Quantcast
Channel: feminism – The Graphic Novel

Women Drawn in Comics: We Can Do Better

0
0

Before the 2011 Fall Semester, I used to think that, yeah, Wonder Woman is really cool and strong, but why the heck did she make the choice to wear that bathing suit as her costume 24/7? She’s liable to pop out of the thing at any moment during a fight! I was somewhat mildly aware of sexism in the comic industry, but it was more along the lines of “well, they like seeing thin women with big boobs in bathing suits and bikinis”, and little else.

Sailor Senshi Looking Realistic

Jupiter’s stomach, Jupiter’s left leg and her pose, Sailor Moon’s stomach, and the cloth around all their cleavage pop out as problematic.

But then I linked Stjepan Sejic’s drawing of the Inner Senshi from the manga/anime “Sailor Moon” on Facebook. I commented “So this is pretty neat. I always love when people make them look less cartoony. Look! Actual body proportions!”

A friend replied, “Although I could definitely do with less Escher-girls-esque proportions myself… this is still WAY cool!” When I asked her about “escher-girls”, she linked me to the eschergirls blog. (Sejic’s work is still really cool for the most part – you should check out his deviantart. He’s also a published comic book artist).

The description for the blog reads: “This is a blog to archive and showcase the prevalence of certain ways women are depicted in illustrated pop media, specifically how women are posed, drawn, distorted, and sexualized out of context, often in ridiculous, impossible, or disturbing ways that sacrifice storytelling.” The blog accepts submissions of comics, advertisements, animated shows, manga and good discussion questions. The image is presented, typically with pointers for at least one or two things (if not more) that are wrong with the image, and then discussion occurs. The site is exactly what it says: an archive, meant to compile evidence that demonstrates how poorly women are represented in comics and other media, as a case against people who say that oversexualization in comics/advertising is not a problem, or that it doesn’t happen. It’s also meant to start discussion with people and get people thinking and talking about the problem. This is not a small problem – a lot, if not most, of the artists referenced are big-name artists who cover many of the popular titles in companies like DC and Marvel.

Some things commonly focused on include: the boobs and butt pose, bizarre anatomy, boneless bodies, boobflounder (boobs moving oddly), centaur women, collarboobs, clones (characters who all look the same because the artist in question does not draw characters who look different), crotchleg (where a leg comes out of the crotch), dislocated hips, insect women (a favorite of artists like Rob Liefield), missing limbs, neverending pelvis, organless torsos, pornface, ridiculous fighting stance, rubber spines, snakewomen, photoshop, swivel boobs, swivel waist, uneven limbs, WTF clothing, and vacuum sealed clothing. One way to spot some of the problems is to pose (or attempt to) in the position in question and see how it feels or if it’s possible. Just be careful – a lot of this stuff is impossible or incredibly painful. Try not to hurt yourself.

Reasons presented for the bad art include “they’re tracing from porn magazines”, “they’ve never actually met a real woman”, “they don’t have practice drawing real people”, “they haven’t taken enough art classes”, “deadlines”, “they haven’t done enough research on x”, “the person who paid them asked for the pose for x, y, and z reasons”, “they have a misconception on what people want to see and what people will buy and what market they should be appealing to”, etc.

Not all the submissions are bad art. Redraws are also accepted. Redraws can involve people simply pointing out the many flaws in an image. They can also involve a “fix” of one or more aspects of the image, which can involve redrawing a portion of a character or redrawing an entire character, or redrawing the entire image.

Kara to Kara

A redraw of a cover of SUPERMAN/SUPERGIRL #1 by Less Tits N’ Ass

People often include the list of fixes they did and why. Not all of the redraws are perfect and/or beautiful (which are not the same thing – something can look aesthetically pleasing while being a poor example of art/anatomy/clothing/movement, and a drawing can be proper in every possible way, but not be aesthetically pleasing), but the blog is focused mainly on discourse on the subject – as long as people are talking about it, things are going good. And people do discuss redraws – what’s better, what they like about it, what they dislike, and so on. Multiple people also take a shot at redrawing the same image, so there’s multiple ideas for how to fix problems.

