Favorite Superhero: Rogue

From a young age, I never really had a favorite superhero. I've been pretty feminist all my life, it seems, because it always made me so mad that Wonder Woman was really the only well known female superhero, and she wasn't anything worth looking up to. (Example A, above.) It's not very difficult to figure out why it is that she has such strong muscles around her mouth; it's obviously targeted towards male readers. But what kind of girl wants to look up to a woman like that? (Don't answer that, please, because I'd rather not know.)

Practically every female hero is objectified in the comic world, if not through personality, then through dress. And I really don't want to find a favorite superhero in a man who treats women in a misogynistic, outdated manner. (Example B, left.) Sure, the age of superheroes and villains may have reached its height before women started to assert themselves, but I fail to understand why there have not been any strong female role models created since. Even Sailor Moon characters are dressed in a way that appeals to men, despite the fact that many little girls had a favorite as well.

But I did find one female superhero for whom I have definitely developed an affinity: Rogue, of Marvel's X-Men. I adore her. I started watching X-Men: Evolution in middle school, and she was my favorite on that show, and from there I was very into the movies when they came out. Rogue, whose real name is Anna Marie, had such a strong personality and was kind of the outcast of the group, and I especially liked her style (i.e. her hair). Her power is also the best, in my opinion, because she can absorb any power by skin-to-skin contact or kill people if she continues and drains their life force -- ultimate power.

That's probably why she was originally recruited by the "bad guys" before becoming an X-Man. All her life, she's been conflicted because she doesn't want to hurt anyone with her powers and they prevent her from becoming close to anyone. She put the one boy she was ever close to in a permanent coma after impulsively kissing him. Mystique was able to transform the loneliness Rogue felt into anger and then convince her to join the Brotherhood of Mutants. But eventually, all of the memories and powers Rogue had absorbed became too much for her, and she had to seek help from the X-Men so that she could learn to control her powers, thereby becoming "good."

I think it's her tortured soul that I'm drawn to, and that's what makes her my favorite. That, and the fact that she can, in effect, do anything... that doesn't involve contact in affection.