Playing Superheroine: Feminine Subjectivity and (Postfeminist) Masquerade

This chapter provides an interrogation of the relevant notions of postfeminist masquerade with regards to Marvel superheroines, a widely-occurring narrative phenomenon that is also inflected by contemporary postfeminist practices and a mode of representation that has noticeably proliferated in these texts. Building on existing scholarship, the chapter examines the notion of the superheroine undercover, a tradition that reaches back to foundational popular feminist texts such as Charlie’s Angels (ABC, 1976–1981) and questions the implications of this tradition in the context of contemporary superheroic feminine identity. Taking account of the constructed qualities of femininity, contemporary superheroines are often introduced in disguise with the film’s narrative positioning them as ordinary civilian women before divulging their heroism. This narrative turn occupies a specific ideological role relating to postfeminist culture. This concept is explored using The Avengers’ (2012) Natasha Romanoff and expanded on in a discussion of identity crisis in the superheroine Captain Marvel.