Where are all the moms in sci-fi and comics?
Sometimes female characters get pregnant or find parent-less kids, but there still aren’t very many moms around. Even when a woman and a child miraculously come together (seriously, did someone forget to have the talk with these writers?), they cannot suffer a woman to raise a child.
Why? I have three theories.
First is the classic Madonna/Whore Complex. I’m sure some of you are rolling your eyes. The problem still remains that it is easier (though not impossible) to objectify a woman if you don’t have to think of her as someone’s mother. Since much of sci-fi and comics is aimed towards men (we’ve gone over this before), there is a tendency to use women as window dressing instead of fleshed out characters.
Second is the outdated notion of women having to choose between work and family. A woman can either be a superhero/scientist/space pirate or be a mom, because we all know it is impossible for women to raise children and work outside the home.
Third is the ever-present fridging. This is much more subtle than the classic “kill the girlfriend and shove her in the refrigerator”. They’re losing their children because it may interfere with a male character’s story arc.
(Jason’s out somewhere being pissy, no doubt.)
Batman is on his fourth son, but Catwoman had to give her daughter up for adoption (pre-reboot). Green Arrow screwed up his “ward” for years, but Black Canary decided her career was too dangerous to adopt. Amy Pond’s daughter was stolen from her hours after being born to be made into a weapon. Newt was killed between movies even through Ripley spent all of Aliens trying to save her. Mystique threw Nightcrawler in a river while being chased by a mob.
I assume most of the people reading and writing sci-fi and comics have at some point had a mother. I’m positive that there are mothers enjoying sci-fi and comics. I don’t understand why there aren’t more mothers in these types of fiction. There has to be interesting and relatable stories there to tell. Doesn’t Sue Storm deserve someone to swap child-rearing stories with?
