Thoughts on Power Girl's Outfit

I was never a fan of Power Girl’s outfit. That being said, I don’t really like any super hero in an outfit that shows a lot of skin, only because it seems impractical to be going into physical battles with unprotected body parts.

But comic stories aren’t supposed to be practical, I guess. LOL

There are other female characters that have outfits that show more. One I specifically remember is Princess Projectra.

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Do you really think more spandex peotects my midriff and legs?

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Ultimately, I’m not the best person to give a definitive answer on this. I’m not a woman so how PG dresses does not affect how I see myself or feel about myself. It doesn’t really comment on my identity in any way, so any answer I could give would be incomplete at best.

However, I do want to chime in to give food for thought on both intention and context. I don’t believe that a woman showing skin is inherently sexist, but I think the reasons it’s being done are important. For instance, some years back, people were going after the way Wonder Woman dresses and I was slightly taken back by that. Wondie’s creator, William Moulton Marston, decided to dress her like that in defiance of the outdated sexist standard that a good woman needed to cover up and be humble (or, at least that’s what he said). Marston wanted his hero to show that a woman could be beautiful and powerful, so the intention of her costume was to challenge an unfair cultural norm. Considering the era in which Diana debuted, I can see why this would be the case. That’s why the flapper movement in the 1920’s took similar risks with how they dressed. It was women owning their own sexuality in defiance of what was expected of them. I think that’s good.

Now, I love Power Girl, but… I don’t think that’s exactly the case with her. By the time Power Girl debuted, men had co-opted (as we often do) women’s sexuality for their own pleasure and personal gain. Instead of being empowering, having women show skin became just another way that women could be commodified by men. So, Power Girl debuted as a “women’s lib” character, but… her portrayal in that role was… imperfect (to put it mildly). In those early appearances, PG’s adherence to the women’s lib movement often made her seem unreasonably stubborn. The explanation for her appearance was similarly problematic. You can have her say on the panel that it’s because she wants people to deal with her womanhood, but… c’mon, we all know that’s not the reason. There’s less benefit of the doubt there than with Marston’s explanation for Wonder Woman because of the context. Because the sexuality of women had been co-opted by men into the 1970’s, the fact that they made their women’s lib character be a woman with a chest window is… probably not great.

As @EDT pointed out, there have been many alternate explanations for the chest window since that time. I liked the speech Johns gave her about leaving it empty until she discovered her own unique identity. It was a great speech, but… still kind of falls short as a good justification for the chest window.

So… like I said at the start, I don’t really feel like the best person to come up with a definitive answer on this. The best I can say is that with sexualization of a character (or with a person) intention and context matter. Is there a way to represent Power Girl and her chest window as both appealing and empowering? I believe so as long as the right intentions are there and the presentation is done with respect. Has that actually been done yet? …Ehhhhhhh… I leave that up to the individual.

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I totally get your thinking. What I will say for someone like PG is that she us bullet proof and has durability just like Superman.

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1970s Legion of Superheroes was the height of impractical sexy outfits.

And my favorite artist Mike Grell had lots of half naked barbarian men and women running around Skartaris.

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Ahhh… Laurel Kent…

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The costume having a cutout doesn’t bother me in and of itself. The color scheme is decent, and I love the cape design. What bugs me about the costume is how often the cutout is highlighted, enhanced, bursting, etc. and paired with a wedgie bottom. Wedgies and costumes bursting at seams/openings aren’t appealing or practical in my mind, so those images always annoy me. Add to that a prevalence of awkward poses and the whole thing is just blehk to me.

I have seen versions of this costume drawn with reasonable superhero body proportions, positions, and fit. I really think it depends on the artist’s emphasis.

Edit: Also, I think Power Girl’s new costume looks good with the pants (though I prefer the cape over the jacket). Maybe it’s because the hero silhouette is the same or the color tone/balance isn’t drastically different - unlike Kara’s new costume. I strongly prefer Supergirl’s skirt. Kara’s new costume is… eh, unfortunate.

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The new costume looks like a marching band outfit. I like it.

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The most unexpected thing I could have expected. Thank you for the image of PG attending band camp

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I want it to change to something a bit more modest, but something tells me that it’d quickly get retconned back to the hole look like it was in World’s Finest.

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You’re welcome.

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What are your thoughts on Power Girl’s infamous window?

Is it bad? Good? Iconic?
Should it stay? Should it leave?
Is it important to her?
What’s your favorite explanation as to why she has it?

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when my suit only showed skin twice

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I fully support the boob-window. But I think her best look was the Earth-2: Society design.

On another note… I think it’s strange that folks consider her costume design as too sexualized, while not considering that superhero comics have been serving sexualized male bodies since the 90s with extreme muscles and 14-pack abs. Every male superhero capes-and-tights design is just a nude body colored with a design.

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I hate the logo. It fits her so terribly.

Oh for sure! :smile:

This is my favorite character consistent outfit

It’s why I never had problems with Powergirl outfit and people silly fascination with it.

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I like Power Girl’s classic outfit. Her glove and boot style may have changed over the years, but the classic body suit is where it’s at.

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sex sells,

to be fair, I heard at my LCS, that some where is a Batman comic, where, and I don’t know why, there is full frontal on Bruce Wayne. Probably coming out the shower or something I got no clue.

Also, if you look at male characters, tight form fitting outfits, bludges, etc.

not that is really geared to women, but it is portraying men a certain way.

We do not have out of shape, pudgy, frumpy, superheros. even Creeper and Joker are drawn thin. Not to many out of shape villains either . I mean ya have hector hammond with his weird head.

If male or female heros/villains were to dress, tactically, they would be wearing tactical pants or a battle dress uniform of sorts.

when it comes to changing the uniform / costume of heros or villains, that seems to take a counsel of elders to approve just the contemplation of the thought, to then pass on that approval to another set of elders, who then approves the idea for another group to put together a couple of rough drafts of new uniforms / costumes.

How mad would fans be if Kal-El decided one day that he is sick of blue and red, and just wanted to wear something in a salmon color, or what if Bruce Wayne stuck with that azr uh hul what ever weird name that is, his subconscious version of Batman color scheme , made that his permanent color scheme for Batman.

Anyhow as to Power Girl’s out fit , is it revealing, yes, but if you go back in time to some Wonder Woman stories, W.W has been in some precarious positions, which has been noted and talked about before.

In the end, it is about what they bring to the table as a hero that out does how they look.

But sex sells, and until it doesn’t abs of steel, and big cha chas and who wears short shorts, is going to be in comics.

I would love to see a world off heros that are just out of shape, but still kick butt. Which, would make more sense, I mean if Clark Kent is so unassuming , wouldnt a secret identity of some average looking out of shape shmuck be an even better alter ego .

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