Women in Refrigerators

Creator response

Simone received numerous e-mail responses from comic book fans and professionals. Some responses were neutral and others were positive.^[8] Additionally, arguments on the merits of the list were published on comic-book fan sites in early 1999.

Simone published many of the responses she received on the website.^[8]

Several comic book creators indicated that the list caused them to pause and think about the stories they were creating. Often these responses contained arguments for or against the use of death or injury of female characters as a plot device. A list of some responses from comic book professionals is included at the site.^[9] Marz's reply stated (in part) "To me the real difference is less male–female than main character-supporting character. In most cases, main characters, "title" characters who support their own books, are male. ... the supporting characters are the ones who suffer the more permanent and shattering tragedies. And a lot of supporting characters are female."^[10]

Dead Men Defrosting

In response to fans who argued that male characters are also often killed, content editor John Bartol wrote "Dead Men Defrosting", an article arguing that when male heroes are killed or altered, they are more typically returned to their status quo. According to Bartol, after most female characters are altered they are "never allowed, as male heroes usually are, the chance to return to their original heroic states. And that's where we begin to see the difference."^[11]

References in mass culture

In 2000, several national newspapers ran articles that referenced the site, generating discussion on the topic of sexism in pop culture and the comic-book industry.^[12] Some universities also list the content of Women in Refrigerators as related to analysis and critique of pop culture.^[13][14]

Women in Refrigerators Syndrome

Women in Refrigerators Syndrome was coined in various forms via online discussions and articles.^[15] The term describes the use of the death or injury of a female comic book character as a plot device in a story starring a male comic book character. It is also used to note the depowerment or elimination of a female comic-book character. Cases of it deal with a gruesome injury or murder of a female character at the hands of a supervillain, usually as a motivating personal tragedy for a male superhero, to whom the victim is connected. The death or injury of the female character, then helps cement the hatred between the hero and the villain responsible. Kyle Rayner is a particularly cited example, due to the common tragedies that befall women in his life.^[16]

Discussing the site in his book Dangerous Curves: Action Heroes, Gender, Fetishism and Popular Culture, Bowling Green State University professor Jeffrey A. Brown noted that while male comic book heroes have tended to die heroically and be magically brought back from the dead afterwards, female characters have been likelier to be casually but irreparably wounded or killed, often in a sexualized fashion. To support his claim, he cited the Joker shattering the original Batgirl's spine just for fun, resulting in her being restricted to a wheelchair for over a decade, and the villain Black Mask binding, torturing and killing the first female Robin from DC Universe, Stephanie Brown.^[17]