What comes to mind when you hear the word superhero? Bold, intelligent, masculine, etc. What about the word woman? My guess is probably not.

The media only puts men in suits front and center, while typecasting females as sidekicks only meant to serve as eye-candy. Sure we got a few good fighting scenes from Black Widow in The Avengers, but for the most part she was just a background character meant to balance out the testosterone-heavy cast.

Furthermore, her wardrobe did not consist of fancy armor or an indestructible shield, but a skintight figure-hugging suit that served no purpose except to show off her cleavage.

We don’t need more over sexualized pretty girls, but strong women superheroes that can handle saving the world right alongside men. Superheroes like Ms. Marvel who possesses superhuman strength, the ability to fly at the speed of light, all while being a successful marksman and pilot.

Or women like Manhunter who shows girls that you can save the day while simultaneously being a single mother and maintaining a successful career. These are the kinds of heroes that deserve to be in the spotlight, just as much as men and it’s about time that Hollywood casts a woman as the lead in a superhero movie.

In fact, strong females playing leading roles seems to be hot right now. Recently, Catching Fire’s Katniss Everdeen has shown that women can hold their own in movies and gross quite a profit in the box office. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d be next in line to go see another Iron Man movie on the big screen, but I think that it’s time that we give women superheroes a chance to kick some butt.