Is feminism hurting comics?

The “Women vs. Tropes” video caused a major splash a few weeks ago. The basic question is whether or not video games are serving the interests of women gamers, and the answer was probably not. Whether or not that was a good thing depended on your perspective on the games themselves as the answer got a little complicated. Some of the same basic questions need to be asked when it comes to comics.

Let’s break this down to three issues, as these seem to come up the most: costumes, Women In Refrigerators, and women in second place. Although both men and women are dressed skimpily, our perspective on that changes depending on the gender of the character. With men, it’s a power fantasy, as men like to see powerfully built men and for women it’s because guys like to see scantily clad women. It’s interesting that the choices are based as if gay or female readers don’t exist; I understand the logic, as men are the majority of readers, but it just feels weird. And I definitely understand why the charges of skimpy clothing; there is no way you can convince any intelligent person that some of those costumes (Witchblade, I’m ogling you!) are anything less than exploitive.

However...There’s an interesting problem. Yeah, some costumes are exploitive, but that’s the point; if you’re going to have men use their charm and appearance as their power, you need to allow women to do the same. It’s also representative of a healthy sexuality to dress as the person desires, and we all know men and women that dress to make the most of their charms; that needs to be represented in our heroes as well. We need characters like Vampirella as well as Wonder Woman; some characters dress that way to seduce and others because they are just comfortable that way. Diana dresses that way because it allows her to fight more effectively just as Vampirella dresses that way because she bloody well can; both should be allowed to dress how it works for them.

I just think that women should be allowed to dress as appropriate for the character regardless of political correctness. By placing limitations on women’s wardrobes that we aren’t on men’s places creative limits on illustrators, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I know it’s weird to argue that running around in skimpy costumes JUST LIKE THE MEN is something that needs to be allowed, but it is something that should be at least debated. Otherwise we’re placing restraints on women that we aren’t on men, and that just doesn’t seem fair.

Women in Refirgerators started off as a decent idea. Originally it was legitimately pointing out that women were being treated unfairly, and that women needed to be treated as more than mere objects. However, somewhere along the way it morphed into a listing of bad things that happened to women. When it did that, it morphed into something completely different; a number of fans asked how that supported women’s rights, especially when men suffered so much more. Sure, you can argue that women are raped, but so are men in the comics; the list of men that were sexually assaulted is not a short one. Even Spiderman was molested as a boy!

Having such a list has an unfortunate side effect: It has a chilling effect on what creators can do with women. Women can no longer be the target of an attack, or it gets listed on the website. As such some of the greatest character scenes would never happened, such as Batgirl becoming Oracle, and some characters, such as Jean Grey are simply impossible. This kind of list limits creators by limiting what they can do with their creations; they cannot do anything really bad to the women characters or it pops on the list and the creators become listed as sexist.

Now, if we had been debating this a decade ago, I would not be arguing that women characters are up there with the guys. I was debating ignoring DC for a moment, but it has the most problems. Wonder Woman needs to have her own movie, period, and they need to have more female lead characters. In an industry full of incredible, deep female characters, where women lead teams, have their own comics, and basically rock even in the movies, DC has so many issues when it comes to its female characters that it needs to debate its hiring practices. I know that there is a dearth of female creators and that definitely needs to change, but DC needs to have more women characters, and it needs to happen ASAP.

Now I’m not saying that feminists need to go back into the woodwork by any stretch; someone needs to start a fire under the collective butts of DC comics. And I agree that there is a lot of work to be done. But at the same time they do need to back off a step, or we’re going to have supers in nothing but committee-approved Victorian dress to insure that nothing ever bad happens to them. At the same time, I think that the gains that have been accomplished need to be strengthened. It’s basic tactics; every so often you need to stop charging down the mine shaft and build up the supports. We also need to find a way to encourage more girls to become writers and illustrators; we don’t have enough and that needs to change. The pressure just needs to be let up a bit.

And is anyone else smiling when you picture Gail Simone literally lighting a fire under the DC execs?

The Importance of Fathers In Comics

The running joke in comics is that you can only become a hero when your father has been killed. Surviving fathers can be a royal pain, as any decent Greek or Shakespearian actor can tell you. There will always be generational warfare; it makes for a certain degree of sense. The old must always give way to the new, but it doesn’t mean that the old needs to go meekly into retirement. They can have their plans, and their own young can get the way just as anyone else can. You also have the problem that the young will rebel against the old; they will fight for their rightful place in the sun as they should.

However, sometimes dads and sons get along, and that’s something we need to consider here. You need to look at the occasional father that acts as friend and mentor of his son, just in case it happens. So let’s look at some examples of fathers that did right by their kids.

Jonathan Kent: May as start off with the best. Jonathan had a tough row to hoe; you know that punishing little Clark had to be tough. Nonetheless, through some no-doubt creative parenting, he was able to raise Clark into a responsible citizen of the United States. Jonathan is one of those characters that they did right on a number of levels; he’s not only home-spun but not a hick, and someone you would not mind having a beer, not wine, with. He leads you to the right answer without forcing it, and he has more power over guilt than a Jewish mother. Although he seems to have one of the highest mortality rates of any non-hero (he’s died at least four times), he nonetheless seems to be one of DC’s major presences.

Reed Richards: Although he has a reputation for misogyny thanks to some older comics, Reed is nonetheless a great parent, and not just because he has some of the best toys and he can turn into a slide. The classic issue here is X-Men vs. Fantastic Four #3, where one of his old journals has been found and the team is undergoing an existential crisis. Franklin is having a nightmare, and Reed calms him by giving his rendition of “Saggy-Baggy Elephant” followed by one of the most severe ticklings ever. That he can switch between the analytical scientist and loving father says a lot about the strength of the character.

