Cartoon Freaks

`It is no secret that most female cartoons are portrayed as having a certain body and personality type. Since some of the earliest cartoons real women's body and personality features have been exaggerated in order to entertain cartoon lovers. As my group was researching about female cartoon characters many of the sites were entitled " top ten sexiest cartoons" or "Hot female cartoons". The sites were filled with pictures of the female cartoons that we all know and love, over sexualized in provocative poses and dress. This brings to my mind the question of whether female cartoons were created so that girls would have characters that they could look up to in the media or were they created to be the objects that men could make into anything they wanted.

One of the earliest and most well known female cartoons is Ms. Betty Boop. Betty Boop was created in 1932 as a lovable flapper. Although she was a cartoon who started out in comics she was definitely a sex symbol. She wore high heels, short dresses which revealed clevage and she wore a garter belt. Betty Boop was portrayed as being girlish and innocent but she also had a flirtacious and sensual side. In her cartoons Betty was often the object of men's desire, whether they where trying to peak at her or trying force their sexual advances on her. This makes me wonder if Betty Boop would have been so popular without her sexuality or that famous flirtacious "Boo-oop-a-doop".

Another early female cartoon is Olive Oyl who first started appearing in comic strips in the 1920s. Olive Oyl was most popular as Popeye the Sailorman's girlfriend. She is a tall thin flapper who has simple looks and big feet. Although Olive is not very sexy or pretty she is often being wooed by other male characters in the cartoon. Olive Oyl is described as the type of girl that is fickle and who is always being persuaded by material possessions. Popeye's rival, Bluto, is always trying to kidnap Olive and she usually falls for it until Popeye rescues her. Could Olive's portrayal as a weak minded emotional woman be hinting to what men really thought of women?

Some other female cartoons that frequently appear on the sexiest list are : Jessica Rabbit, Smurfette, Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Lois Griffin and Judy Jetson. What purpose do these characters have? A character that women can see themselves in or a woman that men can mold for their own entertainment.

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettie_Boop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Oyl