Analysis Of Watchman By Alan Moore And Dave Gibbon

Take a moment to think of a superhero. What comes to mind? Superman, with his iconic pairing of a red cape and a blue suit, or perhaps Batman’s dark and mysterious bat costume? Now choose a female superhero, such as Wonder Woman. Revealing â€Å"armor† that barely protects anything besides her torso and wrists, and a focus on beauty and stereotypical femininity instead of functionality and her primary role as a strong, respected heroine. This same trend of sexualizing and looking down upon women is as rampant in current media as it is throughout Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s appraised graphic novel Watchman through the story’s negative and humiliating depictions of female superhero characters and their relationships. Watchmen reinforces these†¦show more content†¦According to an article on self defense, the six most effective ways to incapacitate an attacker are to strike the knees, groin, throat, jaw, nose, and eyes, five of which are entirely unp rotected and all of which are inadequately protected when Laurie wears her costume. This attire is obviously not designed to protect Laurie, who wore the outfit specifically to fight violent crime and would therefore often end up in dangerous interactions with criminals; instead, the outfit is meant to make an obvious point of Laurie’s femininity and sexuality as a woman. The costume’s focus on a sexualized female body is noticeable immediately, as it exposes her chest and legs and the sides of her breasts. The outfit even features heels that are entirely unrealistic in a fight. The costume continues to sexualize Laurie through the use of symbolism. The long cut down Laurie’s front (see Fig. 1) resembles an arrow pointing towards Laurie’s privates, giving the outfit an overwhelming theme of sexuality and an entire lack of functionality. Laurie’s outfit can be contrasted very easily to the male heroes’ costumes throughout the novel. Every hero costume a male character wears throughout Watchmen features at least some form of functionality (see Fig. 2); the Comedian’s attire features body armor, most noticeably covering his shoulders; Ozymandias s outfit is made mostly of some sort of metal for protection; Rorschach wears a simple dress shirt, a pair of slacks, and a long