Meandering Thoughts: Barbara Gordon

(A warning: this is a meandering, stream of consciousness post and is very likely not to be particularly coherent or make sense to anyone but me)

I have an odd confession to make, for a long time, I was very...uneasy, about the current signs in Birds of Prey that Barbara Gordon might regain her mobility.

It's not that I don't like Barbara, far from it, she's one of the best comic females ever. But I couldn't understand why it would be necessary.

After all, as bright and shining and whip-smart as Barbara was as Batgirl, she really grew into her own, I think, after her paralysis. Then she became Oracle.

I suppose it's that to me Batgirl always was subordinate to Batman, even if that wasn't actually the case in the stories. Batgirl sounds to me like someone young, uncertain, green, needs Batman's guidance. I mean, she's got *girl* in her name. It's why I was really glad that Huntress didn't remain Batgirl after No Man's Land. (Though I was annoyed that it was written as though she didn't deserve it, I've always thought Bruce was a jackass to Helena. Both Jason and even Tim have been as ruthless as she was, Batman himself, after Jason died, acted far more erratically and dangerously. Helena doesn't deserve the crap she gets from him. But that's another rant altogether).

See, I would have liked Helena to have instead quit herself. Why would a strong, passionate, independent woman like Helena ever want to be Bat-*girl*. To be subordinate and somehow *less* than Bruce. She's better than that. She's a successful vigilante, she's more violent than some, it's true, but she's effective and smart and powerful. Batgirl's a fine title for Cassandra Cain, who while capable in many ways, still requires a lot of support and nurturing, but not for Helena.

And not for Barbara either. When I heard some rumors about Barbara taking up the Batgirl mantle again, they made me wince. It's not because I'm fond of Cassandra (though I am), but it's because in my opinion, Barbara's grown so far beyond that role that to go back seems like a regression of the highest order. Especially since her way is at least as effective, I think, as Batman's. And she's a much better "leader figure" than he is. She shouldn't be returned to a subordinate position. (And who the hell is he to tell her not to operate in Gotham? It's as much her city as it is his! It's her home too! I really hope she lets him have it in the next issue.)

The thing is, I've since realized, that this has nothing to do with her mobility (or lack thereof) at all. I don't want Barbara in a subordinate position in the Batclan. Okay. So why else had the thought of her regaining her mobility made me uneasy, I thought to myself.

It might have been a slight bit of resentment at the thought that becoming mobile would make her more "effective", that it implied she couldn't be a "whole woman" or a powerful person without being able to walk. And I realized quickly that that was ridiculous. Barbara has never been portrayed as anything other than the strong, confident, brilliant, infinitely capable, undeniably beautiful and sexual being that she is. With or without the use of her legs. As Oracle, she's probably the single most influential character in the DCU. She can find out anything, she could contact anyone, and manage the Birds of Prey in a way that no other person could.

So clearly that wasn't my problem. So what *was* my problem? Why did the thought of Barbara regaining the ability to walk bother me? It's not that I haven't even asked once or twice when I was very new to comics why she didn't use JLA technology or something to regain her ability to walk before? And it doesn't have anything to do with a lack of faith in the author. Birds of Prey is fantastic and will keep being fantastic, I have no doubt about that.

But then I was reading Birds of Prey 89 and I figured out what my problem was. When Barbara tells Jim (a long awaited scene and well worth it) how she became Oracle, and she mentioned her feelings of helplessness of being trapped on that floor waiting to die, and how the need to strike back fueled her, I understood.

The problem was me. I'd linked the idea of Barbara as she has become so much with her losing her mobility, that I was thinking that somehow if she regained her ability to walk she'd lose what made her Oracle. She'd go back to really being "Batgirl".

And that's incredibly stupid. Barbara isn't the incredibly strong woman she is despite of her injury or because of her injury. She just is an incredibly strong woman. If she walks, if she doesn't, if she stays Oracle, if she wears a batsuit, hell, if she did put back on the tights and call herself "Batgirl", she would still be the character that I admire so much. I like her better as Oracle than I did as Batgirl, because she's grown up since then. And even if the impetus for growing up is removed, growing up can't be undone. So what am I worried about?

Nothing. :-) I'm not worried about it anymore. I'm not even mildly uneasy. If she can walk or if she can't, if she's Oracle, Batwoman, or Batgirl (though I'd still be annoyed at such a clearly mature adult woman being called "girl"), if she's at the computer or hopping rooftops...hell, even if she's wearing a damn midriff bearing costume (bleh!), I'm sure she'll still be fantastic.