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Dalton Turner
Professor Jon Beadle
English 115
8 December 2015
How Super Powers Change Gender Roles
Kamala Khan, or more commonly known as Ms. Marvel, is a great example of a woman
who is able to break from the predestined gender role that society has established for her. Her
role as a Muslim teenager is gender specified to fulfill the expectations that have been set for her.
The gaining of her powers is what allows her to transgress the set gender roles that include
women not being strong, and dependent on men. Her gaining her powers allows her to be
independent, which is a characteristic that society looks down upon because of her set gender.
Gwendolyn W. Wilsons Ms. Marvel is great piece of literature that is able to dive into the
breaking of gender roles. The comic shares arguments that are mentioned in "Rethinking
Women's Biology" by Ruth Hubbard, Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology by
Patricia Hill Collins, and "Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender" by
Aaron Devor from the book Composing Gender. Ms. Marvel is one of the few female super
heroes who is able to not only fight crime, but is also able to fight gender discrimination through
obtaining her powers allowing her to break the expectations established by society.
Being a hero means that you are willing to put your life in danger in order to save
anothers. When most people think of a hero, they think about the muscular masculine figures
that many people grew up reading about. The new Ms. Marvel breaks this common ideology that
people have when thinking of heroes. She is a Muslim woman super hero. These titles are not

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usually put in the same sentence together. This shows how unique the character is, and the fact
that she is a super hero breaks every stereotype that people have of someone like her, such as
being a women super hero and the fact that she is a Muslim women, which is usually stereotyped
as someone who is dependent on men.
Ms.Marvel not only addresses the idea of judgement from her being a woman super hero,
but also the hardships of being a minority. Throughout the text, Kamala Khan is dealing with the
fact that her super heroism is breaking the stereotypes of a woman super hero, and the common
ideology of a white male being the ideal hero when society pictures a hero. In Collins article, she
addresses how white males showing their masculinity are usually the most perceived by society
when people start to look up to someone. She writes, Although Tarzan was a fictional character,
his image helps frame ideas about masculinity: Tarzan has defined himself as a man by his
differences from the apes, from the blacks, and from females He needs now to preserve his
manliness, his aloneness, figuratively if not literally (Collins 222). Collins evaluates how
Tarzan, a child loved hero, is perceived by a common person. The fact that he is a while manly
male creates this delusion that thats how heroes should be. However, Kamala Khan uses her
powers to help other people, and by doing this, she breaks the stereotypes of a hero that most
people believe.
In most modern day comics, heroines are just as independent and strong as any other
hero. Even though gender discrimination has this idea that men are stronger, this idea has been
proven to be false; not only by characters such as Ms. Marvel, but by many women in todays
society. In Composing Gender, Ruth Hubbard writes, In general, male/female comparisons are
made between physically more highly trained men and less trained women so that so-called sex
differences at least in part reflect this difference in activity levels (Hubbard 49). Hubbard

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explains how men are trained to be more physical therefore making them fulfill this expectation
of men being strong. This applies to Ms. Marvel because she shows her strength and debunks the
theory that men are stronger. She specifically shows this in issue #6 and #7; when she meets with
Wolverine and saves his life. Without her, he would have been killed. Wolverine, being known as
one of the toughest heroes, is saved and carried, literally, by this sixteen year old Muslim girl.
This proves that the idea of men being stronger than women is false and it is even explained
through modern day media; such as comics.
Another stereotype that is successfully broken in Ms. Marvel, is the idea that all women
super heroes need to have a sexual appeal in order to attract a male audience. Many women super
heroes, such as Wonder Woman and even Captain Marvel, are made out to be unrealistically
sexually attractive. They usually wear just a revealing breast plate and some sort of accessories
like Wonder Woman's tiara bracelets. By making them like this, the comic book will appeal to a
male audience even though she is a woman. Kamala Khan's version of Ms. Marvel is not
revealing whatsoever, When Ms. Marvel was released in October 2014, it was placed second in
New York Times Best Sellers list for graphic novels. This shows that the sexualizing of women
super heroes is not required. In issue #4, Kamala Khan is told by her friend Bruno that it does not
matter how she looks because they need her, not her appearance. Her appearing the way she is
shows that the expectations that are placed on women super heroes are not required to be a super
hero, meaning that the thought of sexualizing a character is just another stereotype that has been
made in association of her gender. Plus, sexualizing a sixteen year old girl isn't really ideal, and
even illegal in most countries.
Women are usually restricted by external factors when it comes to them being able to be
what they desire to be. In Kamala's case, its her family, school, and society itself. In Issue #1, we

