An Idle Thought: Killing in the DCU

I just reread Catwoman 52 and had a random thought about women in comics. Becareful, this contains major spoilers for Catwoman and Manhunter and Batgirl.

...Seriously, here be spoilers.

Okay, my first reaction to Selina and what happened with Black Mask was "Wow! That was hardcore! I can't believe she did it!"

I was delighted by the drama of the moment and worried about Selina's state. It was rather similar to how I felt when Diana snapped Max Lord's neck. That guy deserved what he got.

But then I had a weird thought. There were a lot of female heroes killing folk this month. Kate Spencer killed her father, Cassandra Cain kills Lady Shiva, Selina kills Black Mask...

Each time I understood and appeciated why it was done. Even admired how in each case the women were the ones who got to do it. To be "hardcore".

But then it occurred to me...how many major female characters do we have that would NOT kill...would hesitate even if there was no other choice...very few.

But how many major male characters do we have that would NOT kill...would hesitate, yadda...Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, and so on and so forth. (A few of these might be debatable, I admit. But you get my point. :-))

On one hand, this could be a positive thing...women doing what's necessary...but then is it really?

What does it say that of the Trinity, the only character who's killed someone without a doubt (rather than been too late, or withdrew help) is the woman?

See, I actually think it might not be as progressive or feminist as some might take it.

See, I can't help but wonder if somehow it's more forgiveable for a woman to kill, especially a male victim (most of the time female characters kill, it's a man), because deep down we *still* have the idea of women as the weaker sex. Is it more forgiveable for a woman to kill a man because she is not expected to hold back? Where it's worse for a man because he *is*? (I can't really think of any occurance where a male hero ends up killing a woman in self defense...)

And as for the "hardcore" aspect...that gets disturbing too. Selina was "hardcore" for killing Black Mask. But Bruce is "hardcore" regardless. And he doesn't kill. And I can't think of any "hardcore" female character that doesn't kill.

Do female characters need to kill to be "hardcore"? Would we see a female character that refuses to kill to the point of leaving themselves open as often as Bruce, Clark, Kyle, Wally, or any of the multitude of others as equally as strong as they are? Or would we see them as "weak" and "emotional" sexist portrayals?

I'm not sure what I think about this. I thought Kate, Selina and Cass were very sympathetic. And I think Diana absolutely did the right thing with Max.

But I think I want to see a very openly non-killing female hero as well. Maybe a few. Just to broaden the spectrum.