Rogue is a southern woman. It's something that seems both inescapable but also overly ignored. When it comes to mangling her speech pattern, the writer's will go straight for the South, but when it comes to giving her subtle nuance, it is often ignored. So much of her character seems to come right out of her culture identity but are often ignored. For instance, due to her power she cannot be touched. This is a powerful representation of what southern women are taught. This is, after all, a part of the country that celebrates the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye.
Even her super strength (which she had up until recently) reminds me of the strength of Southern women. Of course, the strength that they are attributed is often emotional, not physical but that's why it's a metaphor. True to her southern roots, Rogue is in her own way a steel magnolia, delicate but strong.
The greater problem isn't that most writers don't understand her. The greater problem is Rogue is the poster child for the permanent second act. It seemed that she is always in love with Gambit, but they can't touch, but she loves him, but they can't touch. In a world with Leech and Forge's power-zapping gun and the Genosha collars, I just can't believe that this is still a problem. I'd rather have the two of the use a collar as means to be intimate but then she resents it. In a way it could become a metaphor for prophylactics, where it all too often becomes the women's responsibility. You could even have a "why don't you try wearing the collar, just once?" Anything other than this ultra-repetitative state she's in.
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