https://youtu.be/UFedjbOIigc (Batgirls history)
Almost everyone, comic fan or not, knows of Robin.
They may not know that there has been more than one, but they are easily able to associate the ‘boy wonder’ with Batman.
However, not everyone knows Batman has fought alongside more than just male partners, as I’ve already briefly mentioned. The Dark Knight has had his fair share of loyal female allies throughout his 81 years of publication; the most prominent, but certainly not only, female companions to Batman are : Barbara Gordon, Cassandra “Cass” Cain, and Stephanie Brown.
Each of these ladies has taken up the mantle of Batgirl for an extended period of time in comic history.
They all add a different skill set to Batman’s already impressive roster, and in some cases are more naturally gifted for heroics than the boys.
For some reason, however, despite this fact, the Batgirls are much less popular than either Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or Damian Wayne. Even Alfred Pennyworth, the butler, has more of a presence than them!
The almost erased importance of the Batgirls reminds me of the all but forgotten presence of Jesus’ female followers, who, despite not formally being referred to as, would have been considered disciples.
Apparently, “Many women were dedicated followers of Jesus during his ministry on earth. Some of these women seem to have been independent of fathers and husbands and were independently wealthy. These women left the relative comfort of their homes, travelled in rough conditions, and seemingly disregarded cultural conventions in order to faithfully follow and serve their Lord.” (https://margmowczko.com/many-women-followed-jesus-gospels/)
The website even states, “I’ve often pictured Jesus roaming around Galilee with just the Twelve, but on several occasions, at the very least, there were many women with him also. How many is many? 10, 20, 30, 40, or more? Did the women disciples outnumber the men? We can only speculate as to how many women were among Jesus’ followers.” (https://margmowczko.com/many-women-followed-jesus-gospels/)
An easy comparison can be made based on this alone.
Jesus’ female disciples willfully left their homes and lives in order to follow and serve the message of God. They did it because they wanted to. They felt as if they had a purpose and the way to meet it was to follow Jesus.
Barabara Gordon had a need to help people. She donned the cape and cowl because she wanted to clean up the city (her motivations change from era to era but the most commonly accepted one is this).
https://youtu.be/bikqFdo5Qao (shows Barbara's determination)
Cass Cain was raised as a weapon by her assassin father, but ran away and lived on the streets after killing a man when she was 8. When she met Batman she joined his crusade because she believed in his mission.
She never wanted to take another life again, and in turn, had a desire to stop others from doing the same.
Stephanie Brown was the daughter of a drug addicted mother and an abusive, wannabe, supervillain.
She took up vigilantism long before she met Batman because she wanted revenge on her father for making her life miserable.
After befriending Robin (Tim Drake) she became a member of the Bat-Family, and continued to fight crime alongside Batman.
