Black cat got your tongue?: Catwoman, blackness, and the alchemy of postracialism

Abstract

This article explores the character Catwoman in the comic book Batman, the graphic novel Catwoman, and in her many media re-incarnations on television and in popular films. I examine the racialization, de-racialization, and sexual representation of the character Catwoman, while casting attention to how race – specifically Blackness – as well as sexuality and gender shapes production, perception, and interest among a wide variety of fans. In her television and feature film premier from the mid-twentieth century to the twenty-first century, I argue that Catwoman became a dubious mixture of 1960s civil rights protest, racial inclusion, and post-racial cultural politics. My analysis of Catwoman thereby provides an understanding of the impact gender, race, and sexuality has on production and consumption, and I aim to intervene in studies on comic book and graphic novel fandom where a female character's racial fluidity has yet to enter the scholarly discourse on comic books.

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