Monday, April 3, 2017
Ms. Marvel Category B Prompt 2
The theme I focused on in choosing these memes was female identity -- more specifically how Kamala struggles to find her own. The first meme I chose reflects how she desires to be white and blonde. It doesn't matter that she has superpowers at first, she just wants to fit in. Society preaches to everyone, women especially, to "be themselves" despite the fact that the "selves" they wish people to be are laid out for them with little to no choice. This leads to the second meme I chose which is reflective of Kamala feeling uncomfortable in her new physical appearance. What was once a dream come true, turns into a nightmare as once again she struggles to grasp her identity. The third meme I chose is one that I've seen many times online about the difference between a "girly girl" and a "tomboy". Kamala seems to struggle with this too as she attempts to find a balance between femininity and masculinity. She enjoys video games but also wants to wear heels when she fights crime. However, the graphic novel seems to imply that femininity isn't what women should desire as Kamala ends up feeling uncomfortable in her costume. The final meme I chose is inaccurate in the ethnicity it speaks about, but correct in the message. Again, Kamala struggles with her identity since she is too Americanized for her family, but too Muslim for her American schoolmates. This shows a struggle to find an identity that balances different aspects -- religion and culture, femininity and masculinity, and society versus self.
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Erin, I really liked the first and last memes. They related to the book perfectly (Yes, despite the race difference). It is so true that society says to be yourself and then doesn't like it! This also made me think of all of the fitness models on and the way they pose, yet talk about being unique, etc. When she was Kamala, she was an insignificant looking Indian girl. Zoe even told her that she smelled like Curry, a traditional Indian food. However, when she was Ms. Marvel, she was a well- built, curvaceous white woman, the typical idea of beauty in society.
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DeleteI think the last meme was very telling of all non-white individuals and the classifications they fall under-- which is seen with Kamala vs. Zoe.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin,
ReplyDeleteThese memes capture a lot of the sources of tension and humor in this text. You could specify the memes to the context of Ms. Marvel (i.e. changing the Latina references to Pakistani or Muslim ones), but the themes still echo the text nicely. I would argue that Ms. Marvel does not suggest that women should reject femininity but that women should not try to conform to an idea of femininity that is catered to the male gaze (as classic Miss Marvel and Wonder Woman do).