So I started to to follow When Fangirls Attack, which is a great aggregator of, well. Women-in-comics links. And I've been reading through the various Detective Comics/Batwoman related things, and maaaaan is everyone in love with her/the book.
Except by "everyone" I mean "all the guys who are writing reviews." There are women that write reviews of comics, right? Somewhere? In the week and a half since the book came out, most of the reviews I've read have been by males. And the few negative or neutral reviews I've read have been the ones by women, or by people whose gender isn't evident based on name. (Which leads me to my first caveat: I'm absolutely admitting to assuming gender - and making alliteration! - based on posting name.)
One of the most obvious indications of the maleness of the reviews is that they all love love love Kate but the reaction to Renee is middling. Femmes get all the straight, male love, yo. And a lot of the focus is on the art, really.
There's something that doesn't sit right with me when a review by a man starts out with "I'm in love." This isn't to say the rest of the review isn't valid, or that people don't have a right to continue the objectification of women (well...), especially in the very visual medium of comics where the practice has been rampant for years, but how many reviews of Dick Grayson throwing on the Batman outfit start with "I'm in love."? There's this cloud that hangs over the head of a lot of lesbians with an interest in pop culture, and that cloud is: two ladies macking on each other is twice as hot as one lady just standing there!
I don't like that cloud. It takes away from my sunny joy of finally finally having a lesbian leading a major comic line at a major comic company. We're one issue in and I already need an umbrella (and a new metaphor). And these guys aren't getting it from nowhere. They're getting it from pointy-nippled costumes and cracks about Batwoman's hair, and her essentially using her (unattainable to the male) sexuality to soothe a bad guy in the first few pages of the issue.
Danger Will Robinson.
Can you imagine The Question going up to some guy, cooing at him in a soft voice with her lips (erm... no-lips) inches from his, running a hand through his hair, and talking coyly? No, exactly. How about Batman? And the sad part is, I'm not sure if I can see Wonder Woman doing it, or Black Canary or any number of other female superheroes. That means that the "femme" lesbian is getting hypersexualized while in her superhero persona. On purpose.
Why?
As one of the few female superheroes with a costume that actually covers her entire body, and with sensible shoes, to boot, why does the sexuality have to be turned up a notch or ten?
I'm interested/scared to see her interactions with the child-like Alice. Male homosexuality is often associated (wrongly) with pedophelia. So let's see where this goes. I'm interested/scared to see this supposed trauma in her past. If it's rape at the hands of some military guys either related to her dad, or while she herself was in the military prior to getting ousted for DADA stuff, I may have to walk away from the title. Lesbianism is often associated (wrongly) with rape survivors. That kind of overdone storyline may be a deal breaker for me. (Okay, I'd still get it for the Question co-feature, but... you know!)
So, yeah, let's see where it goes. I continue to have faith in Greg Rucka, because I think he's awesome and I like his sensibilities (I've been reading his livejournal and started following him @twitter). But the reviews I've been reading have got me worried, because this is the audience that's being catered to: straight and male. Let's be honest. Even if they're aware that LGBTQ people and females or other gendered people are reading their comics, and even if they're trying to get an inclusive message out to the majority group, they still want to sell comics. So that's not who they're aiming for, because minorities are, well. Minorities and therefore aren't spending at the same level, and comics are still a business and businesses need money to survive.
Maybe I just want a Question feature and a Batwoman co-feature and I'm bitter that it's the other way around. Heh. 'Cause seriously, I don't love Kate Kane. I like her, and I'm interested in her, and I like what she means, but I don't love her. Not yet. But Renee Montoya... well.
I guess she's more my type.*
*Irony intentional.
Except by "everyone" I mean "all the guys who are writing reviews." There are women that write reviews of comics, right? Somewhere? In the week and a half since the book came out, most of the reviews I've read have been by males. And the few negative or neutral reviews I've read have been the ones by women, or by people whose gender isn't evident based on name. (Which leads me to my first caveat: I'm absolutely admitting to assuming gender - and making alliteration! - based on posting name.)
One of the most obvious indications of the maleness of the reviews is that they all love love love Kate but the reaction to Renee is middling. Femmes get all the straight, male love, yo. And a lot of the focus is on the art, really.
There's something that doesn't sit right with me when a review by a man starts out with "I'm in love." This isn't to say the rest of the review isn't valid, or that people don't have a right to continue the objectification of women (well...), especially in the very visual medium of comics where the practice has been rampant for years, but how many reviews of Dick Grayson throwing on the Batman outfit start with "I'm in love."? There's this cloud that hangs over the head of a lot of lesbians with an interest in pop culture, and that cloud is: two ladies macking on each other is twice as hot as one lady just standing there!
I don't like that cloud. It takes away from my sunny joy of finally finally having a lesbian leading a major comic line at a major comic company. We're one issue in and I already need an umbrella (and a new metaphor). And these guys aren't getting it from nowhere. They're getting it from pointy-nippled costumes and cracks about Batwoman's hair, and her essentially using her (unattainable to the male) sexuality to soothe a bad guy in the first few pages of the issue.
Danger Will Robinson.
Can you imagine The Question going up to some guy, cooing at him in a soft voice with her lips (erm... no-lips) inches from his, running a hand through his hair, and talking coyly? No, exactly. How about Batman? And the sad part is, I'm not sure if I can see Wonder Woman doing it, or Black Canary or any number of other female superheroes. That means that the "femme" lesbian is getting hypersexualized while in her superhero persona. On purpose.
Why?
As one of the few female superheroes with a costume that actually covers her entire body, and with sensible shoes, to boot, why does the sexuality have to be turned up a notch or ten?
I'm interested/scared to see her interactions with the child-like Alice. Male homosexuality is often associated (wrongly) with pedophelia. So let's see where this goes. I'm interested/scared to see this supposed trauma in her past. If it's rape at the hands of some military guys either related to her dad, or while she herself was in the military prior to getting ousted for DADA stuff, I may have to walk away from the title. Lesbianism is often associated (wrongly) with rape survivors. That kind of overdone storyline may be a deal breaker for me. (Okay, I'd still get it for the Question co-feature, but... you know!)
So, yeah, let's see where it goes. I continue to have faith in Greg Rucka, because I think he's awesome and I like his sensibilities (I've been reading his livejournal and started following him @twitter). But the reviews I've been reading have got me worried, because this is the audience that's being catered to: straight and male. Let's be honest. Even if they're aware that LGBTQ people and females or other gendered people are reading their comics, and even if they're trying to get an inclusive message out to the majority group, they still want to sell comics. So that's not who they're aiming for, because minorities are, well. Minorities and therefore aren't spending at the same level, and comics are still a business and businesses need money to survive.
Maybe I just want a Question feature and a Batwoman co-feature and I'm bitter that it's the other way around. Heh. 'Cause seriously, I don't love Kate Kane. I like her, and I'm interested in her, and I like what she means, but I don't love her. Not yet. But Renee Montoya... well.
I guess she's more my type.*
*Irony intentional.
