an identity

an exemplary version of that identity, like Stan Lee’s Wakanda or Binary. The temptation is to

put a marginalized identity on a pedestal, when the identity should be allowed to have a diverse

range of characterizations representing the identity. Blind Characterization eliminates that

temptation because the unlike conscious and opposing characterization, stereotypes aren’t

dictating the characterization. Wonder Woman’s queerness is a part of her character but because her queerness is blind, she doesn’t have to deal with queer experiences, like Kate Kane’s

Batwoman. Wonder Woman’s queerness doesn’t hinder her. Queer characters like Batwoman face discrimination because of their identity while Wonder Woman faces no negative experience associated with her queerness. Batwoman is an out and proud lesbian, who experiences same-sex

relationships while Wonder Woman isn’t allowed that same experience. Wonder Woman is

queer in name only.

There is a freedom to designing blindly but it has its pitfalls as well. Carol Danvers

storyline in Avengers #200 is a blind narrative. Though the narrative is gendered female because

of the narrative revolving around a pregnancy. The route to that pregnancy and the way Carol’s

pregnancy is celebrated is extremely tone deaf, and a blind characterization. According to the

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is one out of every six American women has

been the victim of an attempted or completed rape while one out of every 33 American men

experienced attempted or completed rape in their lifetime (RAINN, 2019) . This statistic means

women are more likely to experience a rape or an attempted rape. If these experiences of female

identity were considered in Avenger #200, would the narrative have been the same? Would

Carol’s experience of being kidnapped, drugged, and raped be portrayed as romantic or would

this storyline never see the light of day?

White Washing

Another fault of Blind characterization is the potential to whitewash. White washing is

“to try to hide unpleasant facts about somebody/something; to try to make something seem better

than it is” (Oxford, 2019). Captain America is a character created by Joe Simon and Stan Lee

(Simon & Lee 1941). Debuting in Captain America #1, Captain America or Steve Roger’s story

begins with World War II. Steve is skinny kid, who enlists in the army to fulfill his patriotic duty

to fight the Nazis. Captain America if famously depicted punching Adolf Hitler is the face on his

debut cover. As a soldier, Steve volunteers for a secret experiment called Operation: Rebirth.

This experiment injects Steve with the Super Solider Serum which turns the skinny Steve Roger

into the superhuman Captain America. The comic series Truth: Red, White and Black, introduces

Isaiah Bradley into the Marvel Universe. Isaiah and Steve both use the alias Captain America and their origins stories have similarity. Steve and Isaiah both enlist in the United States Army during World War II. Steve and Isaiah both participate in the Operation: Rebirth and they both gained advanced abilities because of the Super Solider Serum. Isaiah and Steve’s origin have many parallels, but their origins differ drastically because of their identities. Steve is a white male while Isaiah is a black male. Steve volunteers for the Operation: Rebirth, while Isaiah was forced into the program and experimented on along with 300 other black enlisted men. The 300 black men were considered less valuable then they white counterparts and after the experiments only seven surviving.

Isaiah’s story is inspired by the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.

In 1932, the Public Health Service and the Tuskegee Institute conducted a study on 600 black

men, 399 with syphilis and 201 without syphilis. The men were told they were being treated for

“bad blood” and were given free medical care and food. These 600 black men weren’t being

treated so anything, the intent of the study was to record how untreated syphilis effect the body.

The study lasted 40 years, and even when penicillin became an effective treatment for syphilis in

1947, the Tuskegee victims were never offer this treatment (Center of Disease Control, 2015). In

Linda Hutcheon’s article Four Views of Ethnicity she describes the concept of Crypto-Ethnicity.

In a quick anecdote she describes how her surname hiding her ethnicity. Despite her surname

Professor Hutcheon is Italian Canadian, she like many married women she adopted her partners’

surname, changing it from her Bortolotti to Hutcheon. She describes this change as an

“encrypted, silenced” and “silenced marker of (her) Italian heritage” (Hutcheon, Bhabha,

Boyarin, Golz, 1998). Blind Characterization is like a Professor Hutcheon name change. It can

eliminate the cultural indictors that make an identity unique. Resulting in a minority culture

being assimilated into the majority culture. Isaiah’s story reflects his black identity by drawing

from black history. If Isaiah story was whitewashed or blind, he would just be a black version of

Captain America. The treatment of the black men of the Tuskegee Study and black American in general during this era of American history makes Isaiah’s Captain America a unique version of the Captain America mythos. Without his conscious characterization, he would be redundant within the overall narrative of the Marvel comic book Universe.

