Feminism and the idea of a woman’s place in our world are sensitive topics; patterns from the past have taught us that women are supposed to inhibit a tame and more controlled manner, allowing males to take on a more dominant role in everyday life. However, in more recent times, women have begun to take some of those “designated male roles” by becoming leaders in communities and making their voices heard. To further push the idea that women are capable of the same acts as men, a dark side to women has been revealed. If women can lie, steal, or commit murder, it creates an image of women in the mind not of a docile housecat but a plotting lioness.
A common example of a woman mirroring a man’s actions is modern-day female superheroes and supervillains; they are sometimes portrayed as the counterpart of a preexisting male character. Most of the time, the characters have a love relationship between them, and if not, then a love-hate relationship. If Nack and Thorn were DC Universe characters, they would be the Joker and Harley Quinn.
Both females have an obvious streak of crime and dishonesty, but Quinn’s characteristic of being able to take care of herself both mentally and physically supports females taking on male’s roles better than Nack’s inability to handle herself in the courtroom. Nack “ [struggled] to explain her testimony” (Collins 180) during cross at court, highlighting how weak she was at defending herself. The entire case for her defense boiled down was that she was a woman and could not commit murder because of her gender. That was a horrible drawback to women’s equality because there are things in the world only men can do, but when women are unable to do them, it sets them lower than men.
In the superhero universe, women’s equality is more common. Female characters are not only exaggerated to look like an appealing woman, but sincere and tender emotions are downplayed for women in the comics; males are given these “weaknesses” such as caring too much, or displaying more emotion than is needed in a tough male character. This year's "Suicide Squad" featured the duo of Harley Quinn and the Joker. The way the movie portrayed the romance was amazing because of how much it focused on the woman’s part of the relationship and how she had to be dishonest to get the Joker back into her life.
Also, in these superhero movies, female characters are given abilities unique to them and physical capabilities of a superhuman. An example would be the Black Widow and Captain America. Their stories are equally interesting and although they may not have the same abilities, she is able to keep up with him. Because of how Nack uses her femininity as a crutch for her case,it becomes a setback for her rights. Women should not be able to use an argument based on their gender, because how can women have equal treatment if they can’t act equal?
