“Why is your body a different shape?” fatness and masculinity in the superhero film
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19006065 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Barbara Plotz (King's College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 66-78 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Fat Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2160-486X • E-ISSN: 2160-4851 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/21604851.2023.2170551 |
| OpenAlex | W4318687848 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 25 |
In recent decades, American superhero films, and with them often very traditional constructs of masculinity, have become omnipresent in cinemas worldwide. This article examines a specific type of male representation, male fatness, in two examples of the genre, Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The author argues that in both films the fat male character is depicted as demasculinized, thereby standing in a tradition of male fatness stereotyped as outside of normative masculinity. In the superhero genre the body plays a particularly relevant role in signifying a hegemonic masculinity, which is highlighted by the way the two films position the characters’ fatness, or also behaviors associated with fatness, in contrast to the expectations of superhero masculinity
Masculinity · Sociology · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Obesity and Health Practices · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |