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Jazmin Velasquez
Professor Beadle
English 113
November 2, 2015
Gender in Ms. Marvel
This world is full of men and women, two genders that play different roles and both
genders are being seen different in some countries. Society have made people think that
men are expected to be strong, aggressive, and dominant while women are expected to be
passive, calm, home care taker, and obedient to their husbands. In Ms. Marvel by Wilson
Alphona we find that sometimes women cant stand for their rights or they believe they
cant do great things in life. Also people do not feel comfortable of being who they are
because of their skin color they tend to feel inferior to other races. Kamala Khan is not able
to transgress prescribed gender expectations as a result of gaining superpowers because
Kamala, the main character, keeps having the same life that she had lived and also her
culture didnt let her stand up for herself because her culture have taught her to behave a
certain way.
At the beginning of the story in Ms. Marvel, Kamala is just a normal girl who
behaves like her parents want her to behave but shes like any other girl that tries to tell
herself that shes always right. Basically shes just behaving according her environment and
what her culture has taught her to behave like. One of the gender roles Kamala play is that
she has to be obedient to her parents as her dad says Tell me why my precious Kamala
has suddenly become a reckless, disobedient girl I barely recognize (Wilson, 39). Her

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dads expectations of how he expects her to behave, is not being followed by Kamala
because now she is turning into a disobedient girl or that is what her dad believes. In our
society thats a normal behavior because all teenagers tend to disobey their parents.
Somehow Kamala was behaving the way she wanted to behave even though for her it was
not bad to behave that way.
Theres a contradiction between how Kamala and her brother supposed to behave
because just because Kamala sneaked out from home to go to a party (Wilson, 9), shes
turning into a dangerous girl or that is what her parents believe. But her brother that doesnt
even work and stays at home all day without even doing anything productive, his mother
doesnt even tell him anything (Wilson, 7). Kamala was expected to behave with manners
and respect her parents because that is what Pakistan culture had taught her. And she would
behave this way even before she had superpowers.
When Kamala discovers her powers, in the beginning she doesnt want to accept
them because society has made her believe that she shouldnt behave like men behave
because now she was super strong and she could lift a heavy item with one hand. Kamala
says but-everybodys expecting Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel from the news. With the hair and
the spandex and the avengers swag. (Wilson, 58) Kamala had the idea that because she
was dark skin color and short with brown hair, no one was going to accept her because they
were expecting someone beautiful with perfect characteristics. After having her powers
Kamala continued to be herself as she was before gaining her powers. On her article
Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology Patricia Hill Collins explains that
on a basic biological level, the presence of breast, hips a round booty, and the absence of
muscles and facial hair become important indicators of womanhood that distinguish women

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from men, boys, and girls(Collins, 232). Society tends to look the outside characteristics
of a women and they dont really care about what her heart has to say.
Characteristics from the outside on whether or not a women is a real femininity
plays a big role in society. Kamala didnt had confidence on herself at all because when she
decided to be a hero, she also decided to be someone else that already existed. Kamala said
to Mrs. Marvel I want to be you (Wilson, 18). She has the idea that there are different
levels on how society views the race and ethnicity (Collins, 224). As a Pakistani girl,
Kamala would be at the bottom level but not quite at the end because as Collins says
black women typically are relegated to the bottom of the gender hierarchy (Collins,
232). Kamalas race did not matter when gaining her powers because captain Marvel asked
her specifically who she wanted to be but she decided to be someone else.
In Kamalas culture they tend to separate women and men while being at their youth
lecture, (Wilson, 47). This is because the partition and the side entrance for women are
there to preserve your modesty and dignity (Wilson, 48) Kamala would still participate in
her culture youth lecture. She wouldnt stop going because her parents expected her to go
but she didnt stop going just because she gained powers. Also when they participate in this
youth lecture, women would cover her hair (Wilson, 47). Patricia Hill Collins says
Moreover, because hair is seen as a badge of beauty for women, this physical feature
becomes more central in constructing hierarchies of femininity than is the case for
men.(Collins, 234). Kamala would still respect this order and cover her hair while
attending to this youth lecture. She didnt believe that she was stronger than anyone else for
her to be able to do whatever she wanted to do and not follow her cultures activities.

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When Kamala saved Zoe, she didnt do it because now she had powers (Wilson,
31). Anyone who would have seen Zoe fall in the beach would have called for help because
that is what good people do. Even though Nakia, Kamalas friend, did not like her, Kamala
still saved Zoe because she was a good person towards others and we can see this since the
beginning of the story. Kamala helped her because this is what people do when someone is
in danger. It is true that Kamala was strong now but gaining powers did not make her help
her. Zoe would have better fit the characteristics of captain Marvel but what we can see in
this story is that it doesnt matter the skin color or how a person looks like, anyone can be a
hero as long as they can believe in themselves.
One of the issues Kamala had with her parents is that they didnt trust on her. They
would think that if Kamala went to a party, they wouldnt know what she might been dong
while they were not there. Kamala dads said from now on, your life is school and home.
No mall, no movies, no parties. Not until you prove we can trust on your own (Wilson,
41). How was she supposed to show them trust? Was she supposed to ...Run the family
(Collins, 237). What did their parents wanted her to do. Kamala did not even told her
parents that she was the one saving peoples lives neither does she knew how she was
supposed to show them trust. Women supposed to be responsible and Kamala did not
became responsible. Instead of becoming responsible, Kamala still disobey her parents by
sneaking out a second time (Wilson, 77). This time she did it with the purpose of helping
Brunos young brother.
Although some people might argue that Kamala Khan does transgress while on her
custom but what this people fail to realize is that Kamala can only use her custom while

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someone is in danger which means that most of the time she is just going to be herself as
she had always been. Patricia Hill Collins says Real men are expected to be forceful,
analytical, responsible, and willing to exert authority... (Collins, 226) Kamala might have
gained some of this qualities but people still fail to realize that she only becomes this type
of women when she is in Ms. Marvel custom. She doesnt take the role of a men because
she uses her powers when she has to save someone but when she is herself, she doesnt
seem that strong especially in front of her parents. She is still disobedient to her parents and
doesnt always do the things her parents tell her to do. She is not responsible because she
always goes late to every event her parents tell her to go (Wilson, 112).
Kamala parents did not understood what was happening to her. They thought it was
the stage she was in as a teenager. Kamala dads said I know the kind of pressures on
young girls these dayspressure to be things they are not, do things they dont want to do.
I dont want that for you, beta. Not for my only daughter (Wilson, 92). In society this are
normal behaviors of a teenage girl because when teenagers get at this stage they tend to go
through a process that parents sometimes do not understand. Kamala was being normal in
the eyes of her parents, the only thing that was changing was her behavior.
Kamala Khan still was herself and no matter how much she wanted to transgress,
she was still the same Kamala Khan from New Jersey. Her role as a woman did not change.
She did learn an important lesson on how to love herself and accept the way she was. Her
culture, religion, and the environment she was born in were not going to change because of
her powers. Kamala kept being the same person with her parents because her parents still
continue to argue about Kamalas behavior toward them. She became a superhero but for

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herself because she was not satisfied with who she was until she became captain Marvel,
she discovered that she did not need to hide her true self to anyone.

Works Cited
Collins, Patricia Hill. Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology. Composing
Gender. Print.
Wilson, Willow. Ms. Marvel No Normal. Illustrated by Alphona, Adrian. Print.