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Nelly Parra Auquilla

Professor Beadle
English 113A
4 December 2015
Superpowers Does Not Change a Person
In society, people expect to go by gender expectations. It is belief that society will always
view
women differently from men. Women carry their emotions in their facial expression. They do not
have control over it. Men are capable of controlling their emotions. It is known that women of
todays society are able to transgress gender because of a new era. An era of opportunity for
women to grow independent for themselves but in a comic book women are not able to
transgress gender. In a comic book, women are viewed as how society would want women to act.
That the women characters will always be damsels in distress and let the men do the saving.
There are no woman leads. There are barely women superheroes because people still believe that
women still need to be saved. What people do not understand is that in the end a woman
superhero will be treated as a woman afterwards. They will be treated as women because they go
home to their families that look after them. Take Kamala Khan for example, she is a teenage girl
that gains superpowers from a mystery fog. She is always looked after by her father, brother,
mother, and best friend Bruno. Kamala uses those powers for good but in the end the day she
goes home to her family. In Volume 1 Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson, Kamala
Khan is not able to transgress prescribed gender expectations by gaining superpowers.
Once Kamala Khan received her superpowers, she was not treated no differently then before.
She still is the little sister of Aamir. Patricia Hill Collins, writer of Hegemonic Masculinity and

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Gender Ideology, says, . boys are expected to submit to adult male authority, most notably
their fathers (Collins 229). In its own way, Aamir submits to his father because he still lives
under his fathers roof. His father looks after his family. So of course, Aamir would look out for
his family. He would always look after his little sister Kamala. Kamala will always be Aamirs
baby sister. In Volume 1 Ms. Marvel: No Normal Aamir loves, his sister so much that when he
noticed her sneaking back inside her room he thought something bad has happen. Aamir thought
that someone has hurt his sister because the way she looked at him when she noticed him
entering her room. He went up to her, hugged her, and told her he was going to get the men from
the mosque to go beat up who ever hurt her (Wilson and Alphona 2: 35-36). Even though nothing
happen Kamala could have protected herself because of her new found powers. Yes, Aamir does
not know she has powers but if he knew, he would still treat her as his baby sister. It was his job
as her big brother to look after her. He would protect her because that is how he was taught to do.
Kamala with or without superpowers her brother will always be there to look after her. At a
young age, boys are taught to look after their sisters. A brother would always look after their
sister if she younger or older then them. Even if she were strong, the brother would still look
after
their sister because that is how society views it.
Even though Aamir is Kamalas brother, he is not the superior of the family. Aamir and
Kamala are the children of Abu and Ammi. Abu is the superior in the family just like, . men
are not financially dependent on others, but support others. They take responsibility for their
families by getting married and financially supporting their wives and children (Collins 230).
Every father has to support his child and protect them from harm. That is what Abu does when he
finds out that Kamala came back from the party. He was so worried for her. He sat down by the

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house phone waiting for the police to call that something happen to her that night. Abu told her
that he was disappointed in her. He was mad and worried that he grounded her until he could
trust her again. A father will often worry for their child because it is their job to look after the
wife and children. Abu would blame himself id something happen to Kamala. Kamala felt bad
that she disappointed him. Even though Kamala has powers, it did not change the way she acted
around her family. She was still the same old same old Kamala Khan before she got the
superpowers from the fog. Her parents are still strict and protective of her. Kamala could not tell
her parents what happen that night because she did not understand either but in a way, she knew
her parents would want to help her. She also knew that her parents would not let her use the
superpowers because they would want her to be safe instead of being in danger most of the time.
No parent would want to go through that.
In Collins article it says, Possession of respect-an indicator of male authority and manhoodis
highly valued (Collins 228). Males are respected as an authority figure because that is what
people admire. Therefore, Kamala looks up to her brother Aamir and her father Abu. She looks
up to them in different ways. Kamala respects her father as an authority figure because he is the
provider of the family. She loves him even though he is strict with her. Abu finds Kamala in the
kitchen eating and sits next her. He wants to comprehend what is going on with her and wants
her to understand that he wants her safe from harm (Wilson and Alphona 5: 87-89). She respects
him for that because he sat down next to her to explain to her that she is special to them because
after Aamir was born the doctor said they were not able to have more children but then Kamala
came along (Wilson and Alphona 5: 88). Aamir is Kamalas older brother. She cares that her
brother would always protect her. He will never let her down. When she is grounded, she cannot