Summary

Though Blind Characterization can add diversity representation that are not stereotypical.

Blind Characterization also eliminates the uniqueness of an identity. Is the solution to poor

representation ignoring characteristic of identity? Is blind characterization equality or

assimilation? Does Blind Characterization lead to bland identity characterization?

Chapter 6

Character Journal/ Character Designs

The question this thesis is seeking an answer to is what methods are being use in character

design to produce better representation of identity? Stereotypical, Opposing, Conscious, and

Blind characterization has been analyzed and critiqued and these methods will be tested. To test

each method, three identities will be designed; Black male, gay male and female identities. Of

those identities, four characters will be designed using the method and concepts of stereotypical,

opposing, conscious, and blind characterization. There are a total of 12 designs. The designs will

be presented in an interactive PDF to a group of Kent State University Student. Four questions

will be asked.

• What identity is being represented by the design? Black Male, Gay Male, Female or I

don’t know?

• Does this design effectively represent the character’s identity? How effective 1 (Not

effective) to 5 (Extremely Effective)?

• Does this design offend? How offensive 1 (Not offensive) to 5 (Extremely offensive)?

• What are your general thoughts and feedback on this character? Critiques

To document the design process, character journals were created. Each journal documents the key features and references that influenced the designs. The concepts, idea and personal reflections are also noted.

Black Male (Stereotypical)

Traits/ Features References

Widen Nose, Darker Skin, Thicken Lips Sambo/ Coon Parody African / Black Facial features Mandingo (The Black Buck) Big/Muscular frame Tuskegee Study Chains Hulk

Journals

The stereotype being referenced is the Mandingo. The Mandingo trope has roots in

American Slavery and slave auctions. Auctioneer would promote the strength and breeding ability of young black men. Films like “Birth of a Nation” brought the fear that the Mandingo would seek revenge on their slave owner by raping their daughters. This characterization further stereotypes the Mandingo as a brute and an animal (Smithsonian, 2019). To communicate the stereotype this character has a massive, muscular build. His hair is an unkempt, kinky afro. A key feature is the chains. The chain is meant to reference American Slavery and communicate an aggressive and angry nature of the character. He is chained like an aggressive animal in the zoo.

The larger facial feature is meant to reference the coon caricature.

Black Male (Opposing)

Traits/ Features References

Cyborg/ Technology/ Ironman suit Iron Heart Smart Barack Obama Skinny Frame Ironman African / Black Facial features Prodigy Cyborg

Journals

To contradict the stereotype of black identity having lower intelligence this character is

meant to appear smart. While the coon caricature depicts black identity as mentally delayed, this

character is meant to depict black identity as mentally advanced (Pilgrim, 2000). Characters like

DC’s Cyborg, Iron Heart, and Prodigy are the inspiration for this character. All these characters are either genius or technological savvy and more importantly black. For that reason, the Black

Male (Opposing) character is hero who abilities are based in technology. His design features an

Ironman like suit and cybernetics parts. His body is much smaller than the stereotypical black character deigns to further push the contradiction.

Black Male (Conscious)

Traits/ Features References

Darker Skin tone Martin Luther King Locks Wakanda African / Black Facial features Huey Freeman (The Boondocks) Sketched Ear Black Costume w/ African Cloth w/ Kente Patterning Scarification

Journals

The concept for this character is what if Black History Month and Kwanza was a

character. The design is meant to communicate black identity by incorporating African culture.

This design is heavily influence by Brian Stelfreeze’s illustration in A Nation Under of Feet and

the Black Panther comic series. The Black Panther comics series is heavily influenced by a variety of African cultures like Zulu, Kenyan, and Ghanaian etc. The design features scarification. Scarification is deep etching in the skin which causes keloids to develop. Keloid

are more common among people with darker complexions (Guynup, 2004). The character has

sketched ears, a sketched lip and a massive dread all references to black and African culture.

Black Male (Blind)

Traits/ Features References

Racial Ambitious Aqualad (Young Justice) Alien J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter) Skinny Frame Light Eyes Journals

Black Male (Blind) character is an alien character. At first the solution for this design was

a racial ambitious black character. The character would feature light colored eyes and light hair.

That design was boring and didn’t seem to communicate the concept of ignoring black identity.