 There are also pure commentary posts that discuss certain art “techniques” commonly seen in the industry. Other posts include art references and guides, along with examples of original art done correctly. A really good tumblr for this is Less Tits N’Ass, More Kickin’ Ass. The Less Tits N’ Ass FAQ reads:

“So how do you get the point across? How do you fix that problem? By bringing suggestions and solutions. I want this tumblr to prove that women CAN be posed in ways other than T&A and still be awesome. Better yet, awesomer.” (The rest is all very good and informative, and you should read it).

The Less Tits N’ Ass, More Kickin’ Ass site is full of detailed breakdowns of panels and covers: why certain things don’t work, and why certain things work better. There’s also a big focus on storytelling and character creation (which is what I always thought non-pornographic comics are supposed to be about). If a character is supposed to be having fun, they should be grinning. If a character is supposed to be really strong, they should have muscles (e.g., Yes, she’s Kryptonian, so she already has superstrength and maybe doesn’t need musuclature equal to that of an Earthling as a result; but by that logic, why does Superman have muscles, and Supergirl/woman does not?). If a character is supposed to be swinging across rooftops on a rope in Chicago, gravity and physics should be kicking in. It’s downright sad how often comic book artists go for sex over logic or telling the story.

There’s also a big focus on the idea of style v. skill (and/or intelligence). One of the big arguments against people pointing out oversexualization in comics/drawing is “well, that’s their style!”

Well, there’s a difference between this:

Lucas Princess Leia joins the Disney Princesses - by princekido on deviantart.

Lucas Princess Leia joins the Disney Princesses – by princekido on deviantart.

Also known as style.

And this:

Pure Rob Liefield. The scary part is that someone looked at this and thought "yup, that's good. Next thing!"

Pure Rob Liefield. The scary part is that someone looked at this and thought “yup, that’s good. Next thing!”

Also known as AGGGGH MY EYES!!!!!

The Hawkeye Initiative also works “to draw attention to how deformed, hyper-sexualized, and unrealistically posed/dressed women are drawn in comics.” It comes from this: “… This leads me to  propose the Hawkeye Test.  If your female character can be replaced by Hawkeye in the same pose without looking silly or stupid, then it’s acceptable and probably non sexist.  If you can’t, then just forget about it.” Other characters used to fill out the cast on the images used are other members of the Avengers, including Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, and Nick Fury.

Hawkeye Initiative

A redraw of one of DC’s New 52 covers from the Hawkeye Initiative.

There’s also the beginnings of a reversal of The Hawkeye Initiative – the Psylocke Collaboration, which puts Psylocke, one of the most notoriously over-sexualized and poorly drawn characters in comic books, in the same positions as men in strong poses.

All of the bad art techniques highlighted on these sites contribute to the objectification of women. It also hurts the art community – they have people like Rob Liefield, Mike Turner, J. Scott Campbell, and others adding bad art to the community and ruining the minds of future artists by giving them really bad advice and art books (also brought up on eschergirls). It’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy – one of the reasons people bring up for women being oversexualized in comics is that the target audience is heterosexual males, because that’s where comics sell more. “Women don’t buy comics”. Well, polls have been taken to show that women see stuff like this and are less likely to buy it as a result. These people are not looking for pornographic material. They are simply looking for actual comics, like the “X-Men”, “Avengers”, “Justice League”, and so on are supposed to be, but instead they see stuff that looks like pornography and get turned off.

These so-called “idealizations” of women  also contribute to the creation of non-realistic images for which women are “supposed” to strive. It contributes to pop culture hating on women over a certain weight or not fitting into a relatively specific cookie-cutter image of what a woman “should” be. Most of us cannot remove our organs to fit into what people deem is “skinny”. Most of us don’t want to eat a cube of cheese a day and nothing else to stay in the negative pants range. Some of us have bodies that are just built a certain way. This also really limits what people call “beautiful”. Beautiful is a multi-colored word with many, many different fits. If “fit” is beautiful, then some of these artists need to go look at the Olympics and see what fit people over there look like (also discussed on eschergirls), because I can assure you that those real-life superwomen didn’t all look like the screwed-up women highlighted on eschergirls and in other places. And I’m not even getting into ethnic issues here, or how women are portrayed in video games.

