THE FEMININE REPRESENTATION IN MISTY

The aim of this paper is to observe the feminine representation in Misty, if they
reproduce stereotypes of gender and if these representations suffered changes when
adapted to Portuguese.
In order to understand the context where Misty was published, in the middle of the 80s,
I used the studies of Natania Nogueira, from ASPAS, about the artists and characters
that preceded Misty and the interviews with Trina Robbins and Lcia Nbrega the
scriptwriter in Brazil.
Seeking to comprehend the historical context in the period between the 20s and the
70s I referred to the feminist classic of Betty Friedan the Feminine Mystique,
considered to be a must read to all who want to understand a little bit of what was the
cultural and social backlash suffered by women in the 50s in the US.
First slide Misty Cover
Trina defined the 80s as a period of drought for the feminine comics production. Its
not that they didnt exist, but due to many cultural and market related factors, the
comics production aimed to girls was rare. Many women cartoonists were drawing
super-heroes, including Trina herself who drew wonder-woman.
Second slide Trina
Among the speculations about the reason why there werent many feminine comics in
the 80s, Trina says that as the comic shops were emerging and they used to be visited
mainly by boys, girls didnt feel comfortable to enter the stores, making the owners
believe that girls didnt read comics. However, we know that women never stopped
reading comics. If they didnt read girls comics, they bought super heroes ones such as
X-men or Wonder woman.
Third slide Millie
Anyways, Misty was conceived as the niece of Millie, the model, one of the most
successful Marvels publications. Although Millie used to be drawn mostly by man,
among them Stan Lee, the magazine was targeted to the feminine audience, so, when
Misty came out, it was believed that she would achieve the same success of the
character that had inspired her.
Fourth slide Misy Covers
Idealized by Trina, who is a feminist, Misty could not follow the same pattern as her
aunt Millie, so, Trina endowed her with a funny and independent personality. Although
the script turned around boys, fame and fashion, Misty was a confident girl who knew
what she wanted. Her outfits were cool and many times they were produced by real
stylists/ fashion designers.

5th slide Paper dolls

In both Us and Brazil, the issues brought paper dolls of the characters for the readers u
cut out and change their clothes, following a model used since the 30s. The girls were
also encouraged to draw and send their drawings to the editor so then they could be
selected to be used by the characters in following stories. The expectation of having one
of their drawings worn by their favorite character was one of the reasons why girls
longed so anxiously for the next issue: according to Trina, letters from all over jthe
country used to arrive with clothes for Misty.
6th slide Reader
The book Girl Culture, which gathers a considerable amount of vocabulary and
expressions related to the feminine universe, attests that the social practices usually
associated to the teenager girls in the 80s, included going to the mall (including
specific shops and brands),cheerleading( embodying clothing and popularity), writing in
diaries ( associated to the expression dear diary, secret diaries, hiding diaries that
would be found by parents or older siblings) babysitting for parents friends or
neighbors.
In the issue # 9( published only in Brazil), for instance, Misty gets angry with a
conversation she overhears in a restaurant and starts arguing with a guy about things
women could or couldnt do. When he says that women should not play soccer or fly
planes, she replies saying women already did that, so, they ended up deciding to solve
the situation over a motocross competition.
7th slide Motorcycle
Even getting lost in the way, the girls end up winning the contest, since the boys fall
from a cliff and have their bikes broken down as well as some bones.
Misty didnt fit the stereotypes of this social idealization: most of the stories, although
they talk about fashion and relationships, they also brought a variety of adventures. In
one of them she has to solve a mystery of a haunting house and in another one, she finds
a heroine suit for a play and gets super powers after wearing it.
8th slide End of the story
About the historical context, the US were living the end of the hippie movement and
experienced an era of technological innovations. In fashion, the top models like Cindy
Crawford emerged with wages that would be the dream of the American teen girls.
Misty was conceived in this scenario and in her stories she would pursuit her dream
through beauty pageants and adventures while having quarrels with her rival Darlene.
In Brazil, the boom of the top model career got more visibility in the 90s with the debut
of Gisele Bunchen on the catwalk. In the 80s, after a movement for the right to vote (
diretas j!) the country was leaving a dictatorial system that censored all the cultural

productions in all levels. The most popular entertainment used to be the soap opera, as it
still is nowadays.
9th slide Misty contest
While min the US Misty would win a talent contest to become a model, in Brazil she
would become a soap opera actress whose goal was to win the heart of the pop star
Flvio Jnior, in allusion to Fbio Jnior, a very pop singer/actor back then.
Othe curiosities about how Misty used to be represented in Brazil is related to Mistys
style in editions 7 to 9 with the design of Watson Portela and the script of Lcia
Nbrega. The character got more cleavage than her American version. Trina also
reminds that in one of the stories Misty was shown in a scenario with palm trees on the
background, but since she lived in the state of New York, there were no palm trees
there, for the winter is too cold.
10th slide Misty Brazil
In Brazil, in issues 1 to 6 the script didnt suffer many alterations besides the ones
mentioned: she wanted to be a soap opera actress, but even in the American issues she
acts in series and plays, so there arent big differences in how she used to be represented
in the magazine. In both countries she was independent and funny, not being limited to
the most common representations of the stereotypes. Regarding the issues from 7 to 9,
although the argument of Lcia Nbrega tried to make Misty look more feminist, the
artists, mostly men, gave her a look considered by Trina as more sexualized than the
original version.
11th slide Watson Portela
As this is only an article, not related to any research program, I didnt go further on the
cultural aspects of the 80s in Brazil, but it would be interesting to observe theses
cultural differences regarding the feminine clothing. Although Watson Portela made
Misty look sexier, many of them were suggested by the readers, so, its hard to say if
the features were only a reproduction of what was worn by the girls back then or if
Watson Portela had shortened the clothes on purpose.
Anyways, the desire to become an actress and marry the famous actor that resembled to
the singer Fbio Jnior, would probably be enough to create a connection between the
character and the readers. Nevertheless, the truth is that both the visual aspects as the
language reflected the American culture and they were not changed in the Brazilian
issues.
Another curiosity is regarding the age of the readers in the Us and Brazil. While in the
US they were in their twelfths to fifteenths, in Brazil Misty was sold in newsstands
placed side by side to Monicas gang and Disneys comics, so it was common that
younger girls bought it. I also believe that the strong association of comics to
alphabetization in Brazil contributed to that, besides the fact that many newsstand were

located nearby the schools, making it easy for children to buy it. When I used to buy
Misty I was 9, for example.
12th slide Misty cover # 6
So, about the feminine representations, Misty was a publication that portrayed an
American girl which content was aimed to teenager girls and, although it didnt present
exactly the stereotype of a typical American girl, it is possible that most of the girls felt
represented by her for her involvement with the fashion world and her wish to be free,
successful and independent. As Trina said in her interview to me, in the end, what we
all want is to be treated equally and.SHOES!