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Read other letters about this article
i don't see what is inherently anti-feminist about superman.
sure, lois lane has often been a damsel in distress (in the 50's, mostly), but if you check out the comics from the late 30's you see that she was also way out ahead of the curve as an ass-kicking career woman.
this isn't the only depiction of obama as superman i've seen recently. there was his comment at the al smith dinner, already mentioned, and the old picture on his website where he poses in front of the superman statue.
rebecca traister understandably might prefer that americans stop comparing their political leaders to heroic archetypes. i can't argue with that.
but if you think about what the fact that "the dark knight" was the most popular movie of the last few years says about america's view of itself in the bush years (driven by vengeance, working outside the law, prone to extreme violence), i think a switch to superman can only be an improvement. hope over fear.
it's just always important to remember that these kinds of archetypes should be used as barometers AGAINST which we measure our all-too-human leaders. not as an excuse to worship them as if they could do no wrong.