I like talking about this. It’s nice to see people talking about this and not just pretending it doesn’t exist or writing it off immediately. The amount of related material is really building up, now, too. There’s Ladies Making Comics, which relates to the issue of women in a male-dominated industry; then there’s Women-Centric Comics, which involves comics that center around female characters. Like the book and film industries, the comic industry is still dominated by male characters. There’s DC Women Kicking Ass, which deals with badass women in comics. There’s also Babes in Armor, which features women in real armor or well-drawn/designed armor, to combat the theory that strong fighting women walk around in bikinis and duct tape costumes because that’s what armor is like for women. Tor.com also hosts numerous articles about women in science fiction and fantasy, as well as specially on TV shows, comics, and movies: how they’re represented, how men write them, how women write them (and how women write men and vice versa), and how they’re under-represented.

It’s a lot of reading, but there is tons of material out there with tons of different opinions and a lot of discussion on all of it if you want to look through it. Also, be warned. These sites specifically avoid looking at pornographic material, but it’s still pretty bad. Here thar be monsters.

The comic industry is not all terrible. There are many, many bright lights in the industry. There are many different, beautiful styles and many great story tellers. There are great artists out there, and a lot of them. The webcomic industry is also a great place to look for good comics to read. I love comics. I own a lot of comics. I also love manga. I read so many webcomics that it is ridiculous. If you would like me to point out some really beautiful, well-drawn, well-written comics and/or webcomics, I would be happy to do so.

Personally, I see a lot of problems here. The start to fixing them is by talking about them. This doesn’t only hurt women, so if you are not female, this still matters because it still affects you.

None of these images belong to me. If you click them, they will take you to either the blogs where I found them, or the art galleries of the artists who made them.


Stereotypical Manga Girls

0
0

I’ve read a fair amount of manga, generally Shōjo manga, which are targeted to girls age 11 – 18. Some themes that are focused on are: school romance, magical girl, and historical romance. For this blog post, I will focus on school romance in order to narrow things down. What I’ve noticed is that the main girls shown in these fall into three different categories: damsel-in-distress, tomboy/cross dresser, and sometimes, the average, no nonsense girl.

Chances are high that if you pick up a manga, no matter the genre, you will pinpoint that one girl who is the damsel-in-distress character. She can be spotted immediately, fainting or shrieking “KYAAA” (with some overdramatic expression on her face). She is quiet and unassuming, just trying to be a “good girl.” It depends on the artist/writer to decide whether this damsel-in-distress does physical activities vs. domestic hobbies. The tomboy/cross dresser is the girl who doesn’t fit the mold of damsel-in-distress. She is just one of the guys, harsher in characteristics because she’ll deliver hard punches, which produce giant welts on her victim’s head, her vocabulary may be a little rougher around the edges, she gets what she wants in a clear manner, and if she is cross dressing, she’ll probably use words like “ore.” (Ore is an informal masculine form of “I/me, can be considered as rude or lowly.) The final category is just the average girl, who may exhibit both characteristics at any given time, and/or be quiet to the point of being unseen.

Ouran High School Host Club

The unifying characteristic between all these characteristics is the idea that she doesn’t want to be a burden on anyone, whether it’s her friends or her family. Before I took Linguistics 101, I believed that this was some backwards thinking in action; that the women in Japan were completely overshadowed by a patriarchal society, and I still do. However, I learned that from a linguistics standpoint, this is considered “negative politeness.” Characteristics of this include minimizing imposition, hedging questions, and indirectly disagreeing; countries such as Germany and Japan utilize this technique, which comes across in a negative tone to Americans. All the same, it doesn’t make sense to me.

