Translation: The secret method to ending your pore and wrinkle troubles!

I came across the above ad while thumbing through a magazine in a waiting room. I had never before heard of the San Francisco-based Benefit cosmetics, nor their popular “Porefessional” product. What really caught my eye was the use of a character named “SpyGal,”created by famed comic book powerhouse Marvel. Now, I do realize that SpyGal is just a shameless promotional ploy, and a lighthearted and cute attempt at that. However, once I saw the words “action figure,” my mind became a veritable maelstrom of thought on feminist theory and other such weighty topics.

Most of all, I was struck by the irony of the term “action figure.” After all, our society continually emphasizes the toxic message that women are defined by their beauty, i.e. their role as [inactive] objects for the male gaze. As Mary Pipher eloquently…