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Catsuits and bodysuits in popular media

Catsuits are a recurring costume for fictional characters in various media, as well as for entertainers, especially for use in musical performances. They are sometimes referred to as "bodysuits", especially in reference to a full-body suit worn by a man (although bodysuit usually refers to a legless garment); catsuit is typically used only in reference to women.

The catsuit has been identified as a film-maker's costume of choice for stealth. In films like Irma Vep, Les Vampires and Heroic Trio, crime and catsuits are featured together, as well as its major original use in Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief.

A trend of bodysuits was observed by film reviewer Alan Farrell in his book High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, and a number of occurrences of the garb in films were mentioned – Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux, Milla Jovovich in the and film of the Resident Evil franchise, Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix, Angelina Jolie in ', Kate Beckinsale in Underworld, and Raquel Welch in Fantastic Voyage. The trend of leather and vinyl catsuits were identified as an attempt to redefine the gender role of women through films. Theresa L. Geller described the catsuit as a part of the Hollywood tough chic paradigm in an article published in the journal '. That view was shared by Sherrie A. Inness in her book Action Chicks, which also included computer games and professional wrestling in that paradigm. The Action Heroine's Handbook describes the catsuit as one of the three options of the first rule of thumb described in the book: "Dress to accentuate your best physical assets". Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture by Sherrie A. Inness describes catsuits as an iconic garb of female TV and film characters.

Movies and television series

Notable uses of catsuits or similar full-body garments include:

Music videos

Notable uses of catsuits or similar full-body garments include:

Video and computer games

Notable uses of catsuits or similar full-body garments include:

  • Dead or Alive – British assassin Christie wears a black and white catsuit as her primary outfit in DOA 3, and as her second costume option in DOA 4.
  • Death By Degrees – assassin and action heroine Nina Williams wears a purple leather catsuit and a black and white leather catsuit during gameplay.
  • Sonic Heroes – Rouge The Bat wears a one-piece jumpsuit similar to a catsuit in the whole game.
  • Soul Calibur series – female ninja Taki wears a red catsuit with body armor.
  • Metroid series – Samus Aran's Zero Suit, a blue catsuit worn underneath her usual Power Suit, first appears in '. Samus is also playable in the Zero Suit in other games such as the Super Smash Bros. series (from Super Smash Bros. Brawl onwards).
  • Tekken series – assassin and martial artist Nina Williams has worn a variety of catsuits throughout the series, including a green, brown and black military camouflage catsuit, purple military camouflage catsuits, and a shocking pink catsuit.
  • Tomb Raider series – and action heroine Lara Croft has appeared in several catsuits, including a black leather catsuit and spandex catsuits.
  • Mass Effect 2 – Cerebus agent and possible romance option Miranda Lawson wears a white leather catsuit throughout most of the game and, after her loyalty mission, has a second black catsuit outfit option.
  • ' – the catsuit is available as an outfit option for Jennifer Mui, the sole female playable character: equipping it causes her to make quips that break the fourth wall.
  • Bayonetta series – The titular protagonist Bayonetta wears a catsuit that is composed of her own hair as a medium. The suit is occasionally removed when she is summoning demons to kill powerful angels.
  • Persona series – In Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax, the character Mitsuru Kirijo wears a black leather catsuit which is covered by a very long white fur coat. In 5, part of Ann Takamaki's Phantom Thief outfit consists of a red catsuit that also reveals her breasts.

Post-modern thesis

In a post-modern thesis on the superhero genre Michael Lecker wrote, "In the superhero genre, clothes do the talking through semiotics, which [Roland] Barthes discusses in depth in his work: The 'first, literal message serves as a support for a second meaning, of a generally affective or ideological order' (Roland Barthes). The cat suits that adorn the feline hybrid characters in this genre are firstly illustrating their connection to felines. On the ideological level, the costumes signify the attributes that our society has projected onto cats and that the characters embody." In another post-modern thesis on sadomasochism in cinema Andrea Beckmann wrote, "Cinematic SM is twisted into the non-consenting, violent realm of the unhinged that we know it is not. Fetishism is used as an excuse for a bit of titillatory semi-nudity, or to identify the villain – the man in black leather. Horror films, in particular, will happily throw in a leather catsuit or a gratuitous bondage scene to spice up a mediocre script (M Olley, Pam Hogg: Warrior Queen of the Catwalk)."

References

Further reading

  • Meredith Levande, "Women, Pop Music, and Pornography", Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, Fall 2008, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 293–321
  • Valerie Steele, Fetish: Fashion, Sex & Power, Oxford University Press, 1996,