Some parents are crying foul over sexist superhero shirts appearing in North American stores that seem to insinuate girls want to date superheroes but won't actually be superheroes themselves.
One baby outfit for boys at Target Canada says “Future Man of Steel,” but the girls' outfit says “I only date heroes,” with the Superman symbol below.
“All this superhero merchandise does is sell the idea that
women can’t be heroes,” Today's Parent writer Emma Waverman said, adding another example of a Wal-Mart shirt that says, “Training to be Batman’s wife.”
“Yeah,” Waverman added, “because who wouldn’t want to be the wife of the emotionally unavailable Caped Crusader?”
Recently, The Children’s Place drew increased media and parent attention because of a shirt made for boys that included only the male members of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” leaving off Gamora because she was a female.
“Many parents looking for Gamora have noticed that
she's harder to find than the other Guardians,” Jezebel noted. “Over at Geeks with Curves, Amanda Ratcliffe has written about the sad and extensive lack of Gamora in GOTG merch, launching the hashtag #wheresgamora on Twitter, and many have followed suit. It's not impossible to find Gamora, but it's absolutely ridiculous especially when there is absolutely no question when it comes to her comrades.”
When Jezebel contacted Children’s Place about why she wasn’t on the shirt, they said, “The Guardians of the Galaxy shirt, in particular, is a boy’s shirt, which is why it does not include the female character of Gamora. We try to have a diverse assortment but unfortunately cannot represent each movie and character.”
Mashable put together a list of “10 ridiculously sexist” superhero shirts, including one where Superman is kissing Wonder Woman, with the words, “Score! Superman does it again!”
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.