Now more than ever the comics industry is welcoming diversity in its creators and stories, but with its historically misogynistic past, what legacy are creators inheriting? This essay seeks to explore that history, delving into the various eras of American Comics and how sexism shaped them. From the earliest heroines of the 40s, the ground-breaking feminist indie comics of the 70s, and the rampant female sexualization of the 90s, examples of brilliance and drudgery will be investigated in order to gain a better understanding of how comics became what they are today.
","abstract_html":"<p>Now more than ever the comics industry is welcoming diversity in its creators and stories, but with its historically misogynistic past, what legacy are creators inheriting? This essay seeks to explore that history, delving into the various eras of American Comics and how sexism shaped them. From the earliest heroines of the 40s, the ground-breaking feminist indie comics of the 70s, and the rampant female sexualization of the 90s, examples of brilliance and drudgery will be investigated in order to gain a better understanding of how comics became what they are today.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bray, Britain"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Graduate School of Art","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05-10T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-05-10T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:17Z","subjects":["comics","feminism","woman in comics","female characters","comic history","comic books","Art and Design","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Illustration","Women's Studies"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/e4xg-k170"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7936/e4xg-k170","href":"https://doi.org/10.7936/e4xg-k170","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/13","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bray, Britain"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-05-12T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate School of Art"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["comics","feminism","woman in comics","female characters","comic history","comic books","Art and Design","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Illustration","Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/13"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/e4xg-k170"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Now more than ever the comics industry is welcoming diversity in its creators and stories, but with its historically misogynistic past, what legacy are creators inheriting? This essay seeks to explore that history, delving into the various eras of American Comics and how sexism shaped them. From the earliest heroines of the 40s, the ground-breaking feminist indie comics of the 70s, and the rampant female sexualization of the 90s, examples of brilliance and drudgery will be investigated in order to gain a better understanding of how comics became what they are today.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Perils of the Heroine: The Historic Role of Woman in Comics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Bray, Britain"],"dc:date.available":["2023-05-12T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Now more than ever the comics industry is welcoming diversity in its creators and stories, but with its historically misogynistic past, what legacy are creators inheriting? This essay seeks to explore that history, delving into the various eras of American Comics and how sexism shaped them. From the earliest heroines of the 40s, the ground-breaking feminist indie comics of the 70s, and the rampant female sexualization of the 90s, examples of brilliance and drudgery will be investigated in order to gain a better understanding of how comics became what they are today.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/13"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7936/e4xg-k170"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["comics","feminism","woman in comics","female characters","comic history","comic books","Art and Design","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Illustration","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Perils of the Heroine: The Historic Role of Woman in Comics"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate School of Art"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:17Z"}