William Hunter: Most comic book fathers are idealized in one way or another and have great kids; Mr. Hunter is not one of them. Missing an arm, he is a widower and father to Timothy Hunter, greatest mage of his generation. Tim is not the greatest son; he sucks at school, he runs away constantly, and has some issues with authority. However, William still supports him, no matter how weird, and makes sure that Tim always has a room to come home to. Although he isn’t always sure what to do about Tim’s comings and goings, he nonetheless adapts to his son, providing a great base for his adolescent son.

In short, if you want a great father, make sure that he supports his son, that he adapts to his son’s unusual abilities, and that he’s someone you wouldn’t mind having a beer with. It helps if he is the receptacle of wisdom, but he can get away with knowing someone who is. Not all dads need to total jerks with a desire to rule/destroy the universe, but we can discuss those jerks at a later date.

Why the Feminist Frequency Sucks For Marketing

One of the problems that any webcomic faces is the conflict between audience and profitability. In essence, the larger the potential audience the greater the potential profitability the webcomic has. By doing anything to limit the audience, you also limit the potential there is for profit. If I target a primarily female audience that means that I limit my potential to half that as much as if I went after everyone.

The bad news is that this means that I also need to keep in mind my operating costs. If my operating costs are relatively small, then I can ignore the profitability of my webcomic and do pretty much anything I want to without worrying about what other people say about the comic. On the other hand if I’m trying to make a profit from the comic, then I need to worry about what the public thinks about my comic, and I need as many people as possible to read the comic.

This is sort of what “Tropes against Women” gets wrong. Gaming is not about making progressive stands to better society; it is not about making a stand for or against something so much as it is about making a profit. In that regard it tends to operate on free market principles; whatever sells is usually what they produce. This means that whatever consumers buy the most of in a particular year will probably find itself being produced more of in the following years. The problem is that women make up less than a quarter of gamers, and developers are more interested in the majority of gamers, producing games for male gamers. Given the millions that it takes to develop games, this makes sense.

However, and contrary to what Sarkeesian thinks, the portrayal of women has improved over time. They have changed from merely the reward at the end of the quest to the motivation for that quest as well as aid along that path. Zelda may get captured, but until that point she proves to be an able ally, sometimes having to choose between her duties as princess and those as Link’s benefactor. At one point she even invents an identity, that of Sheikh, in order to adventure alongside Link. A decade ago she would have been limited to just being the object of the quest; now she is an equal partner, even telling Link what to do.

Obviously I’m not trying to say that things cannot get better, but that it takes a different approach to work. I think that webcomics can benefit from looking at some of Sarkeesian’s points. So I’ll be exploring those points over the next series of colums.

Some interesting thoughts on an article.....

Sometimes an article needs to be looked at in some detail. Io9.com published an article on writing comics that I think needs to looked at in some great detail.

Action and Dialogue: The point it makes about is one you need to take to heart. Every scene needs to move the plot forward, and that applies to action as well as exposition. Exposition are important, especially as they allow you to explain what is happening, but you don’t want just random explanations; you want to parcel out exposition as needed. Action scenes should also move the plot; don’t place them solely to have some excitement to happen; excitement needs to be parceled out just like exposition. Dialogue can be used for both; it can also aid in establishing characterization. It’s all about the pacing; mind your pacing and your comic will flow like Shakespeare. Use dialogue, action, or exposition without a good reason, and it slows or disrupts anything you are trying to set up.

Being Gritty: The first reboot is always a dark, gritty one. For some reason when people do a s sequel or a reboot, it almost always comes out more violent, more corrupt, and with more sex than the first, and it is done so often that it’s become a running joke. Try to avoid the temptation; it rarely works out well. Sure, once in a while you get something like Wrath of Khan or Empire Strikes Back, but generally you get something like the New Universe or Battlestar Galactica, and that’s something you want to avoid. Try to avoid the temptation, or do it with the intention to get it out of your blood; just don’t get to mired in it.

Origin Stories: The easiest way to get things going is to start at the beginning. That’s why writers do the origin first; it’s a good starting point and the hero starts with that fresh character smell. However, you can also start halfway through the story and debate flashbacks as you go; this is actually a pretty fun way to do it as you get to keep the readers guessing and they love trying to figure things out. Try to avoid starting at the end, and flashing back to beginning; this kills all sense of suspense and some twists feel like they were added just to stump people. Readers hate surprise twists; earn them like you do everything else. Short form: Start with an origin or halfway in, but START.

Illusion of Change: This is not a bad idea, especially for a comic strip. You want your characters to become an archetype, make as few changes to the universe as a whole. This is why superheroes don’t die; for them to die permanently we need to acknowledge change, and change can wreak its own changes on the universe. At the same time, a more dynamic universe requires that this illusion be dashed, such as one where the rebels actually win or the lovers start raising kids. Decide on what level of change your universe needs, and go for it.

Reboots and Retcons: Occasionally you will need to make sweeping changes because you either need to better organize your universe or because things just aren’t working out. Don’t be afraid to hit the restart button every so often, but make sure that you work out all of the changes ahead of time. This can be great for re-inspiring you and getting you going again, as well as refreshing the universe. Just don’t use more than you absolutely more than you need to; if you use it too often you erase the anchors that your readers depend on, and changing those anchors by cost you readership. They need something to depend on; eliminate that and you eliminate them.

Yeah, I’ll be addressing the last point by itself, and I may be revisiting these in a week or so. But this should get your started…