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see Kamala wanting to eat food that is against her religion and family's practices. Restricting
someone from who they want, or even destined to be, causes more of a reason to rebel against
the rules that are set. When Kamala received her powers, she was able to break away from that.
Devor says in his article, "As we move through our lives, society demands different gender
performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differently for conformity to, or
digression from, social norms"(Devor 35). Devor explains how society will act differently for
what a person chooses to be. In Kamala's case, she is not only rewarded with her powers, but is
also punished by her family and society by her choice for using her powers for good. She is
punished in the way that she is expected to still abide by her parents and society's rules, but she
isn't able to because she is doing something more than what is expected which is considered
better by the people she saves, and by herself. In terms of gender, Kamala is rewarded by being
able to be herself, a woman super hero, but is punished by the judgment of society.
Kamala Khan is also expected to be the Muslim girl that her family wants her to be. In
Issue #3, her parents want her to be more in touch to her roots by having her go to the Mosque
with her brother. There, women and men are separated due to their gender. This shows how that
even her parents expect her to abide by the rules of society when it comes to her gender and
nationality. Aaron Devor states, "As children, and later adults, learn the rules of membership in
society, they come to see themselves in terms they have learned from the people around them"
(Devor 35). Devor talks about how when children, we are expected to know our gender roles and
the rules that apply to that certain role. Kamala is able to transgress from these roles because of
her powers. It allows her to realize that she is able to overcome these set rules because her doing
what defies those rules is more important than abiding to them. Even though her parents and

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society expect her to obey the guidelines that are set for her, her powers tell her to do what is
more important than following the gender roles.
Kamala Khan's powers are more than just something she uses to help others. It is also a
factor that internally helps her become who she is meant to be. When she gains her powers, she
breaks out of this shell that has been made by society. She isn't expected to be this strong,
powerful woman that she is made out to be, which gives her confidence and is able to exemplify
her new found confidence by saving her friends, and others. Society, however, judges her for her
having powers. In Issue #4, the police officers that come to the scene, where she stopped a
robbery and was shot, questions her for being a girl that saved people. Not only did they think
that Captain Marvel was the one that was shot, they question if she really is as strong as she says
she is. Hubbard states, Differences, be they biological or psychological, become scientifically
interesting only when they parallel differences in power" (Hubbard 51). Hubbard explains that
people judge the differences of others, especially a women, when compared to others. In this
case, she is compared to Captain Marvel, from her powers, age, and even sexual appeal. Kamala
is able to show that she is as powerful by being this woman who is able to not abide by societys
expectations and that empowers to help others and help herself.
Kamala Khan is able to transgress the gender roles established by society and her family
in order to help others and help herself through breaking the wall that has been put up by the idea
of gender discrimination. When she gains her powers, she becomes a new person and is able to
be independent, even though everyone doesn't think of her to be. The gaining of her powers helps
her break the stereotypes that are placed on her by her religion and gender. The expectations of
her are then blurred by her new now found powers. She also is able to break the mainstream idea
of women super heroes by the fact that she isn't made out to be sexually appealing to the reader.

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Her being not sexualized shows that the idea of implemented gender roles is starting to fade. Ms.
Marvel is a character that not only helps herself transgress the gender roles implemented on her,
but can also help others transgress the gender roles implement on themselves.

WORK CITED

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Collins, Patricia Hill. "Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology." Composing
Gender. Boston: Lessa Burton, 2014. 222-39. Print.
Devor, Aaron. "Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender." Composing
Gender. Boston: Lessa Burton, 2014. 35-45. Print.
Hubbard, Ruth. "Rethinking Women's Biology." Composing Gender. Boston: Lessa Burton,
2014. 46-51. Print.
Magnett, Chase. "Ms. Marvel Tops the October Sales Charts (Because Ms. Marvel Is Amazing)."
Comicbook.com. N.p., 07 Nov. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
Wilson, Gwendolyn W. "Ms. Marvel." Artist. Adrian Alphona. Vol. 1. New York: Marvel
Comics, 2014. 1-242. Print. 1-11.