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I've been told I should use these things for talking.
As a girl in comics I often find the people I disagree with more are other women in comics. A great deal of the time a see a post about how, as a woman, I should hate the latest Power Girl or Miss Marvel cover. How I should support female creators and female characters because they're female.
Maybe I just have a streak of 'man' in me because I don't care. The attractive way women are drawn is why I like comics. All but one of my favorite characters are male. Gender of the creator should not be the only reason I want to purchase or read something.
Most of all I don't enjoy people saying "This is why women hate comics." I'm a woman and I like it. Don't presume to speak for me ladies.
As long as the boobs don't always have erect nipples through 3 layers of clothing I don't care how big Power Girl's boobs are.
9 thoughts on “04/06/2011”
Rhov
Oh THANK you for saying that! I write stories, and usually my MCs are women, not because I only write about women (I really don’t) but simply because I identify with females easier. Still, I have many people come up saying, “Oh, yay, you write about women! You should like this female writer and this book is great for women and (gasp) what do you mean you like Hemingway???” Gender of the creator, be it writer or artist, means zero to me. I write what I want, not what women specifically will want. So long as the women are not all stereotypical blond bimbos, even if some are prim and proper or slutty and catty, I can enjoy what I read. Gender means nothing, and more often than not, I hate books and movies “aimed at the female audience” because it feels like they try too hard. When I tell this to my female friends, they’ll stare at me for half a minute, then leer suspiciously, “I remember now… you were a tomboy up until 4th grade.” What the….seriously? 4th grade? And when did I ever conform to gender normatives? So it’s refreshing to find another woman who does not cave in to feminist pressure.
KB
I didn’t really know this much wank existed until recently when I got the web page and started trying to get into circles of other web comic creators. Then I started to notice just how much female creators talk about this kind of stuff. Sexism, racism, “ablism,” all these things that had really never occurred to me. It seems like they think you aren’t doing it right if you don’t have a gay character, or a handicapped character, or a race that most other people never use.
But then I realize I have all that and they can bite me. I did it because I wanted to and not because I was pressured to by the PC police.
AuroraMoon
I totally agree. I draw comics occasionally, and most of the time it’s just fantasy stories that has women in skimpy clothing. and I’m a woman. Yet, my comic as well as my stories could easily be considered “sexist” just because I like drawing sexy women in skimpy clothing. And what’s more, I also tend to give the male characters the same treatment… so I tend to see it as a Equal Fan-service comic. so am I being sexist to both women and men?
And like you, I happen to like comics. I don’t mind the way the women are drawn, just as long as they don’t have attributes that are too ridiculously exaggerated or constantly victims in the stories.
Likewise, I also don’t like it when the men are also over-exaggerated in build and their character. men sporting muscles the size of watermelons on their arms are just not attractive to me. Ugh.
Now it if was a funny parody though, then I could be okay with the over-Exaggeration of both women and men since how the artists and writers are intentionally going over the top, instead of treating them like characters that you were supposed to take seriously.
The same thing with video games.
some women complain that video games are sexist.. but the way I see it:
women are with curves and nice breasts = men made ruggedly handsome with six-pack abs the size of watermelons.
Women have nude scenes and often show there bare breasts = men also have nude scenes that show their naked bums and often run around with no shirt on.
There are lots of games where a woman is the main protagonist, and a lot of games that have a male as the main protagonist feature strong women as well.
I don’t see a problem here.
I have yet to play a game where women are blatantly treated as property outright. Yes, certain games do have a tendency have women be nothing but a token love interest or something in most video games. but nothing that ever said: “Hey, this girl is your property so you can do whatever you want to her! So go ahead and abuse her all you want.”
so I think what those few women really meant to say was: “We’re tired of seeing the same archetypes over and over. We would like to see some variety. I want to have some bit of reality mixed in with this fantasy setting. I want to see different types of body builds, And different types of women. please?”
They’re only confusing the issue by claiming that sticking to the archetypes are sexist or something.
KB
From what I heard on the internet you can’t be sexist towards men. It’s not sexism it’s payback. I am absolutely not kidding. I saw someone say that.
This is why most feminism is bullshit. Equality is not payback.
AuroraMoon
If somebody actually said that in front of me, I’d slap them for being so stupid. Seriously.
It’s like saying Blacks and other races can’t be racist towards each other, apparently only White people are racist. If you know what I mean.
Yes, Men DO face sexism too!! It just tends to come in different flavors than the sexism directed towards women. For instance, If A man marries an woman who turned out to be a Husband Beater, you can bet your ass there isn’t going to be much support out there for him.
on one hand, He’s considered just a wimpy p*ssy who couldn’t even stand up to his wife and apparently he “lets” his wife beat him black and blue.
on the other hand, if he does stand up to her and actually defends himself against her, then omg he’s all evil and HE’s the spouse abuser!!
The only way out for him is if he divorces her… but that’s where the predicament comes in… a lot of those men often find themselves in the same situation as abused wives do– some misguided sense of loyalty, love and such that makes them stay despite the abuse.
The only way that they can leave them, is if they had support and somebody to talk about it, in order to make them see how illogical it is staying with somebody so abusive.
But there’s very little support out there, so as an result more than 12,000 men a year DIE from spousal abuse. Yet, people make fun of that kind of situation, finding it funny that a wife could even abuse an husband and not the way around.
Because ya know, all men are supposed to be strong, macho buff guys who can totally take on any trouble that goes their way. otherwise, they’re just a wimpy loser p*ssy who isn’t worth your time.
Yeah, right.
kermitsgirl
Pffft, as a woman who reads 70+ webcomics a week and grew up attached to Betty and Veronica as well as X-Men comics, anyone that presumes to speak on my behalf as to “what women hate/love about comics” is someone I’d like to slap.
I don’t write comics because I simply cannot draw, but I AM a writer, and I tend to make my female leads in need of saving. Does this make me sexist? No, it means I like it when a man steps up and helps a woman who needs it. Does it mean that I only read stories with a “weak” female lead? No.
It’s no different than the friends I have that are disgusted by the fact that, when I have children, I’d like to be a stay-at-home mom. “All that education and natural intelligence gone to waste! You’re so much better than that!” Um, excuse me?
I tend to find it’s the feminists who hold me back from my true potential as a woman I want to be. I don’t think women fought for equal rights just so they could be told what is right and wrong by other women.
KB
Yeah that’s exactly the sentiment I see. I loooove the guy saving the lady. Especially if it’s a big cuddly guy. There’s just none of that in the comic.
One of my early favorite comics artists died recently and people still make fun of how he drew women. Give it a rest.
kermitsgirl
Also (forgot to say this before), I love the sign of the “1 taco + 1 taco = 2 tacos!” (In my mind, that man’s shoulder is covering the = XD)
Qwerty2999
Given the love that’s being shared here.
KB, thank you for making such an amazing webcomic series, and an even cooler Patreon too. 😀
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