Kim Possible

By: Azia D’mani Coley

Kim Possible is animated television series that aired on Disney from the years of 2002 to 2007. It was created by Bob Scholey and Mark McCorkle who want to create a show that fulfilled Disney Channel’s interest in developing a show featuring ordinary kids in extraordinary circumstances. The geared audience was for the ages of age 9 to 14 years old, while still being entertaining to older audiences. The television show is based on the life of a teenage girl named Kim who is your typical teenage girl but is a hero fighting off villains in her free time. Kim is a confident, tough, brave, and strong individual. She is aware of her greatness with her motto being “I can do anything”. She is a positive and caring girl which compels her to help others in need. But she can come off as arrogant or jealous of others when she feels that she has lost control or someone has done something better than her. Despite being a hero in her free time, Kim is still a teenager who does and goes through typical teenage things such as dealing with low self-esteem insecurities, anxiety, and relationship.

Kim was the girl everyone wanted to me. Her appearance was the goal of many young viewers. Kim was a tall and somewhat curvy young girl, who had big green eyes and long orange hair. She is most iconic for her black top that exposed her midriff, green cargo pants, black shoves, and gloves. Her looks were to die for, but they were not realistic. The creators' Bob Scholey and Mark McCorkle failed to realize the difference in appearance they were broadcasting to the bodies of their targeted viewers. There was no 9 to 14-year-old walking around with a crop top and big his. As usual in society, these men have found their way into broadcasting what they expect or picture a girl/woman should look like. Their depiction caused confusion and low esteem in many, including myself. I looked into the mirror day after day questioning how could I be as beautiful as her? How could I get my hips to spread so my body can be curvy in my jeans? She may have been beautiful, but she was unrealistic. In all reality, she was created out of some type of fantasy. This was the directors’ fantasy of how they wished teenage girls looked when they were in school. Their fantasy might have been fulfilled when creating this show, but their viewers did not get this same fantasy when they could not fit the appearance.

Many might say that this show promoted diversity in appearance, such as there were many characters of different races and origins (Professor Ramesh, Robert Chen, Duff Killigan, Will Du, and many more). There was also diversity shown in the cheer squad that Kim was on. There were girls of color, girls of different shapes and sizes. So this is true, the show may have displayed diversity but the importance of these individuals came nowhere near the popularity and importance of Kim. As the show promotes diversity, it also promotes what an individual should look like to be the “center of attention” or most liked/attractive.

Although Kim’s appearance might not have been realistic and beneficial to the mindset of the viewers, this show promoted how to be a “can do” girl and feminism. Kim was the prime example of a “can do girl”. A girl who can do it all, proving to the world that she can be successful. In chapter 1 of The “Can do” girl versus the “at risk” girl a “can do” girl is defined as a girl who is notable for their high ambitions concerning their employment and their commitment to elaborate planning for success in their career. They are represented as particularly able in applying themselves to maximize their future chances in the changing world of work”(Harris). Kim fits this definition of a “can do” girl because she knew her greatness and took advantage of the opportunity to be a success in school while also saving the world by night. Kim did everything she put her mind to. She did it all, she showed that a girl can be more than just girly stereotypes. A girl can have beauty and still be successful. She used her skills and beauty to her advantage in many ways. “Flipping over tech tools concealed in items typically found in a teen girl’s makeup bag. That wasn’t lip gloss in that tin, it was a potent stink bomb”. Kim’s success was maximized by her beauty, by her just being simply a girl. This is a true “can do” girl. A girl who can still be appealing to the eye of society, while being successful and reaching all of her personal goals and dreams.

Kim Possible went against post-feminism. Unlike most shows, Kim possible flipped the gender norms that were the norm. This show did not follow the norm of including women in action films shows being the object of romantic interest for the male character who is the main character. Instead her sidekick was a boy who surprisingly was not threatened or bothered by her talent and strength. He supported and cheered her on while she took down villains. In this world, females did not depend on men to succeed. Men succeeded in their female counterparts and they did not fight them on that. This was a huge surprise coming from writers who were both men.

Kim was the “can do” and feminist girl to her viewers, but she still was a white character. She was a great representation but did she reach all the individuals in the girl community, such as girls of color. It is known that the white middle class is written as or displaced as the representative of public attention with regard to issues such as how a woman should act, being a leader, or being a feminist. As said in Am I Pretty or Ugly? “The bodies of middle class, white girls are also bodied that unlike the bodies of working class girls and girls of color, are understood as socially and culturally worthy as it were of saving and recuperating” (Banet-Weiser). This lack of representation for all girls in the girls' community will cause some separation in the progress needed in girl culture and studies. There will be a lack of understanding of what these others girls go through? If they are being hear or understood? How are they being included in programs such as abstinence-only education, anti-sexualization programs, or even dealing with women's rights in the US?

