The X-Men's Rogue: Science Fiction's Most Untouchable Woman A Character Analysis by Jamie Uder Published on October 2nd, 2000 Rogue of the famous comic series The X-Men is one of the most untouched characters in popular culture today. By untouched, however, I do not mean unexamined. Rogue literally can't be touched, in a very physical sense. Nearly all characters who have come into bodily contact with her skin have suffered unconsciousness, amnesia, or death. How in the world did this come about? To understand Rogue as an important female character in science fiction, one first must be given a history, however brief, of the X-Men as a whole.      Stan Lee of Marvel Comics created the X-Men, a group of superhero mutants, in 1967 in response to social tensions concerning racism (Lee, 1998). His purpose was to illustrate how society makes outcasts of those who deviate from the perceived norms and thereby make a powerful social and culture statement to the world. The X-Men were immediately and wildly popular, even though they were only "guest-starring" in other Marvel comics. They were quickly given their own comic book series, which is still produced today, and more recently, a cartoon series and movie.      Rogue was not one of the original X-Men. She made her first appearance in 1976 in The Avengers as a villain sent to destroy the hero, Ms. Marvel (Robbins, 1996). She succeeded, and at the same time accidentally managed to steal Ms. Marvel's powers, including invulnerability, unaided super-sonic flight, and supernatural strength. She then, however, had a change of heart and turned to the "good guys", but only after realizing that she had been a tool of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, a sect who comes right out and admits that they are just a nasty troupe of people. She crossed over to the X-Men comics shortly thereafter. Since that time, Rogue has had numerous identity crises, and has rejected and rejoined the X-Men team countless times as the storyline of her character continues to develop. One can quickly establish that she is one of the more popular X-Men characters, as she has not faded from the pages of the comic since her first appearance in 1976.      At this point, Rogue becomes an interesting character to present for study. She's beautiful, invulnerable, resourceful, and intelligent. She is, however, the product of a masculine author in a masculine society. When placed in comparison to the other members of the X-Men team, this fact becomes painfully obvious. The males of the team are allowed to be of super strength and unlimited powers. The females however, excluding Rogue, are somewhat weak and dependent on their men teammates. For example, Wolverine, the male X-Man with unnaturally fast healing powers and an adamantium-reinforced skeleton, is resilient and has great endurance in stressful situations. Cyclops, a male, is the team leader on the battlefield. Jean Grey and Storm on the other hand, both female, often collapse after a heated battle (Clarmont, 1997). Rogue is excluded from the fainting-couch, but at a terrible price. She is invulnerable, but can never touch another human without killing or seriously injuring them. Rogue is cast as a healthy heterosexual female, but because she is as strong and invulnerable as the men around her, she is denied a basic femininity in her right to be sexual in the way that she chooses. One might argue that this gives her a feministic quality; she is the only female X-Man who is truly independent of her male counterparts. This feminism, however, also alienates her from her male-dependant female teammates, and forces her into a unique and lonely category is science fiction and comics.      Although she is somewhat feministic, she is not a feminist in personality. Moreover, she can never be described as non-feminine. As I mentioned before, she has discarded her team-status many times, only to return a short time late. Lee has sketched a character who, stereotypically female, is quite fickle. Although she cannot touch the men in her life, and has learned to live with this, she still pines after the masculine touch. This adds much more depth to her character, however, because on the rare instances when she has touched or even kissed her love-interests, she does not take the touch for granted. Thus she manages to avoid being just a pretty knickknack among her teammates.      Naturally, one needs to examine her physical appearance at this point. Rogue has always been drawn as a socially acceptable perfectly figured white female. She is 5'6", 120 pounds of pure Southern Belle (Lee, 1984). Her appearance has been interpreted differently, by different artists over the years, but she has always been portrayed as "perfect" or very near so. She has always been some version of the following description.      "There is not one ounce of misplaced fat on her body. She is very nicely proportioned with large breasts, a small waist, and nicely curved hips and flanks. Her body is well muscled and toned under her curves. Her most noticeable feature is a shock of white hair that constitutes her bangs and a wispy lock that flows down the back of her thick red mane. Like her super-powers, this tress is a battle-scar" (Tempting Fate, 2000).      She really doesn't look anything like a real woman, but she was drawn as a woman idealized by a male-dominated society; any woman who is untouchable must at the same time be very attractive to reinforce the idea that she is unavailable to the common man.      Rogue's clothes, furthermore, are meant to compliment and accent her body. She is nearly always found in some sort of spandex, which outlines her many curves. Her signature color is green, but it's hard to determine if that represents the typical envy associated with that color, as Rogue is not an entirely enviable girl. Her fans, however, often refer to her as "the green goddess" (Gordon, 2000). An interesting addition to her costume, perhaps to accent her masculine independence, is a leather bomber jacket, which provides some cover of her exaggerated figure, albeit not much. This is to be expected, however, as Rogue has always been drawn and directed in her actions by masculine forces (Lee, 1984).      So, what makes Rogue so interesting? She comes across, at first glance, as just another comic book bimbo. Lee may have intended to create only another supporting member of his coveted team, but Rogue came out as a distinctly interesting figure. She started out as a villain, but turned into a hero. She is uniquely alone among her peers, unable to touch them, and very unlike them in her situation. She is not a feminist, but emanates a sort of feminism in spite of herself. Her independence robs her of her femininity, but at the same time, makes her a role model to young women and girls. The X-Men Comics were, at one time, geared toward young men and adolescent boys, but Rogue is very much a woman's kind of hero. I don't think that Rogue is to be envied, but she is to be admired. She is an important piece of pop-culture. She does not rely on anyone except herself, and perhaps that is the message that we need to take from her. While her body may be made to please a mass ideal in our society, her attitude toward life and independence is in stark contrast to many of her counterparts in science fiction over the last few decades. Rogue really is an untouchable woman.