Daddy Long Legs

A girl has just received a necklace anonymously and instead of figuring out who he is, she decides it would be best to prove how worthy she was of the gift.

I know these Shōjo manga are geared toward young girls, but I am reminded of the saying, “sex sells.” I believe that a few manga artists portrayed their female characters like this and over time it became the norm, boxing girls into these small categories. At what point will these girls be able to be shown in a realistic manner?

  • Image one: Ouran High School Host Club, Bisco Hatori 2002.
  • Image two: Daddy Long Legs, Do Chan, 2004

Sexism in Watchmen?

0
0

Scan_Pic0008                                             Scan_Pic0007

This is my first time reading Watchmen and and after having read through chapter 9 I’m still struggling to decide if Watchmen is sexist or not. So bare with me as I try to sort it all out. Also I don’t really want to focus too much on the scenes in Watchman that demonstrate an oversexed diastolic where women are abused and used as objects. My arguments and/or musings over sexism in Watchmen has nothing to do with the representation of a corrupt society where women are abused. I don’t think the mere fact that there are things like rape and objectification of women make the work sexist. I think in these scenes, Watchmen is trying to really bring us a corrupt disgusting world where evil things happen, a world that the main characters don’t endorse or believe that these things should happen. If anything, Watchmen is probably critiquing this theme of violence against women.

So all the female characters that I can think of in order of significance are Laurie Juspeczyk, Sally Jupiter, Janey Slater, Silhouette, and Rorschach’s mother. First lets just look at the female costumed vigilantes. Laurie and Sally both share the Silk Specter persona and Silhouette never actually makes an appearance in the novel as she  has been murdered. Now just with their names for their secret identities you could argue sexism. No male character would call himself Silk Specter or Silhouette nor would he wear a costume as revealing. I think this kind of sexism goes par for the course  in the world of super heroes and comics (look at the popular blog post women drawn in comics). Now I think we also see Watchmen criticizing this type of sexism in the comic book and superhero type genre.  Watchmen can be seen to be making commentary of the marketing of sex as Silk Specter’s character is used in a movie described as too awful to be called pornography. There are multiple times when there are direct comments by characters about the ridiculousness of Silk Specter’s costume. One of the people being saved from the tenement fire remarks that Laurie is the one who looks like she has just gotten out of bed in her costume.

If we consider the list of female characters as a whole, all of these women’s plot lines tie in to the narrative as through sex. Rorschach’s mother is a prostitute, Janey Slater is Dr. Manhattan’s first lover, Sally Jupiter is almost a victim of sexual assault by the comedian, Silhouette is outed from minutemen because she is openly gay, and Laurie is first the romantic partner who replaces Janey Slater for Dr. Manhattan but then leaves him and rather quickly starts up another romantic relationship with Dan. It unfortunately seems that for Watchmen, the novel can’t escape linking its female characters to a sexual plot line. Sure Dr. Manhattan may walk around naked, but he does it in the way one would walk around naked at a nudist colony, its matter of fact not a peep show.

Now in this way we can argue that Watchmen is sexist in a way that can overshadow it’s efforts to critique an overwhelmingly patriarchal society. I think the Bechdel test can easily demonstrate what I am getting at.

Are there 2 or more female characters? For Watchmen yes. Do they talk to each other? Yes. Does their conversation involve something else besides a man?  Unfortunately, I believe this is where Watchmen fails the Bechdel test. So far the only conversation between two women has been between Laurie and her mother Sally in chapter II. They talk about Dr. Manhattan and they talk about the Comedian. They also talk about a pornographic Silk Specter comic that was sent to Sally by some guy.

The female characters in Watchmen don’t exist independently of a man or independently of the definition of a woman as something someone can have sex with. Watchmen can’t portray Rorschach’s mother as an evil women without making her a woman who sells herself. Laurie seems to have to be romantically attached to a male character(and perhaps is presented as over emotional?). Silhouette gets kicked out of Minutemen because of her sexuality. Janey is a woman scorned out to get her revenge by talking to a reporter. We care more about Sally and her psychology as an almost rape victim then we care about any other aspect of her character as either as Laurie’s mother or the original Silk Specter.