Plus, light eyes and light hair aren’t excluded from the black gene pool. The current design is

based on J'onn J'onzz or Martian Manhunter. He is a shapeshifting alien who disguises himself as

a black male when interacting with humans. The character being an alien pushes the color-blind concept a lot further than the racial ambiguous design. An alien character with brown skin would embody the idea of designing identity without referring to the history or culture of black identity.

Characters like J’onn and Aqualad have the black skin color without the black identity’s culture or history.

Gay Male (Stereotypical)

Traits/ Features References

Skinny Frame Extraño Tight Clothing Jeffree Star Long Hair The Celluloid Closet Feminine Pride Pins

Journals

Gay Male (Stereotypical) character was a difficult design to even conceptualize. At first

this character was a drag queen. Gay males are stereotyped as feminine, and sassy and Drag

Queens plays with female gender identity and femininity. The film “The Celluloid Closet”

documents the characterization of gay and lesbian characters in Hollywood films. The film

discusses the stereotypical portrayal of gay male character as sissies and feminine. The Drag

Queen character seemed like an effective solution because the stereotype of feminine gay male

and drag queen being males dressing at acting as women. That solution was scrapped because

Drag Queens are a major part of LGBTQ+ culture and the drag character seems like a better

solution for the conscious characterization. The design was changed. The new design draw

reference from Jeffree Star, the Make-up mogul. This design is more androgynous or plays with

gender. The character attire is more feminine with a skinny built. The character is meant to

communicate a flamboyant feminine character like Extraño and reference the stereotype of the

feminine gay male.

Gay Male (Opposing)

Traits/ Features References

Big/ Heavy Frame Midnighter Loose Fitting Clothing Bear Subculture Military- Looking Attire Masculine

Journals

TVtropes.org has an article about a character trope called the “Badass Gay” trope. Like the Strong Female character trope, the “Badass gay” contradicts feminine characterization and

feminine stereotypes about gay male by characterizing gay identity as masculine and dominant

(TV tropes, 2019). This trope perfectly matched the concept of this character. This character

features a big muscular linebacker body frame, and masculine clothing. The character is meant to

be hyper-masculine to contradict the feminine gay stereotype. The character taking influence from the character Midnighter.

Gay Male (Conscious)

Traits/ Features References

Make-Up RuPaul Drag Queen Drag Culture Women’s Clothing/ Feminized Male Clothing Divine Beard Bob the Drag Queen Acrylics Nail Sasha Velour Feminine

Journals

This design was the original stereotypical gay male design, but the drag character better

communicated conscious characterization of gay male identity. Gay Male (Conscious) character

is a drag queen. Drag Queen are a major cultural artifact in the LGBTQ+ community. Drag

Queens are activists and entertainer in the LGBTQ+ community. Television shows like RuPaul’s

Drag Race are making drag more mainstream and these performers are becoming the public face

of queerness. This design draws reference from famous drag queens like RuPaul and Divine. One

feature is the character’s beard. It was added so the character’s sex is communicated in the

design.

Gay Male (Blind)

Traits/ Features References

Man Iceman Masculine Modern Extraño

Journals

Gay Male (Blind) character was the hardest character to design. Stereotype can be used at a visual shorthand to communicate identity when there aren’t physical traits that communicate identity. Identities like race and sex has visual traits that can be used communicate identity, but sexual orientation doesn’t have a uniform look. After sketching and trying to conceptualize this character the solution became a male character. The character is just a guy, nothing in the design communicate his sexual orientation. No pride paraphernalia, no feminine characterization, no reference to LGBTQ+ culture.

Female (Stereotypical)

Traits/ Features References

Vixen Aeon Flux Robot Seven of Nine Larger Bust Black Cat Hour-Glass Figure Power Girl Feminine EDI (Mass Effect)

Journals

Of the many stereotypical characterization of female identity this character is meant to embody the vixen/ sex object characterization. Visually the design is meant to communicate sex

with the characters larger bust line and hourglass figure. Her design draws influence from

character like Black Cat, Power Girl and every other adult female character in comic book. One

key feature is this character is a robot. The robot feature is meant to emphasize the object in sex

object. Also, robot is subordinate to human for now. Referring to Luce Irigaray definition of

femininity, that being female identity is subordinate to male identity, the robot feature is meant

to references that gender dynamic (Apter,1991) . This design is meant to be sexual and sexualize

female identity.

