" @FadeToBlackBolt: but what do the supergirls expect? its natural for a guy to look but the licking the lips part is a bit perv. "

" I think the "licking the lips" does it. And it's not like you (Universal "you") wouldn't have a quick glance. I think that Bogeyman is supposed to just be sitting there eye-doing her; which is a bit different.    Donna may have her cleavage showing to assert her confidence and/or femininity to the superhero community, but that doesn't mean that she wants some jerkhole playing with himself to her image in his jail cell. "

Maybe she is provoking villains to stare at her chest so that she has a reason to kick their butts...

I think this is a hard question to ask males. We think much differently. If I looked like, say, Captain America, I would love to be checked out going down the street, no matter which part of me was attracting the most attention. I have very low self-esteem, so such attention would give me a much-needed boost. I don't think women like this sort of thing though. Maybe I'm wrong, but still, I think it's a question that only women could answer with any authority.

Not going to touch this can of worms or the fem nazi's will be out in full force. I will say that, man or woman, if you wear revealing/tight clothing you forfeit the right to get pissy when people look at the very thing you are trying to highlight with the clothes you wear- in my opinion.

How could we not look?...

Guys will look whether the clothes are low cut or just tight fitting. It doesn't make a huge amount of difference. What I expect is that there are different allowances made for different people. If Grayson's eyes are drawn down, for example, it's unlikely that Donna would fly of the handle but if a super villain she is disgusted by in the first place does it that would freak her out and she is more likely to act more aggressively towards them.  
 
The "point" of the costume though? What point? Super hero costumes are rarely designed for function and nor should they be. If they were then most characters would run about wearing brightly coloured flack jackets and combats. That would be functional. Superhero costumes(as a rule) are not functional.

To go further: Revealing clothing is meant to attract attention. To say otherwise is just denial. Women (and men) should expect certain people to look. Of course, there are different levels of attention they can get. An appreciating glance is a bit different from a perverted and prolonged stare. I may like a guy checking me out, but if I see them licking their lips like I'm some piece of tasty meat like Bogeyman did to Donna, I would threaten violence too.

I agree with you G-Man, If a woman wears an outfit that is revealing, It would be completely naive of her to expect people to not look.  However, peering looks, licking lips, and wolf whistling is flat out disrespectful, no one should have to put up with that.

apparently superhero costumes were based off of circus costumes in the earlier years, and circus costumes apparently dont cover up very much. I believe Donna Troy's costume change was to make her look older. Most women in comics that are older have more revealing costumes. It helps make her look older when she has this kind of costume change.  
Writers try to find other reasoning for these costumes because people are always complaining about them.

" Not going to touch this can of worms or the fem nazi's will be out in full force. I will say that, man or woman, if you wear revealing/tight clothing you forfeit the right to get pissy when people look at the very thing you are trying to highlight with the clothes you wear- in my opinion. "

They could always wear that Wonder Woman suit from the "52" story line. That could help, it seems mobile enough for no one to just gaze. And the suit seems really flexible and comfortable. 

I think writers create this for people to just "GAZE" into the revealing costumes. Making readers want to buy the next issue.

" @crusader8463 said:

" Not going to touch this can of worms or the fem nazi's will be out in full force. I will say that, man or woman, if you wear revealing/tight clothing you forfeit the right to get pissy when people look at the very thing you are trying to highlight with the clothes you wear- in my opinion. "

exactly!  "

" Not going to touch this can of worms or the fem nazi's will be out in full force. I will say that, man or woman, if you wear revealing/tight clothing you forfeit the right to get pissy when people look at the very thing you are trying to highlight with the clothes you wear- in my opinion. "

" @FadeToBlackBolt: but what do the supergirls expect? its natural for a guy to look but the licking the lips part is a bit perv. "

Uhh. Not this again. If it's bound to happen that someone like Boogeyman wants to eye-bang Donna, it's bound to happen. If not, that's good on both their parts. This is essentially a slippery slope.

Hmm... I'm a girl and I definitely think there's a fine line between "I am woman, hear me roar!" (Wonder Woman's costume) and "Hey everybody, look at my ginormous boobs!" (Powergirl's costume)

 
I think Donna Troy's costume leans more toward the "I am woman, hear me roar side." It certainly doesn't hide her femininity, but at the same time, it doesn't exploit the fact that she has boobs. The thing is, though, as G-man, she's putting something, maybe not everything, but she is putting something out there. It's a little hypocritical of her not to expect people to look, and its not like she gets to choose who's allowed to look and who's not. Though, I completely understand why she reacted that way. Lip-licking is just insulting.

Also, this isn't to say that Donna shouldn't be allowed to wear her costume of choice. But since she knew how creepy he was and that his gaze would bother her, maybe she could've asked for a jacket or something to put on over her top? (She didn't know she was going to meet with him when she was called in).