So is Watchmen sexist? Not in the overt chauvinist way no its not. However, its unfortunate that something as good as Watchmen can’t give use something that escapes the subtle subconscious sexism that persists in most media.

Ramsey Beyer Is Kicking Ass

0
0

When it comes to my personal knowledge of web comics, it’s limited to things like Cyanide and Happiness, Toothpaste for Dinner, and Married to the Sea. After concluding that attempting a substantive blog post around one of these comics was not what I wanted to do, I realized I needed to pick a direction. And as someone interested in gender studies, reading (so far) comics by men and predominantly about men (not you, Krazy Kat), I thought it might be interesting to explore female authors (artists? we need a hybrid term here) of comics and/or graphic novels. I ultimately came upon an article titled “Presenting 9 Women Who Write Webcomics That You Should Absolutely Be Reading” (http://www.xojane.com/entertainment/best-webcomics-for-women)

Within that list was Ramsey Beyer. I thought “hey, she has a cool name- I’ll check her out.” Actually, I looked at all the women on the list. But I found Beyer to be the most  compelling. In exploring her website (www.everydaypants.com) I came across her graphic novel Year One. This piece is striking and innovative on a number of levels. For starters, Year One began as almost something like a diary. Beyer’s website indicates that when she first moved to Philadelphia, she challenged herself to create a page of comics a week. The comics documented the small details of Beyer’s life in a new city, from things like ripping up the carpet in a new apartment to checking out the streets on her bicycle. Beyer somehow managed to document her personal experiences of acquainting with a new city while also creating something palatable that an audience can enjoy. I haven’t yet read the entire piece (129 pages), but it seems that Beyer is able to use the common themes of everyday life (relationships, work, friends) to produce a compelling narrative. Beyer’s undertaking in Year One was bold but in my opinion a strong success.

While Beyer’s piece is interesting because it does new things with content and style, it’s also intriguing from a lens looking at form. Year One deviates from what could be considered the more-typical graphic memoir. Beyer’s piece reads somewhat like a micro-view of the graphic memoir by examining the day-to-day details that make up an experience. The written diary is an age-old convention, and rarely published for an outside audience, but Beyer manages to put an illustrative spin on that convention while also crafting something valuable. Beyer’s piece is like a graphic memoir except not quite- it details a finite space of time within her life and the audience can also read it with the awareness that it was created while those events were happening (instead of in retrospect). Beyer’s piece ultimately carves out a new graphic form in a way- the “graphic diary” perhaps?

Beyond Beyer’s breaking out of standard conventions of the graphic novel’s creation, she also extends that innovation to its publication. “Year One” is available on Beyer’s website for free (though the option to purchase it is there as well). While her more popular piece, “Little Fish,” is only available for purchase, the decision to leave “Year One” as a free piece strikes me as very savvy. Beyer gives her audience an opportunity to become familiar with the quality of her work before taking the larger leap of purchasing a text. Because some of her work is available for purchase, Beyer isn’t selling herself short as an artist, she’s saying “Hey, I know you don’t know me. Check out my work though, and you’ll see that I’m kicking ass.” Or at least that’s how I interpreted it.

Ultimately, this is the tale of how I stumbled across a strong, talented female comic artist doing new and intriguing things. I’ll attach the first page of Beyer’s Year One because- wow! Check out that work she’s doing with breaking down the panel and exhibiting movement- talk about a strong start. If Beyer isn’t already on the map, I’d say she’s on her way. Also I think this style might be an interesting one to draw from for the web comic assignment- I’d love to see someone’s life in Fredericksburg narrated through a weekly web comic.

 

year one first pageyear-one-week1b

Take Back the Comics

0
0

Last Tuesday, in what was perhaps the most impassioned and content-driven conversations of our class thus far, we discussed the implications of a feminist reading of Watchmen and its characters.  Our discussion was civil and lively, with many students engaging the text critically in way that had been somewhat lacking up to that point.  It was a fruitful discussion that seemed to open the door for further discussion by breaking away from the perception of the novel as some untouchable masterpiece, instead revealing it to be a work with flaws just like any piece of human creation.