Female (Opposing)

Traits/ Features References

Short Cut Hair Sara Conner (Terminator 2) Facial Scars Wonder Woman Military- Looking Attire Captain Marvel Robot Leg (Made of Savaged Parts) of Mad Max Visible Weapons/ Guns C/D Cup Size Muscular Frame/ Butch/ Masculine

Journals

Female (Opposing) Character draws heavily from Sara Conner from the Terminator 2.

Sara has a strong and dominate characterization and this character is meant to embody that

characterization. To communicate the opposing characterization the character features short hair

and military-attire. The short hair and military-attire was meant to read as more masculine. This characterization is like the opposing gay male character. She more muscular as well. All these

traits are meant to characterize this character as a butch or masculine female.

Female (Conscious)

Traits/ Features References

Pregnant Eve Dreads Gaia Partially Nude Athena Satin Robes Green Hair

Journals

Female (Conscious) character has a challenge. The original concept for this design was a character that took heavy influence from the 2017 Woman’s March. To communicate the conscious female identity, references to female activism seemed appropriate. The design originally had a heavier body frame, a pro woman signs and pins on her jacket and the Woman

March’s pink pussyhats. The design was meant to communicate a pro woman message like

Wonder Woman but with a modern influence. The design felt weak, and the concept was turning into a parody of feminism. For the reason the design was scrapped. The second solution communicates female identity more effectively than the feminazi design. The key feature that communicates a conscious female identity in the character being pregnant. Drawing reference from female identity from Greek and Biblical mythology like Athena and Eve. This character is meant to communicate a Mother Earth aesthetic.

Female (Blind)

Traits/ Features References

Small/ Skinny Frame/Small Bust Jihae Kim Tattoos The Bride (Kill Bill) Gender Neutral Attire Bald Androgynous Heels

Journals

The Female (Blind) character is an androgynous character. This character is meant to

walk the line of the gender binary, she is both masculine and feminine. Androgyny is defined as

“partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex”. The androgynous design is meant to ignore femininity without designing another masculine female character. To communicate the

character’s androgyny, the design tries to disguise clear female feature like a breast. The character was a

small bust line and small hips. The character is the opposite of the stereotypical female design. Her attire

is meant to walk the between masculine and feminine as well. Her jumpsuit is meant to read more

masculine, while the heels are meant to read more feminine. Her facial features are based on the actress

Jihae Kim who has an androgynous look. This character is a balancing act.

Chapter 7

Feedback

After quantifying the results some interesting data emerges. When asked to identify the identities of the design, female characters were identified correctly 75% of the time. Black male characters were identified correctly 73% of the time. While Gay male characters was correctly identified 50% of the time. The effectiveness of each method of characterization was determined by if the participant correctly identified the character’s intended identity. The least effective method of characterization was the blind characterization with 47% of participants identifying

the characters intended identity correctly. Opposing characterization was the second least

effectiveness method, with 62% of participants identifying the characters intended identity

correctly. Conscious characterization effectiveness resulted in 69% correct identifications, with

stereotypical characterization being the most effective method of characterization with 85% of

participants correctly identified the character intended identity. When asked, “Does this design

offend?” participants rated the stereotypical character as the most offensive and blind

characterization as the less offensive. Commentary and critiques from participants reveal more

information about the designs. The female character designs were the less divisive. The

commentary was very positive. One participant responded to the stereotypical female design as a

“nice feminine woman”. There was a little confusion in the blind and opposing female

characters. Two participants believed the design was of a black male because of the short haircut.

Another response to the blind female characterization took note of the androgynous design

commenting “yes” and “no”. I can't tell if this is a male or a woman. It seems to have body

attributes of a woman, but the facial features could be male. But maybe that's the point!” The

opposing female characterization confused some, the design received comments expressing

confusion over the character gender. One comment stated “not a stereotypical female character,

but I would still say effective because I knew it was a woman? Not sure if I’m answering these

rights lol”.

Gay male characters were the hardest identity to identify. The commentary for the gay

male characters express the participants’ fears of being stereotypical. One response to the conscious gay male character was “hard to answer because it is effective in communicating stereotypes of gay men...so it reads as a gay man. But probably isn't very representative of the

majority of gay men.” Another response to the conscious gay male character was “I probably

wouldn't assume this character was gay if that wasn't an option given...probably a good thing since it's not coming off super stereotypical.” One participant did say the gay opposing character gave them “Bear vibes”,

Black male characters were identified correctly nearly 75% of the time. Black male was the second most identifiability identity. A lot of the confusion came from the conscious black male Character. Participants identified this character as female 64% of the time. The character’s longer hair and dashiki may have caused confusion. The stereotypical black male design was identified correctly 100% of the time. One participant enjoyed the design stating it was “a nice design of a prisoner”. This character was rated the most offensive of the group. The blind characterization of black male identity caused confusion as while. Some identified the design and as a gay male character while others identified the design as a black male. One participant commented “his facial features seem like they are white...kind of like how the black Barbie use to have white feature”. Participants brought up questions about culture appropriation, intersectionality and gender diversity. These topics go beyond the scope of this paper, but these questions are valid critiques of this research. Overall many enjoyed the designs and express interest in the research. Those this research confronts stereotypes and prejudice designs, the response to the research and survey were positive. One participant critique was extremely poignant. “I wasn't 100% sure how to answer the effectiveness questions because in some instances the drawing was offensive, but it was still clear what the identity was supposed to be.

It's maybe easier to tell what the stereotypical or offensive characters were, while the more nuanced characters were harder to tell. That was personally interesting to me and made me prefer some of the more ambiguous characters because they felt more human.”

Figure 15: Graph of Correct Identification of Identity

Figure 16: Graph of Design’s Offensiveness

Figure 17: Graph of Design’s Effectiveness

Chapter 8

Impact and Conclusion

Is there an effective method to create authentic identity? This thesis critiques and tests four methods of designing identity: opposing characterization, stereotypical characterization, conscious characterization and blind characterization. The research shows that stereotypical characterization is an effective method of communicating identity, but the designs are considered offensive. Blind characterization is an inoffensive method of designing identity, but the designs are less effective in communicating identity. Though the data does give some insight into designing identity, the data does not give a perfect solution. No design perfectly communicated the character’s identity while being inoffensive to the participants. The commentary from the

participants further complicates the issue of designing identity. Some participants marked two identities for a single design. While designs that were meant to be offensive were not universally condemned, issues of intersectionality and overlapping method of characterization were brought up. From the commentary provided by the participants it can be inferred that designing identity is more complex than the testing can map. Identity is complex. Though identity may dictate a group’s history, culture, and possibly physical traits, the individual determines how they interact with their identity. The designs of the identity should reflect the complexity of the identity. One reason stereotypes are taboo because they are generalization of an identity. Opposing, conscious and blind characterization can design identity, but they should not be the sole methods of designing identity. These methods can also generalize identity resulting in simplistic designs like stereotypical character. Designing identity is an open-ended problem with no definitive answer.

Designing identity is complex and the design should reflect that complexity.

Appendices

Appendix A: Characters

Figure 18: Black Male Designs

Figure 19: Gay Male Designs

Figure 20: Female Designs

Appendix B: Character Line Up

Figure 21: Black Male Line Up

Figure 22: Gay Male Line Up

Figure 23: Female Line Up

Appendix C: Character Portraits

Figure 24: Black Male Portraits

Figure 25: Gay Male Portraits

Figure 26: Female Portraits

Appendix D: Character Sketches

Figure 27: Black Male Characters Sketches

Figure 28: Female Characters Sketches

Figure 29: Gay Male Characters Sketches

Figure 30: Stereotypical Black Male Character Sketches

Figure 31: Opposing Black Male Character Sketches

Figure 32: Conscious Black Male Character Sketches

Figure 33: Blind Characterization Black Male Character Sketches

Figure 34: Stereotypical Female Character Sketches

Figure 35: Opposing Female Character Sketches

Figure 36: Conscious Female Character Sketches

Figure 37: Blind Characterization Female Character Sketches

Figure 38: Stereotypical Gay Male Character Sketches

Figure 39: Opposing Gay Male Character Sketches

Figure 40: Conscious Gay Male Character Sketches

Figure 41: Blind Characterization Gay Male Character Sketches

Appendix E: Results

BLIND B G F IDK OFFEND EFFECTIVE BLACK X 2/5 4/5 FEMALE X 2/5 1/5 GAY MALE X 1/5 4/5 CONSCIOUS 3/3 5/15 9/15 BLACK X 1/5 5/5 FEMALE X 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE X 4/5 3/5 OPPOSING 3/3 8/15 13/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE X 2/5 4/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 5/15 14/15 BLACK Y 5/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 2/5 4/5 17 4/4 3/4 4/4 3/3 10/15 14/15

