The originals of the superheroes which have survived often had costumes that they had to change into before they could perform their great feats. The costumes were often curiously like circus acrobat costumes from the previous era.
Their earlier feats were much more acrobatic as well, flying, swinging, twisting, somersaulting to land in just the right spot by surprise, ready for action. Superman and Batman have gotten more jacked as time has gone on, but early on they looked less like weightlifters, more like swimmers or gymnasts. What were the capes for, anyway? Flashy decoration, as in performance. Those capes may owe something to the more secretive superheroes as well, moving quietly through the shadows in disguise. The Superman could still lift enormous amounts of weight - heck, so could supergirl - but that was considered more of a magical ability like the X-Ray vision than an extreme form of what your best local athletes could do. The latter was more Caped Crusader stuff.
That doesn't seem to be why those costumes have persisted. They are clearly intended to display idealised sexual characteristics now. Some of that was clearly present in the circus costumes as well - everybody's got to make a living, you know - but there was a clear functional aspect as well.
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