The Adventures of Tintin, though widely popular and loved by many generations has faced serious criticism for racial and ethnic chauvinism. Infact, in Herge’s early comics, his affiliation with right wing propaganda and fascism has also been scrutinized by contemporary critics. While these are very important issues and their discussion promotes the step towards equality and the decrease of stigma and stereotypes, the issue of gender in Tintin albums hasn’t been mentioned in many critical discussions.
There are many layers to the discussion of gender in Tintin, including Herge’s portrayal of women, Tintin’s sexuality or lack of, and the representation of gender roles throughout the 20th century. There is a noticeable absence of women throughout all of the Tintin albums, and there seems to be deliberate reason for this. In the earliest comics, women only appear to be faces in crowds, submerged into the mass of the background. Later on, some women are given space on the page simply as wives of men who appear in the comics, or subordinate, nagging characters who aren’t given any agency. One of Herge’s explanation for this is that he loves women too much to caricature them, and that they cannot be made into comedic characters. This quite obviously suggests that according to his beliefs, there is no equality between the sexes, because if there were, there wouldn’t be a distinction between who can be portrayed as comical and who cannot. Suggesting that he loves women too much to feature them as protagonist like characters with agency points towards the notion that Herge thought of women as weaker than men, and creatures that must be shielded from the world of comedic social commentary. While Herge didn’t demonize women, or make a mockery out of them in a cruel way, he did however perpetuate sexist stereotypes by treating them as submissive background characters who are subordinate to men. Herge’s statement about women and his portrayal of them is hugely problematic because of the various important social movements throughout the time of the albums being published that worked towards the liberation of and emancipation of women. At the time when his racist portrayal of ethnic groups were critiques, he endeavoured to be more politically correct and improve his portrayal of people of colour. At the time of the 1960’s and 1970’s however, when the sexual revolution was unfolding along with the second wave of feminism, Herge failed to change his depiction of women, or change the way he incorporated them in his comics. This proves that he found some issues worthy of paying attention to, and conforming to the waves of social change, while others he wished to view in a traditionalist, chauvinistic way. In conclusion though, gender and sexuality seem to be a complex and sometimes ambivalent issue in the world of Tintin, so that could be a reason for the confusing statements and portrayal of women.
References: Mountfort, P. (2020). Tintin, gender and desire. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2020.1729829
Pop Genres 2020 