Why does the suit need to be on a male?

[Firsttimeposter]

Seriously - why does it seem to matter so much to all of you guys? That's a pretty sexist attitude don't you think?

[MyTatuo]

Not sure what you're talking about? Maybe you could provide examples of who said the superhero should be male?

I believe the current on-going debate is whether or not Holly Hathaway/Mary Ellen Stuart worked well in the suit, and she is ONE specific woman. I often post a pic of the lady I would prefer in the suit, but that's my OWN sexist attitude

Herndon, VA

[MelMac]

Personally, I don't have a problem with a woman in the suit. Most will vouch for this because I write a spinoff series with a woman in the suit. It's received positive comments from both sexes as well as some negative, but that's personal preference.

I think, like MyTatuo said, it's more a debate about one woman wearing the suit - Mary Ellen Stuart as Holly Hathaway in GAHeroine. IMHO, she wasn't the strongest actress, and along with the script only made a woman wearing the suit look bad. There is a preference that the new wearer be male, but that's not necessarily sexist. Now, if someone said it's because men would be better using it than women, I'd agree with that notion.

[billswoman]

"Now, if someone said it's because men would be better using it than women, I'd agree with that notion."

You're kidding, right? Why on earth would you think that?

[MelMac]

billswoman said:

"Now, if someone said it's because men would be better using it than women, I'd agree with that notion."

You're kidding, right? Why on earth would you think that?

The sentence before reads: There is a preference that the new wearer be male, but that's not necessarily sexist. Now, if someone said it's because men would be better using it than women, I'd agree with that notion.

Now, to clarify the second sentence (what you quoted), I am saying that if the debate was that the wearer of the suit has to be male because he can use it better than a woman, I'd agree with FirstTimePoster's beginning post and comment. That would be a sexist attitude in that the suit wearer has to be male - when in fact it does not IMHO.

However, it's not. It's been about one actress wearing the suit.

Sorry if you read it wrong that I'd agree that a male could wear the suit better than a woman. If I did believe that, I wouldn't be writing the Aidan Hinkley series which has a woman in the suit.

[HoudiniDerek]

Well I think only men should wear because obviously women superheroes are atrocious actors.

[MelMac]

houdiniderek said:

Well I think only men should wear because obviously women superheroes are atrocious actors.

So Lynda Carter didn't do well as Wonder Woman or JoAnna Cameron as Isis wasn't good either? (I do think Isis runs circles around the second Captain Marvel in Shazaam. If she dealt with Jackson Bostwick, it might've been different.)

[Videofox]

It's just that having the suit wearer be a male (and the partner as well) is the way the fans are used to seeing it, and any other combination might give off a weird vibe...pun intended.

Besides, any official GAH would probably have an all-male team to keep the media from calling it a rip-off of Bionic Woman, where they completely bypass Steve Austin in favor of Jamie Sommers. Two shows with superheroic females will be compared to one another whether it's intended or not.

Sounds like HoudiniDerek is referring to Halle Berry's Catwoman and Jennifer Gardner's Electra...two major bombs that really make studios dread making another superheroic female even though it may not be the actresses' fault. Bionic Woman looks like it might be good though; I plan to check it out this fall. However I have always been a big "Six Mil" fan and hate that after years of talking about bringing it back, they go with her instead. I'll just have to pretend that there's a bionic Steve Austin "out there" somewhere that we haven't met yet.

[MelMac]

videofox said:

It's just that having the suit wearer be a male (and the partner as well) is the way the fans are used to seeing it, and any other combination might give off a weird vibe...pun intended.

Besides, any official GAH would probably have an all-male team to keep the media from calling it a rip-off of Bionic Woman, where they completely bypass Steve Austin in favor of Jamie Sommers. Two shows with superheroic females will be compared to one another whether it's intended or not.

Sounds like HoudiniDerek is referring to Halle Berry's Catwoman and Jennifer Gardner's Electra...two major bombs that really make studios dread making another superheroic female even though it may not be the actresses' fault. Bionic Woman looks like it might be good though; I plan to check it out this fall. However I have always been a big "Six Mil" fan and hate that after years of talking about bringing it back, they go with her instead. I'll just have to pretend that there's a bionic Steve Austin "out there" somewhere that we haven't met yet.

Ah, Gardner and Berry's interpretations I understand. Carter I was going about because she was in three seasons of "Wonder Woman" and Cameron was in two seasons of "Isis" in addition to being in a few episodes of "Shazaam" Regardless of how many eps there were, those still were successful superhero shows.

[HoudiniDerek]

I was just trying to give the weird guest poster some legitimacy.

I think women are fine as actors in heroic situations. WONDER WOMAN did a great job. I think the TV show HEROES has good women actors as well.

But since this person has obviously not read any of the posts on the forum...I thought I would help them feel like they belonged with those attitudes.

[MelMac]

houdiniderek said:

I was just trying to give the weird guest poster some legitimacy.

I think women are fine as actors in heroic situations. WONDER WOMAN did a great job. I think the TV show HEROES has good women actors as well.

But since this person has obviously not read any of the posts on the forum...I thought I would help them feel like they belonged with those attitudes.

OK, this time you guys can kid me on being literal. I was going When I read your post because Lynda Carter was excellent in the role. After reading some of the comic strips with Wonder Woman from the 1940s, she fits the role well by looks and manner of speaking. "Wonder Woman" is also probably the third show I remember watching when I was little (in syndication by then I think), so it's another one that lasted a long time between watchings.

One downside though - for a while I got her apartment from the second series mixed up with Ralph's house. I got the stained glass windows mixed up there - her apartment doesn't have them. :-\