It's not easy being super. Enough films, cartoons and even live action TV shows dedicated to the life and times of heroes and heroines of comic book lore have been made for us to know that as a sure fact. Just as any female identifying individual would know that being a woman can seem just as hard, especially in this day and age, with harsh female stereotypes and only one 'acceptable' body type. So it stands to reason that being a female super hero would be doubly difficult. In an industry owned and operated predominantly by the male half of the population, heroines possessing depth and individuality are few and far between.  Women in comics have been killed off, or refrigerated, while their male counterparts continue to thrive as full characters. This isn't simply a harsh reality within the genre but also reflects the state of how we treat women in real life.

A trope is a commonly overused theme or device, similar to a cliche. Women in Refrigerators (WiF) is a trope embodying the abuse, torture, rape and/or death of female characters within the comic book genre. Their brutality is almost always used as means to advance a male counterparts story arc, or to make him more interesting to the reader(source either the video or something from WiF). The term was coined in a 1994 issue of Green Lantern when the title character returns home to find his girlfriend strangled and literally stuffed into his refrigerator. This event served to make him a more complex character. Gail Simone, a popular American comic book writer, noticed the common occurrence and in 1999, composed a list of all the female superheroes who had been "been either depowered, raped, or cut up and stuck in the refrigerator"(quothe GS). One popular example being Big Barda, the leader of the Female Furies from the the Apokolips(?) dimension, turned frequent hero with the likes of the Justice League and wife to the uncommonly physically inferior Mr. Miracle. Big Barda's strength was matched to Wonder Woman's(source the Dc encyclopedia here), and she was an invaluable teammate to those who fought for good. Until she was shot, that is. Found lifeless in her kitchen by her husband, Miracle, apparently having not thrown a single punch. Mr. Miracle went on to become a gritty male lead while Big Barda was swept under the rug by writers as a plot device. (should i list more?)

Some may say that the plights incurred upon these women are met with gusto by their male counter parts. That's what many fan said after Simone created her list (aptly dubbed “Women in Refrigerators). John Bartol, who was responsible for the sites upkeep and OTHER ACHEIVEMENTS IN COMICS, responded, saying “In cases where males heroes have been altered or appear to die [...] they usually come back even better than before, either power-wise or in terms of character development/relevancy to the reader ”.He dubbed that addendum in the WiF trope as 'Dead Men Defrosting'(DMD). He then went on to say, “[F]or 'mantle' characters such as Flash, [Green Lantern], Green Arrow, and even Robin, the Boy Wonder, there's always someone in the wings waiting to pick up the fallen standard. Can't say I've seen that among the women.”(source this crazy) Indeed, this holds true for characters like Big Barda, after being shot in the chest, her “mantle” was metaphorically hung on the shelf to collect dust. When Ted Kord, also known as the Blue Beetle II, was shot in the head (after being brought back to life for two separate story arcs) his title was picked up by Jaime Reyes, or, as he is known now, Blue Beetle III.

Another star-studded instance where DMD has come into play is when Batgirl was shot by the Joker in Alan Moore's hit graphic novel, The Killing Joke. Batgirl's being shot had been used as a plot device for her father's eventual insanity, and it paralysed her from the waist down in the process. In 1988, when Alan Moore was writing the novel, he was nervous about 'benching' such an important character and looked to his superiors for guidance. When their response was “Yeah, okay, cripple the bitch”, he took it, a choice he now regrets. (source bitch article). The use of Batgirl's legs has been restored very recently (just this past September), but it's important to keep in mind that this is after over 20 years of fan-demand. When Batman's back was broken by Bane in 1993, he recovered in 6 months, and that's in-comic time, not real time.

This may all seem irrelevant to someone unfamiliar to the comic book genre, but this issue encompasses more than just that. The behaviour exhibited in this trope doesn't exist solely in within the fantasy world of comics. No, these stories are written and published but real people, their influence spanning more than just the readership, especially since many comics have taken to film and TV. And even though the industry is predominantly male, these “fridgings”, for lack of a better term, very accurately depict how women in the real world are depowered and victimized. Big Barda could arguably be described as THE strong female character. Not only did she walk the path of justice by her own choosing, she was also a married woman. But that marriage did not define her. And despite being physically stronger than her husband, their relationship thrived. She is a perfect example of a woman who balanced her career and her personal life. She was extremely self confident and even funny at times. But she was killed anyway. In the end, despite her strength, her valour and her overall likability, she was just a disposable tool, an object in comparison to her male counterpart. This description can be applied to many of her fellow heroines, and this is very wholly the problem.

So what's a girl to do? Well it's not that super heroines should never get hurt or even die, it just needs to be treated at the same level of importance of male heroes. It's not that women should boycott all comics, much to the opposite, in fact. Perhaps if more women read comics, if they became a more visible power in the fan base, then writers and publishers would start seeing women, not as objects, tropes and plot devices, but as full, deep, and empowered human beings.