BLIND BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE IDK 1/5 4/5 CONSCIOUS 2/3 3/15 14/15 BLACK N 1/5 4/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 3/5 5/5 OPPOSING 2/3 5/15 14/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 4/5 STEREOTYPICAL 3/3 3/15 13/15 BLACK Y 4/5 3/5 FEMALE Y 2/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 3/5 4/5 14 3/4 3/4 4/4 3/3 10/15 12/15

BLIND BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 2/5 GAY MALE idk 1/5 1/5 CONSCIOUS 1/3 3/15 8/15 BLACK N 1/5 4/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 5/5 OPPOSING 2/3 3/15 13/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE idk 1/5 1/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 3/15 10/15 BLACK Y 3/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 5/5 13 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/3 5/15 15/15

BLIND BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 3/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 1/5 CONSCIOUS 2/3 3/15 9/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 4/5 OPPOSING 2/3 3/15 14/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 2/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 3/5 STEREOTYPICAL 1/3 3/15 10/15 BLACK Y 1/5 3/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 1/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 4/5 8 3/4 1/4 3/4 2/3 3/15 8/15

BLIND B G F IDK OFFEND EFFECTIVE

BLACK N 2/5 4/5

FEMALE N 1/5 2/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 3/5 CONSCIOUS 1/3 4/15 9/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE F 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 2/5 3/5 OPPOSING 1/3 4/15 13/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 3/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 3/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 3/15 11/15 BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 4/5 7 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/3 4/15 14/15

BLIND BLACK N 2/5 4/5 FEMALE N 1/5 2/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 3/5 CONSCIOUS 2/3 4/15 9/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 2/5 3/5 OPPOSING 1/3 4/15 13/15 BLACK Y 1/5 1/5 FEMALE N 5/5 3/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 3/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 7/15 7/15 BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 4/5 6 2/4 2/4 3/4 2/3 4/15 14/15

BLIND BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 5/5 CONSCIOUS 2/3 4/15 14/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 3/5 5/5 OPPOSING Y 2/3 5/15 5/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 3/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 2/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 3/15 10/15 BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 2/5 4/5 5 4/4 3/4 3/4 3/3 5/15 14/15

BLIND BLACK Y 1/5 3/5 FEMALE N 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 2/5 CONSCIOUS 1/3 3/15 10/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 2/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 2/5 4/5 OPPOSING 2/3 5/15 14/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 5/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 3/15 15/15 BLACK Y 1/5 4/5 FEMALE Y 2/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 3/5 3/5 4 3/4 1/4 3/4 2/3 6/15 12/15

BLIND B G F IDK OFFEND EFFECTIVE BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 5/5 CONSCIOUS 2/3 4/15 14/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 3/5 4/5 OPPOSING 2/3 7/15 14/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE 1/5 3/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 2/5 STEREOTYPICAL 1/3 3/15 10/15 BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 2/5 4/5 12 3/4 3/4 2/4 3/3 7/15 14/15

BLIND BLACK Y 3/5 4/5 FEMALE N 3/5 2/5 GAY MALE N 3/5 3/5 CONSCIOUS 1/3 9/15 9/15 BLACK Y 2/5 3/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 3/5 1/5 OPPOSING 2/3 8/15 9/15 BLACK Y 2/5 2/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 4/5 GAY MALE N 2/5 2/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 7/15 8/15 BLACK Y 4/5 4/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 4/5 4/5 11 4/4 1/4 3/4 3/3 13/15 13/15

BLIND BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 3/5 CONSCIOUS 0/3 3/15 13/15 BLACK Y 1/5 4/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 2/5 5/5 OPPOSING 3/3 4/15 14/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 3/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 3/15 13/15 BLACK Y 4/5 3/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 4/5 9 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/3 6/15 12/15

BLIND B G F IDK OFFEND EFFECTIVE BLACK N 1/5 1/5 FEMALE N 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 2/5 CONSCIOUS 0/3 3/15 7/15 BLACK N 1/5 2/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 4/5 OPPOSING 2/3 3/15 11/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 3/5 STEREOTYPICAL 2/3 3/15 13/15 BLACK Y 3/5 3/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 4/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 4/5 3 2/4 1/4 3/4 2/3 7/15 7/15

BLIND

BLACK N 1/5 1/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 3/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 1/5 CONSCIOUS 1/3 3/15 5/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 3/5 OPPOSING 3/3 3/15 13/15 BLACK N 1/5 1/5 FEMALE N 1/5 1/5 GAY MALE N 1/5 1/5 STEREOTYPICAL 0/3 3/15 3/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 5/5 GAY MALE 1/5 5/5 2 2/4 1/4 3/4 2/3 3/15 15/15

