As I’m writing this, I’m wearing a T-shirt with a well-known
bat logo on it. It’s not my first such
t-shirt, and it won’t be my last. I tend
to have one of these in my wardrobe, and I frequently wear it in public. This is partly “letting my geek flag fly”,
but it’s also because I happen to be a librarian with red(dish) hair. As anyone who knows anything about comics
will be able to tell you, the best known and most popular Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) was a librarian
with red hair.
However, when I wear this shirt in public, if anyone
comments on it at all, it’s invariably to say something like, “Hey, Batman!”
This is disheartening for two reasons. Firstly, I am not a man. Granted, I’m tall and androgynous, and I am
occasionally mistaken for a man by complete strangers – but I’d like to think
that the people I know are at least cognizant of my gender. Calling a woman “Batman” is mildly insulting,
even if she is wearing a shirt with Batman’s logo on it.*
Secondly, it shows complete and utter negligence regarding
the existence of Batgirl.** The fact
that people can look at a girl wearing a bat logo and not even think to say
“Hey, Batgirl!” shows that Batgirl doesn’t even register with them. When you correct them, the look on their faces
and the mumbling reply before changing the subject can be accurately translated
thus: “Oh, yeah, there was a Batgirl
wasn’t there? Oh, well, it’s not like
anyone cares.”
This is a travesty.
It is unspeakably sad. And it is
unspeakably sad because Batgirl is unbelievably awesome and should be a
cultural icon. She is, arguably, one of
the best characters in the DC Universe – and certainly one of the best female
comic book characters of all time.
When talking about action-hero role-models for girls,
Batgirl’s name should be mentioned in the same breath as Katniss Everdeen, Lara
Croft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – and all the more because she was around
for decades before the others ever existed.
Let me tell you about Batgirl – or, more specifically, about
Barbara Gordon (a name that should be as well known as Bruce Wayne).
Barbara Gordon’s father is Commissioner Gordon – but of
course he wasn’t always the police commissioner. For most of her upbringing he was just a
cop. Her mother died when she was young,
so she was raised in a single parent household living off a policeman’s
wages. She worked to put herself through
college, got a degree (a PhD, no less!) in information science and went to work in a public
library.
Barbara Gordon was never rich. She has always lived off a public servant’s
wage, and she has always made the best fist of whatever was available to normal
people. This is because she is a normal
person. She doesn’t have any
superpowers. She isn’t an alien. She wasn’t granted strength or speed by any
gods or mysterious wizards. She wasn’t
exposed to any physiology-altering radiation or struck by lightening. She doesn’t have a power ring – or a power
anything. And she doesn’t have a bucket
of money.
She’s just a young woman who comes from the same background
as thousand of other young women and has to work for a living.
And her origin story is basically a tale of cosplay gone
wrong. She was never chosen to be a
hero, or driven by some dark tragedy.
She went to a costume party dressed as a female version of Batman as a
joke (in a costume she made herself with her own bad-ass sewing skills). It was meant to be a surprise, so no one knew
who she was and no one recognised her when, in costume, she thwarted a crime (and saved Bruce Wayne in the process). She was put on the spot, rose
to the occasion and saved the day.
And then she thought, “You know what? I could totally do this hero thing.”
And she did. And she
did it all without any of Bruce Wayne’s money.
She couldn’t afford to send herself to remote areas of Tibet
to learn martial arts from a secret society of Master Assassins. She just trained at local dojos and
clubs. She didn’t have a fleet of flash
vehicles, she just had a motorbike.
She didn’t have a multinational company with an R&D
department that could funnel specially fabricated parts from all over the world
to her secret lair. She bought all of
her equipment at sporting goods shops and camping outfitters and altered it to
fit her purposes (or just straight-up made it herself).
She didn’t have an extensive private gym and secret training
facilities – she had to use local gyms and parks, or whatever she could do in
her own small apartment. Speaking of
which, she didn’t have a mansion with an extensive subterranean cave network
that could be turned into a secret lair.
She had a small apartment and a one-car garage. And yet she managed to develop some seriously
impressive storage systems, because no one ever noticed any of her Batgirl
stuff when they came to visit her.
Oh, sure, eventually she teamed up with Batman and he
started supplying her with equipment and training, but (depending on which era
of comics you are reading) there were several years there where she was just
doing it entirely on her own – off her own bat (if you’ll pardon the pun).
Barbara Gordon managed to do most of what Bruce Wayne did
without any of his resources – all because she was resourceful.
Where Bruce Wayne had money, Barbara Gordon had resilience,
ingenuity, hard graft and grit.
She was willing to learn, willing to work, willing to train
hard and willing to try. She applied
herself and she backed herself. She
always believed she could do it, she just had to work out how. Then she would work out how, and do it. And she kicked butt, thwarted the bad guys
and saved the day.
That’s my idea of a superhero.
Batgirl is truly awesome, but it’s the girl behind the mask
that is the true role model. When
Barbara Gordon was shot through the spine and “permanently” paralysed below the
waist,*** she showed just how much hard graft and grit she really had. She completely reinvented herself, using her
skills as a librarian to fight crime with information. As Oracle, she coordinated a superhero team
from her wheelchair, and gave other heroes the information they needed to help
them do their jobs.
Even when she could literally, physically no longer kick
butt, she still thwarted the bad guys and saved the day.
Hell, yeah, Barbara Gordon!
I want the words “Batgirl” and “Barbara Gordon” to be
synonymous with being resourceful and strong.
I want people to use this character as a way to compliment girls for
being capable, independent, active and resilient. For being powerful women with a power that
comes from within.
I want this character and her characteristics to be such a
part of the cultural cache that when someone does something amazing with
whatever they could get on a budget, people say things like “She went totally
Batgirl on this project”. Or people
refer to female athletes who mange to go really far in their chosen sport - even
though they didn’t have the kind of sponsorship and support that their male
counterparts were given - as being “just like Barbara Gordon”.
I want the idea of WWBGD? (What Would BatGirl/Barbara Gordon
Do?) to take the world by storm. Because
what would she do? BG would figure it
out, because she’s smart. BG would train
hard and get fighting fit. BG would work
with what she has and make it work. BG
wouldn’t take anyone’s crap. BG would
kick butt. BG would rescue herself – and
anyone else who needed rescuing.
BG would step up, and show the world what happens when a
perfectly ordinary woman applies herself and backs herself.
Will you help me? If
you read this, will you do what you can to make sure everyone knows who Batgirl
is, and knows that she is a force to be reckoned with?
WWBGD?
*Yes, it is Batman’s logo.
Batgirl’s logo is slightly different.
The bat is more angular and is usually yellow on a black or grey
background, rather than black on a yellow disc.
I’d buy t-shirts with the Batgirl logo on them, but they aren’t easy
to find in normal clothing stores, and I’m on a budget, so I’m making the best
fist of what’s readily available (WWBGD?).
**There were also a few characters called Batwoman in the comics, but they were never part of the permanent roster or in any of
the film adaptations, so we’ll forgive people for not knowing much about her.
***Nothing is ever “permanent” in the comic book world – but
she was in that wheelchair for an awfully long time.