But just as our discussion brought more of our class into conversation with the comic, similar discussions across the medium and across other mediums traditionally associated with “nerd culture” have been met with hostility and derision from certain corners of the established fan-bases for these forms.  It is undeniable that these subcultures, formerly dominated by white males, have received an influx of women, people of color, and sexual minorities over last several years as the internet, Hollywood movies, and big video games have exposed more and more people to these formerly cult interests.  More and more people have come to understand the appeal of comics, gaming, midnight movies, and other geek-pleasures.  But as these new participants learned as they experienced this new world, most of these genres took little to no interest in realistic and positive portrayals of their lives and experiences, often reducing them to functions of plot, sexual objects, token members of the group, or any number of other roles, some empty and generally innocuous, but some actively disparaging and sexist/racist/homophobic etc.

And so many of these new members of the culture set out to try to improve their depictions, some by writing or otherwise creating their own art, and others by engaging in conversations about the works much like we did.  To most, this is an obvious and constructive process for any medium hoping to improve and become a part of more people’s lives.  But the backlash to this movement has often been swift and vicious.  Just recently, (presumably) male video game fans instigated a large scale assault over the internet towards female game developer Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian in #Gamergate, which exposed a huge undercurrent of violent sexism in certain online circles.  In addition, there have been a series of public outcries over the announcements of a new Hispanic Spiderman and a female Thor, among countless smaller examples on the internet which show how deep these issues run.

I should be careful here to indicate that I of course do not mean to insinuate that any male fan of comics or gaming is sexist or racist, as that is obviously untrue.  But it is fairly undeniable that these issues exist and are persistent in the community.  Ultimately, if the culture surrounding these mediums is to evolve, we need more conversations like the one our class held, and we need to make clear that a feminist critique is not meant to disqualify an entire work.  People who want to see more stories about female characters don’t think we shouldn’t have stories about males.  A person can admit that Laurie’s portrayal in Watchmen is deeply flawed and that the text has issues with women while also loving it and being dazzled by its artistry and floored by its complexities.  If we all allow for more discussion, and the validation of more viewpoints, comics will be all the richer for it.

Bitch Planet on Earth: The Real-World Phenomenon of Non-Compliance

0
0

Panels from Bitch Planet #1

Panels from Bitch Planet #1

Panels from Bitch Planet #1

Panel from Bitch Planet #1

A self-proclaimed feminist comic, Kelly Sue Deconnick’s Bitch Planet began making waves from the release of its very first issue, with the cover sporting the question, “Are you woman enough to survive?” above the image of a woman with both middle fingers flung above her head.  The new series, produced by Image Comics, manages both to reflect and criticize old prison exploitation films, all the while making commentary on modern day society.  The story centers around a woman, Kamau Kogo, who, alongside a colorful and varying cast of women, is sent to a prison in space known in the vernacular as Bitch Planet (where they send the bitches).  The women there are all those deemed by society (and in particular the men in society) as non-compliant.  Of course, within this satirically exaggerated patriarchal society, to be non-compliant could mean almost anything, and the women’s crimes range from murder to gluttony or outspokenness.  One women’s sole crime is that she is no longer desired by her husband, who wishes to replace her with a younger, more beautiful woman, and so has her sent away.

The commentary is not subtle, nor does the book shy away from clear and graphic illustrations of how the women of the story are exploited, and how they fight back.  The book’s artist, Valentine De Landro, makes no effort to showcase the violence perpetrated by and against the women, as well as plenty of profanity and nudity (which he takes care to keep from being objectifying, even when the plot’s desire to satirize exploitation calls for it).  In the panels pictured, one of the women, Penny Rolle, unabashedly complains that the prison uniform provided to her is much too small, which it is.  She has no qualms about standing up for herself to a society that has done nothing but mistreat her for her so-called “non-compliance,” and in retaliation, a guard beats her with a nightstick.  At this point, the book’s lead character, Kogo, stands up for her fellow prisoner who, as it turns out, doesn’t much need defending.