BLIND BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE N 1/5 4/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 5/5 CONSCIOUS 2/3 4/15 14/15 BLACK N 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 3/5 4/5 OPPOSING 2/3 7/15 14/15 BLACK Y 1/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 1/5 3/5 GAY MALE Y 1/5 2/5 STEREOTYPICAL 3/3 1/15 10/15 BLACK Y 2/5 5/5 FEMALE Y 3/5 5/5 GAY MALE Y 2/5 4/5 1 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/3 7/15 14/15

Appendix F: Results Totals

METHOD OF CHARACTERIZATION EFFECTIVENESS RESULTS OFFENSIVENESS EFFECTIVENESS RATING 20/42 0.47 55/210 0.26 144/210 0.68

29/42 0.69 69/210 0.33 174/210 0.83

26/42 0.62 60/210 0.28 169/210 0.8

36/42 0.85 90/210 0.43 178/210 0.85

CORRECT IDENTIFICATIONS BLACK IDENTITY 41/56 GAY MALE 28/56 FEMALE 42/56

Appendix G: Interactive PDF sample

Figure 42: Sample Test

Appendix H: Commentary

Design 1 Commentary/ Critiques

(Blind Characterization, Black Male)

• Not offensive to me; however, could play into gay male stereotypes

• Should this be a gay male, I think that it is pretty effective.

• This depiction fuels stereotypes of the athletic black male.

• I think it looks like a person who has body modifications.

• It looks, to me, like a regular person who is chilling at home and who also has body modification

(eyebrows, hair, and arms). Would have been stuck between black male and gay male if it wasn't

for the coloring.

Design 2 Commentary/ Critiques

(Blind Characterization, Female)

• I believe that this was a black male because of the haircut that he possesses, however other

features leave this to be more up in the air.

• It looks like a fashion forward woman.

• This person is feminine, seems to have small breasts, and is wearing heels which is why my

initial thought it female. Writing this out I realized that this could be a gay male, but it still looks

female to me.

• This design could be effeminate male or butch female.

• I may be wrong, and this may be a gay male...maybe I should have put idk)

Design 3 Commentary/ Critiques

(Blind Characterization, Gay Male)

• I would say that nothing in particular says that this character is gay.

• This male doesn't read as gay or black, just masculine.

• I say this only because he looks like a straight, white male.

• This doesn't offend me, but I cannot tell what kind of male this is.

• Even though I cannot tell this man's identity I think it would work well for either black male or

gay male.

• I probably wouldn't assume this character was gay if that wasn't an option given...probably a good

thing since it's not coming off super stereotypical.

Design 4 Commentary/ Critiques

(Conscious Characterization, Black Male)

• Personally, I believe that this drawing effectively shows that this character is a female.

• I'm unsure of her ethnic background due to her clothing.

• Her torso may be seen as masculine.

• This character reads as a black male with dress derived from Africa.

• This looks like a traditional African woman.

• This could also be a black male but because of the long hair and kind face I thought female.

• (I am working from the assumption that there was cultural research involved in this character. I

don't know enough to know if it's offensive)

Design 5 Commentary/ Critiques

(Conscious Characterization, Female)

• Here are a lot of features to indicate that this character is female (I also am assuming that she is

pregnant)

• The rendering of the body indicates this is female due to hip width and larger breasts.

• 1 I think it looks like a pregnant woman from history, maybe even a goddess.

• It looks like a woman who is strong (the pose) and has a family (looks pregnant).

• Seems kind of like a fantasy character, but also could see there being appropriation of culture

here.

Design 6 Commentary/ Critiques

(Conscious Characterization, Gay Male)

• I don't find this offensive, but this world is weird so I can see others maybe finding it so

• I love the androgynous aspects to this character. I originally was leaning towards gay male, but

chose I don't know due to certain features, such as the legs.

• No clear identifiers.

• This can be taken as offensive because of the exaggerations, like the long nails and body

proportions.

• The exaggerations while potentially offensive do help to clearly define the identity of this

character.

• Hard to answer because it is effective in communicating stereotypes of gay men...so it reads as a

gay man. but probably isn't very representative of the majority of gay men.

