"See? I'm not Gay! I like Catwomen!"
I wrote my original post on the differences between Batman and Superman, because I believe the topic merits attention when navigating a genre as big as the Superhero genre, however, I feel that it is also worth commenting on Batman and his relationship with women. In doing this, I will be focusing mainly on “The Cat” story that appears in Batman No. 1. However, I will also be making references to Detective Comics No. 31-32, because this is where Bruce Wayne’s fiancée, Julie makes her appearance.
On the whole, Batman comics are devoid of female characters. While Superman had the longstanding love triangle between Lois Lane, Superman, and his alter ego Clark Kent, Batman for a long time does not have a single reoccurring female character. Bruce Wayne’s fiancée makes a brief appearance in two issues of the comics, where she is terrorized by werewolves. After Batman rescues her, however, Julie disappears into the ether, as though she never existed.
I chalk this lack of female characters up to Batman’s similarity to Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective stories also had a rather infamous lack of women. Notably, both characters have a fairly obvious homosexual subtext. With Batman, this subtext is evident in hyper masculinity of the character as well as his being a handsome bachelor that leads a secret double life. With Sherlock Holmes, much of this subtext comes through in his interactions with Dr. Watson. This also occurs with Batman, unfortunately though his Watson is an underage boy.
I believe that the writers in realizing this subtext existed, invented Selina Kyle, or the Catwoman to help stem the homosexual subtext that Batman carries. Selina Kyle, called the Cat in her first appearance, is, as I mentioned in my previous post, analogous to Irene Adler. Adler, an adversary of Sherlock Holmes is the only person to ever defeat him, is a shrewd and intelligent woman. The Cat proves likewise. However, while Holmes never shows romantic interest for Adler in Doyle’s original stories, Batman heavily implies sexual attraction towards the Cat.
When unmasked, Batman is shocked to find that the jewel thief is a beautiful woman. Here, Bob Kane takes pains to draw the Cat sensuously while Batman removes the necklace from her ankle (Batman Chronicles 176 pnl. 3-4). Batman then takes the Cat with him and Robin, planning on taking her to the police, but when the Cat jumps overboard, he fumbles and prevents Robin from preventing her escape (Batman Chronicles 177 pnl. 4-6). The comic ends with Batman remarking on the Cat’s beauty, only briefly noting that he has a fiancée.
This feels incredibly forced. There is no real reason for Batman to comment on how lovely the Cat is, and Batman has not made comments about any previous women. This smells of a way to ward off any insinuation that Batman may not be heterosexual. While, I find the Cat, or Catwoman as she is later known, to be a perfectly fine character, and rather interesting in many cases, I disagree with her being used as a means of declaring Batman’s heterosexuality. It’s a cheap thing to do with her character, and only makes the queer subtext that more obvious.
