Kindred, the Graphic Novel: The Gender Portrayal of Dana
This occurrence is not unique to the graphic novel; as in many movies and texts; the female heroine is portrayed in a more muscular way, to indicate that she is “not like other girls”, deeming strength an exclusively masculine feature. Throughout the novel, Dana's looks are different due to her being from a different time period, however the graphic novel places an extra emphasis on how different she looked as compared to the other women in the story. In essence, the “strong female character” is only strong when she looks like a man. A tomboy demeanor makes it more believable that a woman can be strong. This is not to state that gender is a dichotomy, and one must have specific traits to be a woman and vice versa. Still, deliberately making the strong female character different could be problematic.
However, that is not to say that Butler would not have approved of the way in which Dana was portrayed. As shown in this video, the illustrators explain that they drew their inspiration of portraying the character from Butler’s statements on gender conformity and ambiguity. For instance, in one encounter with a free black child, the child mentions that Dana looks like Alice’s mother, one of Dana’s female ancestors. When Dana denies the relationship, the child states that Dana could pass for Alice’s mother, however, she continued, “Not with you dressed like that! She [her mother] thought you were a man at first, just like I did—and like Daddy did.” (Butler 29). Therefore, showing that Butler herself did not wish to conform to gender norms. This especially was useful to Dana when she tried to look like a man to plan her escape.
Fortunately, the dynamic of what makes a female character strong has been changing over the past few years. This can be seen in modern day films such as Frozen, where the protagonist’s femininity is not erased. The shift is highly significant as generations of children get impacted by what they see and read. While nonconformity to gender roles is pivotal in detaching from social norms, it is still important to show female audiences that being strong does not necessarily mean that one has to be stripped of any feminine characteristic.
References
Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Beacon, 2003