Design 7 Commentary/ Critiques

(Opposing Characterization, Black Male)

• This looks like a fun futuristic guy although the biggest clue to black male was the shading. The

facial features do help (close cropped hair and larger nose and lips).

Design 8 Commentary/ Critiques

(Opposing Characterization, Female)

• Again, with this design I'm not sure that anything in particular screams that they are gay.

• It is effective, but I had to decipher through clues what the gender was.

• Looks like a woman who is in a war or apocalypse.

• The face drawing could be male but with the whole body (her chest especially) it become clearly

female.

• Not a stereotypical female character, but I would still say effective because I knew it was a

woman? not sure if I’m answering these right lol.

Design 9 Commentary/ Critiques

(Opposing Characterization, Gay Male)

• I am getting bear vibes from him.

• The character could be Caucasian.

• This character reads as masculine, but no sexual orientation determinant is present.

• Given my three choices, I don't see them as any of them.

• Out of the three options I thought he fit gay male the best. There isn't anything that really says

he's gay, but a lot of people don't match a single representation.

Design 10 Commentary/ Critiques

(Stereotypical Characterization, Black Male)

• I can see this design getting told it can be too much

• His accentuated features need a respectful narrative to accompany him.

• There are people who may look like this. I'm not sure if they want to be portrayed this way.

• This depiction could be considered "tribal" and therefore somewhat offensive.

• They look like they are kept in chains but are now free.

• It seems like this could be offensive because of the extremely large, lighter lips (updated black

face?). It took me a little bit to see the cuffs because I thought they were like bracelets and a neck

piece (sort of like Mayans). When I noticed they were cuffs that could be offensive to people. I

think it might be fine if it was a part of his backstory and then the cuffs were removed later in the

story.

• The shading especially helped. The afro/crazy hair supported it, but I also thought it more

supported the idea that this is a man who is a little crazy living somewhere remote by himself. I

don't think that the very light lips and cuffs were necessary to say black male.

• Reminds me of minstrel show/black-face caricatures.

• Effective in communicating "black male" even if stereotyped

Design 11 Commentary/ Critiques

(Stereotypical Characterization, Female)

• Features are pretty obvious

• Looks like she is a superhero. While the large breasts are not necessarily offensive, it does seem

to be a trend that women superheroes need to have large breasts.

• She looks like a strong, feminine superhero.

Design 12 Commentary/ Critiques

(Stereotypical Characterization, Gay Male)

• More androgynous than the previous "I don't know" answer. I think that this design is very cool

as it leaves a lot of aspects up in the air as to the identity of this character.

• The figure looks male but is dressed in female clothing.

• This drawing looks like an old idea of gay male (when aids were first discovered). He almost

looks like an addicted prostitute (very skinny and dressed in short, flashy clothes).

• The long hair and makeup could be man or woman, but the open vest made the decision of gay

male.

Overall Critiques

• I don’t know if it was part of the research or not, but I feel like I need more categories to define

the characters identity.

• I can’t tell if they are black or not if their skin has no value to them, I feel like from just the facial

and body features I can define if they are from certain race or what is their skin color.

• Very interesting study. I'm not easily offended so I gave a lot of 1's but I like the range of

characters.

• Was there a reason to leave out 'Gay Female' option in the first question since you had a 'Gay

Male' option?

• Without knowing the backstory or setting on where the characters are, it was hard to answer the

last question. It seemed more like a guessing game or choosing stereotypes to understand the

character better.

• The designs were not offensive, but when they get animated or get a voice-over, then my opinion

could change.

• I like the characterization of these designs. The "gay male" one threw me off, maybe because I

was looking for the typical stereotypes of what a "gay male" is, due to the fact that there was no

context.

• However, I do like the idea that not every gay male has to fit into a certain mold.

• Skin tone would help identify the differences of race. Sexually representation was identified by

posture and dimorphism. When the spectrum of sexual attributes were blended, it intrigued me

into knowing more about their story. I feel very similarly of cisgendered representations of Black

characters too.

• Any time you synthesize characters into "types" you risk offending someone.

• I think the most difficult part of identifying the gender was when there was no option for a

masculine, straight male character. I think you have quite an interesting task ahead of you.

• I wasn't 100% sure how to answer the effectiveness questions because in some instances the

drawing was offensive, but it was still clear what the identity was supposed to be. It's actually

maybe easier to tell what the stereotypical or offensive characters were, while the more nuanced

characters were harder to tell. That was personally interesting to me and made me prefer some of the more ambiguous characters because they felt more human.

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