Tbh one of the number one things I notice when reading Batman is how Bruce uses knowledge of women's identities to control them in a really distinct way
And how he raises his boys to do the same...
Like obviously when we see the retcons in Batgirl year one, this occurs. With Steph as well... And then in another way with Cass, where she doesn't get a civilian identity? Or when we see him bully Helena out of the mask in no man's land??? And almost every time he has one of his boys at his side assisting him
Like obviously a man so concerned with his own secret identity is going to view identity and knowledge about it as having power & he just does not hesitate to wield it against women in particular as a means of coercion
coming back with examples to illustrate my point & i am being so strong and refraining from going into a lengthy digression about how batgirl year one's commitment to a more "grounded" start for babs diminishes and mocks her over and over again...
In Batgirl Year One #4, we see Bruce dictating what Dick is allowed to call Babs. You could argue this is control over his "brand," but it's part of a larger pattern of control over Babs throughout this run:
And it's immediately followed by drugging & abducting her to the Batcave, where he interrogates her to try and find out her identity...
Followed by drugging her again and making it clear that she does not get to decide what is done with her identity or her body
They maneuver her unconscious body multiple times in this issue and forcibly unmask her. Alfred and Dick are Bruce's accomplices in this. Dick occasionally challenges Bruce, but never with any real seriousness. There is no reciprocity in Barbara and Bruce's relationship here--she is entirely at his mercy at all times, and he wants her to be aware of this & works to crush her down whenever she defies him.
Bruce controls Steph also from as soon as he knows who she is: we see him do this in Detective Comics #649... her third appearance
Her identity is a bludgeon he can deploy against her-- and he's eager to do it immediately. He always goes for this blow (and yes, I'm aware he uses Tim's secret identity against him later + sabotages his relationship with Steph... but he only does it to Tim after he's been really upset with him. With women, he will deploy it right away)
In this case, Tim is apparently the first one to discover Steph's identity, but immediately gives it to Bruce, who then uses it against her. (I am admittedly so very tired so my chain of events could be off here as I am kind of throwing this post together).
He ambushes Helena with Dick to scold her for not being good enough while calling her by the hero identity she's currently not using, revealing that he's "known from the start" who she is.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120
He browbeats her into giving up the cowl and Dick cooperates with him, calling Helena by the same name:
Then he takes the costume and basically kingmakes Cass into the new Batgirl... then prefers that she never step out of the role. The one girl he chooses and she can have no other identity. The moment she "gives up" the secret, he supports her & builds up a way to avoid getting it back.
Batgirl (2000) #14
And, you'll notice, Oracle's identity is a weapon that he can use to keep Cass in line here. She can't stay with Babs any more, because that would compromise the secret... the one that Bruce knows and has known since nearly Barbara's debut & claims ownership over once again.
Really good post. Hope itās not annoying to add that he also does this to Kate Kane in the Batwoman Begins storyline of Detective Comics, after Kate has been observing him as Batman for some time because sheās newly starting out as Batwoman and wants to improve by watching him. Bruce breaks into her headquarters (which is a part of her home; itās like a big secret room in her penthouse) while sheās out of the suit because heās unsettled by her (limited) success in observing/tracking him for a few nights.
Kate initially tries to defend herself against the sudden home/headquarters invasion but quickly calms down (in large part because she admires Batman!) and explains to him that she means no harm and isnāt working for anyone. Heās still pissed at her for even just having managed to briefly watch him in the field for a short period of time, and as in the other examples in the original post, the first thing he does is to dump all of the information he knows about her civilian identity on her to belittle and intimidate her.
There are a few notable layers of cruelty and disrespect here. First and foremost, she is his cousin. He knows that. He was at the funeral for the mother and sister in question. Thereās a power imbalance in him not acknowledging his own personal connection to her while rubbing her childhood trauma (not unlike his own, by the way) in her face, as well as a callousness in not caring that heās weaponizing her family tragedy against her. He then also brings up her donāt ask donāt tell discharge from West Point and the Army, referring to an instance of extreme homophobic discrimination and sexual humiliation for Kate in very young adulthood as a āproblematic relationship.ā This seems intended to upset and sexually embarrass Kate (fortunately, this doesnāt work on her; you can tell sheās trying to refrain from laughing at him for bringing this up like this).
Itās only after this intimidation via her personal information (to include breaking into her private home to show that he knows who she is and let her know that she isnāt safe from him anywhere, and bringing up her dead family and homophobic sex scandal to hurt her) that he even begins to raise an actual objection to anything sheās doing. As in the other examples, he wields the power imbalance of knowing female heroesā identity as a weapon to try to control them.
Awesome and relevant addition, thank you for sharing it! I'm not as knowledgeable about Kate so I appreciate it :)