Cleavage sells comics. The insistance on in-character rationalisation is just embarrassing.

Tinted shades dude.

Having a couple of little glances won't hurt but if you stare and lick your lips I'm sure any woman would know hat your thinking of and get mad.

I feel like the skimpy costumes are just purely for our benefit as readers, and not for practicality.

Generally speaking I think most people hit the nail on the head, if this creep is staring at whoever licking his lips, especially a super-hero, they are asking for an extra hard beat down. When it comes to ogling woman there is a not so subtle line between creepy stalker stare and the natural male glance that should be expected if a woman has a revealing outfit. 
 
~Jynx

Anyone wearing something with a good deal of flesh showing should expect to get oogled, in essence showing flesh is meant to get attention, say a single woman at a club.  Of course, you flirt with the dangerous line of, 'She's dressed that way, she obviously wanted it.'  It's human nature to look, I'm afraid.  However, this goes back to the exploitation thing, these characters are not real people making their own decisions.  These are men drawing women in scantily clad costumes.  When a character is young, they covered her up like a nun because, let's face it, to do otherwise might violate one or two laws.  But as an adult, sure, butt floss and two band-aids are oooooook!

"If super-heroines were real, do you think they would wear such revealing outfits?"

let's be honest, yes, why? women are beautiful.

" @crusader8463 said:

" Not going to touch this can of worms or the fem nazi's will be out in full force. I will say that, man or woman, if you wear revealing/tight clothing you forfeit the right to get pissy when people look at the very thing you are trying to highlight with the clothes you wear- in my opinion. "

This. "

" Anyone wearing something with a good deal of flesh showing should expect to get oogled, in essence showing flesh is meant to get attention, say a single woman at a club.  Of course, you flirt with the dangerous line of, 'She's dressed that way, she obviously wanted it.'  It's human nature to look, I'm afraid.  However, this goes back to the exploitation thing, these characters are not real people making their own decisions.  These are men drawing women in scantily clad costumes.  When a character is young, they covered her up like a nun because, let's face it, to do otherwise might violate one or two laws.  But as an adult, sure, butt floss and two band-aids are oooooook! "

Clothes do have consequences and they make a statement about the wearer.  There's no excuse for licking lips, etc.

the outfit looks better low cut on donna troy.

In the US a woman could sue a man for staring at her legs because she is wearing a short skirt. In a court that would not be taken lightly as the man would probably get accused of some kind of abuse.
In Mexico if a woman  were to try and sue a man for staring at her legs because of a short skirt, the jury and court would not punish the man, rather they would tell the woman; "If you don't want people to stare at your legs then wear a longer skirt"
- True Story

I'm sorry but Donna Troy is a fictional character. There's no decision or choice in want she wears, it's decided on by a bunch creators who do it because they want to make her appealing to their market. Any other justification other than that is complete and utter BS.  These are fictional character folks, they can hardly decide what words come out of their mouths let alone what to wear.

OK, hopefully this doesn't spark anything to big and I just want to say from the beginning I am not trying to offend anyone or start an argument.
 
As a guy I admit that if a woman is wearing revealing clothing, then I will check her out for a bit longer than if she was wearing 'normal' clothing, and I myself have never wolf-whistled or licked my lips, etc while checking them out. 
 
The problem is though that there are people out there that would, and bearing that in mind, if a woman goes out in revealing clothing there is a chance one of these things may happen, and while I don't condone this behaviour there is nothing much that
can really be done about it. So when it comes down to it they really have to decide whether they want to 'take that risk' of something like that happening to them and just hope it doesn't.

Doesn't society know by now? 
 
A) Women who try to show and flaunt their sexiness = SLUTTY  
Not to mention, hard to take serious. 
 
I.e. Power Girl  
    
 

B) Women who try to cover up their sexiness = REAL SEXY
Not to mention, even classy and respectable. 
 
I.e. Jean Grey 
 
    

I like Donna Troy's costume.

Wait, it's not because it's draw and written by a sausage farm of writers and authors many of which are in their thirties, single, and cater to a crowd that aren't particularly ladies' men? Most geeks do settle down and find their loved one but y'know this audience is not built for that.

I'd have to agree.  As a woman whenever I wear a sexy outfit some people are going to look or stare.  Admittedly, the only thing in female costumes that ever piss me off are the ridiculous heels.

a question could also be,,, how come ugly people (not counting deadpool) don't get super powers... 
 
Because sexy sells

No lip licking! 
 
And 'Power Girl'..what creative genius came up with that name? 
 
I prefer most anything over blond, so Ms. Troy looks much better to me anyways.
And IDK anymore, that one wonder woman is showing a fair amount of of butt up there, is that conducive to nabbing bad guys, or nabbing someone she wants to be with. Is it whats right for the job, or whats right for the  adolescent young man who will be driven to holding the issue up with one hand. Poor kid! 
 
I'm not being crude. What does it all mean?