 

Bitch Planet #2 Back Cover

Bitch Planet #2 Back Cover

This attitude and shameless feminism does not stay within the pages of the story.  Indeed it carries over to the backpages of each issue, where a different author is asked to write an essay related to feminist or intersectional issues.  Also included in every issue is a letter from DeConnick to the readers, as well as tweets, pictures, and posts made by readers about the book or things related to it.  Finally, even the back cover of each issue keeps in theme, with different mock ads (sometimes selling real merchandise produced and mailed by DeConnick’s team) and blurbs.  If the story itself weren’t so great, these back covers might have been the best part of the book.  Within this satire, too, is heartfeltness, as shown in the pictured back cover of Bitch Planet #2, wherin lies a short tribute to Leelah Alcorn, a transgender youth who had recently passed away.

The fervor that the first four published issues of Bitch Planet has inspired has been palpable.  Countless readers have contacted DeConnick and the others responsible for the book, sending tweets, tumblr messages, and letters.  What these fans have realized was the very message that DeConnick intended; that the world of Bitch Planet wasn’t some far off over-the-top sci-fi world, it is the very one in which they live.  Many admirers of the comic have themselves been deemed non-compliant by the society they lived in, often for seemingly silly, unimportant things.  Of course, not every one of these women are sent to prison for their non-compliance, but nevertheless, many have suffered and do suffer in other ways, whether through discrimination or other means.  Through the story of Bitch Planet, DeConnick pointed out that many women are made to feel shame for their perceived failings, often things they have no control over, or things which are not failings at all.  Through the book and the messages found within, many women (and men) have been inspired, reclaiming those aspects about themselves seen as negative by societal expectations, and taking the term non-compliant for themselves.  “Soon after the first issue hit stands, the NC logo became a rallying cry for women who are too brash, feminist, opinionated, angry, fat, dark-skinned, queer, gender-non-conforming—or in a word, ‘non-compliant.'” (Goodyear, 2015).They are non-compliant, and they are proud.

NC Collage

Non-Compliant Tattoos

Works Cited

http://www.themarysue.com/bitch-planet-tattoos/

 

No Girls Allowed: Can Comic Stores be Safe Spaces?

0
0

Within the pages of comics readers have happily noticed the positive shift towards inclusion and representation for women and minorities. Readers and publishers are beginning to pay attention to their audiences requests to be reflective of the world today through their characters and by the artists producing comics as well. So why are the venues where these representative comics are sold still set in the misogynist mindset?

the-big-bang-theory-girls-in-a-comic-shop

Yeah right.

 

There are countless firsthand accounts of negative experiences within the walls of comic book stores that have been posted across the internet. Time and time again these accounts feel worse than a bad rerun of The Simpsons episodes featuring the insufferable Comic Book Guy. Comic stores featuring sexist advertisements and posters, as well as condescending conversation from store employees and male patrons are entirely misrepresenting the progressive comics on their very shelves. The derision from male staff and customers is unfortunately an all too common act of geek policing or gatekeeping that female comic readers have to combat when making their purchases.

The Buzzfeed video “If Geek Girls Acted Like Geek Guys” is a perfect example of these acts of gatekeeping, and the satirical video proves its point through its gender subversion alone.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Comic stores by nature are overwhelming spaces for even experienced readers, so it is critical for the success of their space, as well as the success of the comic industry, that these stores be welcoming from top to bottom. In order to best cater to their customers, comic store employees need to be both knowledgable of a huge variety of comics- ranging anywhere from popular kid focused titles, to obscure independent works. The nature of gatekeeping is doing more harm than good- both to the customer base as well as to the comics industry.

Considering the recent SKTCHD Survey of 25 worldwide comic book retailers, the percentage of female customer bases is significant. These retailers reported female patrons make up to 25 to 50% of their customer base. This only goes to prove how valuable it is for comic stores to be run in a friendly and conscientious manner towards women.