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leave the house unless her brother is with her. Like when Kamala was at the mosque with Aamir
and her friend Nakia, Nakia ask her if she wanted to leave the place and go somewhere else.
Kamala replied with she cannot leave without her brother because she was grounded (Wilson and
Alphona 3: 45). Kamala will always respect these two people in her life. Even with powers,
Kamala still has a strong respect for her brother and her father. She looks up to them for
guidance. She would never use her powers to make her feel superior to them even though she
could.
The only person that knows about her powers is her friend Bruno. Bruno was not even
suppose to find out but Bruno found out that Kamala has superpowers was when she was shot at
the store he worked at. The person that shot Kamala was Vic the brother of Bruno. Vic was in
some kind of trouble that Bruno does not know where he went. She told him she would help him
find him. At first, he told her it was too dangerous for her. He was going to handle it by himself.
Bruno did not treat Kamala no differently then before. He still had this urge to protect her no
matter what. He would always protect her. He only agreed that she could help him find his
brother only if she was careful. He might have said yes but that would not make him stop
worrying about her. He did not want her to get hurt because it was his responsibility to look after
his brother not her. Bruno knows that she has powers and he still wants to protect her because he
has been protecting her since childhood.
Even though the villain knows has powers, he treats her as a little girl. He was not worried at
all. He believed that he could still beat her. When Doyle went to talk to his superior about the
Ms. Marvel problem, he told his superior that he will take care of the problem that she was just
girl to scare her off (Wilson and Alphona 5: 99). Doyle, the villain, has the masculinity that men
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are stronger than women are. He believes that once she understands whom she is messing with
she will run off scared.
People would argue that Kamala Khan is able to transgress prescribed gender expectation by
gaining superpowers. People would argue this because Kamala is disobeying the gender rules by
wanting to climb up the ranks in society. Kamala is changing the whole order of rank that society
has built by being someone else. In the article Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender
Ideology by Patricia Hill Collins explains that that White men are first in rank and followed by
White women in second. Latinos men are third in rank and followed by Latinas in fourth and so
on. In addition, Kamala was walking through the fog until she fainted and saw Captain America,
Captain Marvel, and Iron Man in her dream. She wants to be beautiful as Captain Marvel.
Kamala wants to be just like her. When she ascended from her dream, she was granted
superpowers. She had one power that lets her shape shift to someone else and she shape shifts
into Captain Marvel. Throughout the story, Kamala changes into Captain Marvel. Captain
Marvel features are blond hair, blue eyes, and White skin. In which, Captain Marvels features
grants Kamala to climb up the social rank. In the article it says, Historically, in the American
context, young women with milky White skin, long blond hair, and slim figures were deemed to
be the most beautiful and therefore the most feminine women (C0llins 232). Therefore, Kamala
did not feel beautiful at all with her dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and dark skin. She took
advantage of the powers to be someone she is not. She is altering of what society has built. She is
leaving behind whom she is to make herself comfortable in societys views. She felt it was right
in personating someone else because people would not judge her. In the article, Rethinking
Womens Biology, says, But there is more pressure on women to look right, and what is
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right changes frequently and sometimes quite drastically (Hubbard 48). Kamala felt insecure
about herself that she keeps using her brand new superpower to shape shift to someone else. She
felt the pressure of wanting to look right that she kept changing into Captain Marvel. Kamala is
using the powers to disobey gender expectation. Kamala is both transgressing and confirming.
She is conforming because she is following the society rules. She is only confirming because she
is transgressing into someone else that is not her and climbing up the social ranks.
Kamala went out of her way and saved Zoe from drowning in the river. She could have let
Zoes boyfriend safe her but she did not. In which it is a mans job to do. In this situation, it was
supposed to be a male superhero saving the girl and not a female superhero. Kamala broke that
gender expectation. She did not just break the expectation; she did it right after she gains the
powers.
Kamala might have been trying to conform into society but by conforming, she was breaking
the rules by being someone else. In the end, she learned that she did not have to be someone else
to be accepted. She learned that nobody else matters but the people she cares for and are there for
her. She became herself by not hiding her physical features anymore. Kamala did not transgress
because she is just a teenager that wants to fit in with people her age. Kamala had to save Zoe
from drowning because Zoes boyfriend was drunk. If Josh, Zoes boyfriend wanted to save her
he would be right next to her drowning because of the alcohol he has consumed in the party.
Kamala had no choice but to save, Zoe before Josh tried something. Nobody else was around to
safe her, she had the chance to do it, and she took it. Kamala did not transgress because she could
not let anything horrible happen to Zoe.
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In Volume 1 Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow, Kamala Khan is not able to transgress

prescribed gender expectation by gaining superpowers. Kamala did not change anything at all.
She was who she was way before the powers came along. Her brother still protects her no matter
if he knew about her superpowers. Abu and Ammi still worry as every parent would about their
child sneaking to go to a party. Bruno might be the only one that knows about her superpowers
and he still feels like he needs to protect her. She might of have used her powers to shape shift to
someone else but in the end she understood she had to be herself. Kamala had to save Zoe in
spite of everything because her boyfriend was drunk. Superpowers did not change her at all. She
obeyed the gender rules of how a girl should act. She was still a little sister, a daughter, and a
friend. Even the villain believed that she was just a girl that would give up. Even though she has
powers, she will still be treated as a girl. The ones that care about her will protect Kamala.

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Work Cited

Collins, Patricia Hill. Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology. Composing
Gender: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Burton, Leasa. Untied States: Bedford St. Martins,
2014: 222-239. Print.
Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology. Composing Gender: A Bedford Spotlight
Reader. Burton, Leasa. United States: Bedford St. Martins, 2014: 46-52. Print.
Wilson, G. Willow, writer. Volume 1 Ms. Marvel: No Normal. Illustrated by Adrian Alphona.
Colorist Ian Herring. Lettering by VCs Joe Caramagna. New York: Marvel Comic,
2014. Print.