Hurrah. Marvel comics have revealed that Thor, the God of Thunder, has become a woman. Not in a transgender way, not in a "When Mr Thor gets back from the summer holidays he will be wearing a dress and called Ms Thor" way. No, Thor is simply a woman now and that's that. And you needn't worry about her going all soft and silly. As Jason Aaron, writer of the new Thor series, puts it: "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel universe. But it's unlike any Thor we've ever seen before." I can't help but wonder if "Thorita" is a subconscious reference to Conchita Wurst, the bearded drag queen who won this year's Eurovision.
Female THOR (in manly capital letters, please) is, of course, a good thing. Anything that breaks up our rigid ideas of just what men and women are supposed to be is a good thing. I'm just not entirely sure that a female THOR does anything to truly challenge the status quo around gender.
Putting women in men's roles only gets you so far. Sexism didn't disappear when women started wearing trousers. It's wonderful that the fairer sex were able to undo their corsets and take on things that were traditionally seen as masculine – whether that be sports, political careers or plain old dungarees – but it has done little to challenge the scapegoating of femininity. We live in a society that still systematically celebrates masculinity while ridiculing all things feminine. Women who adopt masculine clothing are seen as serious and businesslike. Men who adopt feminine styles are sneered at.
I doubt Thor will become female in the films but if they do ever cast a woman, it sounds as if she will be strong and powerful and all the things we associate with men. Another bloody "strong female lead". That is not to say that women are not, cannot and should not be those things – but when we have a "feminised" male superhero celebrated for his traditionally girly qualities, we might be a little further along the path of true equality. Bring on Thorita, I say.
