Genuinely, I’m pretty sure it’s because wasps have thin waists and big butts, and the horny men who draw comics can’t get their minds out of their pants.
Maybe. For the three characters I linked to, the characters don’t especially have a particularly hourglass body shape (as superheroes go), and one is apparently asexual. shrugs
Fair. I just see a trend with “black widow”, “the wasp”, etc. There’s certainly a gender gap when it comes to arthropod representation, and “Ant Man” and “Spiderman” are the exceptions that prove the rule, because ants are seen as strong, creative and industrious (all stereotypically male-assigned traits), and spider man only has the traditionally “male” qualities of spiders (super strength & athleticism), while lacking the stereotypically “female” traits, which are almost always connoted as negative (venom, stealth, web-spinning). Note that I do not count web-spinning as a trait of spiderman, since his web is not intricately woven like the spawn of arachne, but rather a crude and sticky jism that simply allows for greater feats of athleticism. It’s all deeply perverse, to my eyes.
ETA: Let the record reflect, however, that the modern depictions of spiderman have done a lot to change my opinions, focusing much more on the awkward nerdiness and gymnastic elements which were eschewed throughout the depictions I witnessed in my childhood, not to mention the spiderverse. Still feels like a lot of sexism in the whole thing with the others, though. Further propagation of the stereotyped fantasy traits of vicious, backstabbing females vs active, in-your-face males.
Genuinely, I’m pretty sure it’s because wasps have thin waists and big butts, and the horny men who draw comics can’t get their minds out of their pants.
Maybe. For the three characters I linked to, the characters don’t especially have a particularly hourglass body shape (as superheroes go), and one is apparently asexual. shrugs
Fair. I just see a trend with “black widow”, “the wasp”, etc. There’s certainly a gender gap when it comes to arthropod representation, and “Ant Man” and “Spiderman” are the exceptions that prove the rule, because ants are seen as strong, creative and industrious (all stereotypically male-assigned traits), and spider man only has the traditionally “male” qualities of spiders (super strength & athleticism), while lacking the stereotypically “female” traits, which are almost always connoted as negative (venom, stealth, web-spinning). Note that I do not count web-spinning as a trait of spiderman, since his web is not intricately woven like the spawn of arachne, but rather a crude and sticky jism that simply allows for greater feats of athleticism. It’s all deeply perverse, to my eyes.
ETA: Let the record reflect, however, that the modern depictions of spiderman have done a lot to change my opinions, focusing much more on the awkward nerdiness and gymnastic elements which were eschewed throughout the depictions I witnessed in my childhood, not to mention the spiderverse. Still feels like a lot of sexism in the whole thing with the others, though. Further propagation of the stereotyped fantasy traits of vicious, backstabbing females vs active, in-your-face males.