Sadly though even the more visible female readers still haven’t corrected the imbedded  in comic book stores. One critical example of the negative atmosphere experienced in comic book stores comes from female comic industry professional, Noelle Stevenson. In her autobiographical comic, Stevenson depicts her frustrations with geek culture hubs rampant sexism which manifests the moment a woman walks into a comics shop.

Noelle Stevenson's autobiographical comic on comic book stores

Noelle Stevenson’s autobiographical comic on comic book stores

From these negative interactions in comic stores Stevenson was made to feel ostracized by the less than supportive employees and their reactions to her her comic selection, and this is a comic industry professional- someone who lives and breathes comics for a living. Her narrative is an all too common one for women interested in comics.

There’s plenty of backlash against gatekeeping within comic book stores that needs to continue to be exposed by industry professionals like Stevenson as well as average customers, and there’s significant work being done in order to push for positive and safe spaces. While there are alternatives to entering brick and motar comic stores, such as purchasing comics digitally through distributors like Comixology, women are standing up for themselves against these bullying atmospheres with websites like Girl WonderThe Geek Initiative, and the tumblr Hater Free Wednesdays all with dedicated and regularly updated lists of comic stores that are female and minority friendly. These strides to assist those who feel marginalized in spaces that should be as welcoming to a diverse audience are an invaluable tool for comic readers wanting to foster safe spaces for all.

I’m happy to report as well that Fredericksburg Virginia touts a well reviewed comic store of it’s own located very close to the campus of Mary Washington. Little Fish Comics has been reviewed on Hater Free Wednesdays as well as Girl Wonder, and the buzz is nothing but glowing. I’m planning on stopping by this Sunday and am eager to see this safe space for myself.

A New Kind of Authority

0
0

The Authority has a reputation for being experimental and breaking down many of the classic comic book tropes. It was first published in 1999 under Wildstorm who is owned by DC Comics. The Authority is most noted for having pro-feminist ideals, featuring one of the first openly gay superhero couples, and having a team of benevolent superheroes that eventually usurps the government.

Jenny Sparks

The Authority was created and led by Jenny Sparks up until her death. Jenny was very powerful and is often called “the Spirit of the 20th Century” because she was born January 1st, 1990 but also because she appears to be connected to the planet itself. She never aged past about 20 years old and her mood shifted along with that of the world’s. Many theorize that her existence was a form of protection for the earth. The Authority is one of the few co-ed superhero teams that has a female leader but Jenny is also given more importance than just her connection to her team. When she dies on December 31st, 1999 her “successor”, Jenny Quantum, is born allowing her legacy to continue and showing just how connected Jenny was to the planet. Many of their story lines also discussed issues women often faced in positions of power.

Many of the characters in The Authority are members of the LGBTQ+ community but the two most notable are Apollo and Midnighter, who are meant to be analogues to Superman and Batman. Their relationship was subtle at first but became a lot more explicit when Mark Millar became the lead writer. Theirs was one of the very first homosexual relationships and also one of the healthiest. While the writing of the characters has some flaws and is not without criticism The Authority was one of the few comics at the time willing to have multiple, open, gay, main characters in their comic. But more than that, Apollo and Midnighter’s relationship was significant because their wedding was the first gay wedding to ever be shown in comic books, or at the very least in popular comic books. The two even later went on to raise a child together, Jenny Quantum.

    

In the Coup D’état story arc the Authority, who never answered to the government before, decides that what is now best for the US is for them to take control. The idea of the “good guys” overthrowing the government was very revolutionary at the time, but the question of why such powerful beings would limit themselves and follow the rules of others has often been asked. The Authority challenges the notion that only those with ill will would want total power. It was a controversial story arc as many readers still felt that it was an unprincipled act despite intention. Despite, or maybe because of, the controversy these issues were some of the best-selling issues for the Authority series. The Authority eventually resign from power, in The Authority: Revolution storyline, after a tragic battle and their resulting shame but the temporary control was still an interesting and unique moment in comic book history.






Latest Images