Kim still dealt with typical teenager things. When Kim was not fighting villains at night she worried about boys and what they thought of her. She still struggles to fit in at times regardless of how awesome of kick ass she was at night. This made the viewers and myself know that Kim was not just like us, she was one of us. She was your typical teenage girl who through all this greatness and success, still dealt with some insecurities, and some doubts, because of how much pressure the world has put on girls.

Kim shared a lot of similarities to Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew is a fictional character who appears in a mystery book series. Nancy is also a “can do” girl. She is a strong-minded girl who is very independent. Outside of being a teenager, she spends her time-solving mysteries. Some similarities that Kim and Nancy share are the impact they have on the girl community/ their viewers or readers, their appearance, and their sexuality. Nancy Drew’s characteristics created spaces for women in dominated arenas while helping girls to see that they can become the people they have secretly dreamed of becoming.

Nancy’s body might not have been curvy like Kim’s, her body fit what was the norm during her time. “Nancy is taut, athletic, and slim, an ideal version of beauty popular in early twentieth century America that continues to emerge in particular historical moments” (Marshall). She is too created to depict what an attractive girl should look like. While it was written to have Nancy Drew appear as such, they made sure to not include but somewhat hint at her sexuality. As said in the article Not just a phase, “girl characters are not allowed to imagine queer futures because their queerness is limited strictly to a temporary phase of adolescence and resolved so that they can mature into adult womanhood” (Monaghan). They did not include a queer relationship openly but they did include a “friendship” between her and her best friend George. George is a tomboy who does like to be called by a feminine name or be girly. Her character can easily be seen as an individual who is a part of the LGBTQ community, who just so happens to be Nancy's best friend who she spends the most time with.

Like other shows, Nancy’s sexuality was not have been openly explained and written as her being a queer individual. This also happens in Kim Possible, between Kim and Shego. The relationship between Shego and Kim was also one of the first dynamics between two female characters. They seemed to dislike each other deeply, but this could easily be argued to be sexual tension between the two. “Shego despises Kim so much, that sometimes it is kinda weird, Shego doesn’t want anyone else to hurt Kim, because according to her, that’s her job. She does not like Kim so much to the point that she is possessive of her. (Thethings.com). They never turned down the opportunity to fight each other, until they put everything aside and began to fight villains off together. To some, this might just be the start of a friendship, but to others, this might be the start of a romantic relationship.

The show Kim Possible belongs to a digital exhibit on girls’ culture because of the impact she had on the girl community in the 2000s. As a young girl growing up watching this show, I loved how watching Kim Possible made me feel like I could do anything in this world. Now viewing it as an adult, I appreciate the show for depicting women for more than just their bodies and looks, reminding everyone that women can also be heroes/successful, breaking gender norms, and addressing sexuality (even if it is not openly). Future show directors and viewers should know the history and impact that this show had on past generations, to continue this impact. I hope that the girls in future generations can witness such a great so as such, so they know their purpose in this world and feel as though they can do anything they put their mind to.

References

-Banet-Weiser, Sarah. “Am I Pretty or Ugly? Girls and the Market for Self-Esteem.” Girlhood Studies 7, no. 1 (January 1, 2014): 83-101.

-Belle, Elly. “All the Ways Kim Possible Made Me Feel That My Dreams Are, Well, Possible.” Medium. Medium, February 17, 2021.

https://literelly.medium.com/all-the-ways-kim-possible-made-me-feel-that-my-dreams-are-well- possible-be1b1bcd8332.

-Franz, Kathleen, Nancy Bercaw, Kenneth Cohen, Mireya Loza, and Sam Vong. “Girlhood (It’s Complicated).” The Public Historian 43, no. 1, (2021): 138-163.

-Harris, Anita. “Chapter 1: The ‘Can-Do’ Girl versus the ‘At-Risk’ Girl.” Future Girl: Young Women in the Twenty-First Century, 13-35. Routledge, 2004.

-Janssen, Stephanie. “Kim Possible: The Original Feminist Icon.” The Spectator. Accessed May 10,2022.https://www.spectatornews.com/opinion/2018/10/kim-possible-the-original-feminist-ico n/.

-Marshall, Elizabeth. “Red, White, and Drew: The All-American Girl and the Case of Gendered Childhood.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 27, no. 4 (2002): 203–11.

-Pomerantz, Shauna, Rebecca Raby, and Andrea Stefanik. “Girls Run the World?: Caught between Sexism and Postfeminism in School.” Gender & Society 27, no. 2 (2013): 185–207.

-Rivera, Starleen, and Starleen Rivera (34 Articles Published) . “Kim Possible: 25 Hidden Details about Shego Only Drakken Would Know.” TheThings, May 14, 2019. https://www.thethings.com/kim-possible-details-shego-trivia/.