We all know The Man Of Steel and Iron Man - but where are all the women of iron?

Have you seen the movie Iron Man? The story of a wealthy genius aka Tony Stark, who turns from creating weapons to creating a suit that helps him to save the very people he once worked to destroy. It has some really great gadget scenes, which are totally missing in today's cinema and it is a really fun action-driven movie. I would have absolutely loved the film if it weren't for a few things. It's always a few things, isn't it?

My feminist radar went up immediately with the introduction of the hero as a player. He has lots of one night stands and seduces every woman within a foot of him, except, of course, for his trusty assistant, Pepper Pots. I don't understand why the introduction of a flawed male character has to rest on his poor treatment of women. And it is clear that women are objects for Tony Stark.

One of the problems with most superhero movies is that the women are there as fodder. They exist to be taken captive so that the hero can rescue them, or they work for the hero and through their extreme competence the hero can continue to save the world. Unless the woman is the hero, they don't get much to do.

The same can be said of Iron Man. Now I am grateful that Pepper Pots is smart enough and strong enough not to get into a situation where she needs to be rescued. But, the focus is really on how great she is as an assistant. The story just doesn't give her much to do. A reporter, who is the one woman who seems to really have some strength of character gets seduced by Tony Stark in about a minute. It just strips whatever power she may have had away.

I liked that Lois Lane had more of a backbone in the latest Superman movie. She didn't just roll over when Superman asked. So I know that modern ideals can be brought to the super hero world. I just wish more of them had been brought to this one.

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