Petition to Marvel for more superheroines
Petition to Marvel for more superheroines
E submitted:
I know this is a bit off-topic for your website, but I thought it would appeal to your fanbase. It is a petition to Marvel for more female-based comics, particularly asking for solo stories (preventing the inclusion of women by just giving male MC’s a girlfriend) and non-objectifying storylines. At submission, there were only 300 signatures, and I think there are way more fans out there who would like to see non-sexist superheroines.
I hesitated to publish this link for some time now (there are 4000+ signatures at the moment), because frankly, I don’t endorse this particular petition.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a noble cause, BUT since the topic (women in comics) is not only broad, but particularly delicate and controversial, the petition concerning it should be created with care, thought and meticulous research.
And what I see under this link is just general statements put haphazardly with the dreaded “strong female character” phrase and this fanart that, despite best intentions, conveys status quo of all superheroines sharing the same cartoonishly thin body and similar face.
The petition is poorly worded, full of generalizations and needlessly judgmental statements.
If I personally were to sign a petition for such big, broad feminist cause, I would expect much better execution out of it.
But in the end, I’ll let the readers decide whether or not they should sign it.
~~~
As we’re on the subject of petitioning mainstream comic publishers, I’d encourage readers to take a look at THIS ONE that asks DC to stop their distasteful ‘draw suicidal Harley Quinn’ art contest.
I wouldn’t go as far as to cry ‘sexualization!’ at the script they’re asking to be drawn, but neither did DC have to specifically ask for Harley to be naked in the infamous bathtub panel (many contestants would depict her as such either way), nor did the page need to be about suicide jokes at all.
The script provided is taken out of context, described poorly, doesn’t suit the character and sounds awfully triggering (and unfunny, if you asked me). Not to mention it came out during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
It’s not a good material for an open-for-everyone art contest, so let’s make DC know we don’t want it to continue.
Could be a bit less boobplate-y, but pretty cool design nonetheless.
I’d be prepared to give the boobplate a pass here for once, for two reasons:
1) it appears to be lacking the sternum-snapping ridge on the inside. The front of the armour looks fairly flat, and the sculpted breasts appear to be mainly on the side. They wouldn’t be as much of a liability.
2) the depth of the breastplate is such that they probably aren’t form-fitting at all, and they’re simply sculpted on rather than actually containing her breasts, similar to the stylised musculature on the front of Roman officers’ breastplates.
As I said in a previous reply to similar comment, I suspect that the ornamental golden figure may create a weak point anyway (but I’m neither a smith nor a welder, so don’t take my word for it).
Also, if we take a closer look, there’s a hole between her breast boobplate and collar, and that hole just happens to be roughly where her sternum starts.
And you apparently haven’t seen a well–done boob bump on an armor if you’re defending how this looks.
Because however better than such death wish or this absurd, it’s still a pretty standard sphere-based booblate. And even if purely ornamental, it’s a design flaw anyway. Hell, assuming there’s padding unbeneath, such shaped mold may be a bit uncomfortable to put on.
It’s a very awesome character and costume design (badass knight woman of color, squee!) and a huge leap in right direction, but let us acknowledge that it’s not exactly perfect or practical in every way possible, alright?
RHA: Replies to Comments OUTSIDE Tumblr – Part 1
(Warning; long post)
[1] hizamaruu said: “lol any person that complains about what a girl is wearing in an mmo are just butthurt insecure people because they dont look as good as the person they play >.> grow up so what if they look better than you or so what if youre attracted to it but stay in the closet about it cuz youre embarrased get over it and play your game or dont play it its that simple quit bitching publicly over something so little as armor on a fictional piece of polygons kthx”
Tica’s Reply:
This is so wrong on so many levels, my friend. Let’s break this down; you say that any person that complains about what women wear in mmos are “butthurt” and “insecure” because we don’t look “as good as them”, correct? First of, do you have any proof? Have anyone ever said “I don’t like this character because they look better than me”? And how is that logical, especially in mmos? Normally, when you customize your character, you create someone you want to be, find appealing and etcetera. When female characters are made, they are rarely ever made with a female audience in mind; they’re made to be eye-candy, a sex object, for heterosexual, horny men. We do not find that attractive. We find it offensive. We feel objectified because there was no other thought to her other than “make her sexy”; because psh, who needs an actual unique design, right? (answer: Everyone! Females are humans too! *gasp*) There’s literally nothing to be jealous over, because we DON’T want to be these characters. We feel uncomfortable being portrayed like that. And this is what saddens us. There is nothing we feel comfortable with; but of course, once we express our opinion about this, we come off as “bitching”, which is something you clearly need to think over.Also, when you tell us to get over it or don’t play it, you are basically saying that you like it and won’t listen to reason. I’m up for a conversation here, where we can discuss, not blatantly ignore what others have to say or think. You’re allowed to have an opinion, but do not try to stop anyone from telling theirs.[2] Anonymous said: “like heroes would wear bulletproof vests in action movies or something… same thing”
Tica’s Reply:
No, it is not the same thing. In the past it was seen as easier to draw their uniforms more form fitting. There’s also this thing about flexibility and the ability to hide the suit under the clothes; and this goes for both men and women. Besides, technically there are heroes with bulletproof vests, see the Batsuit, for example. Besides, no bulletproof vests =/= sexulization.
[3] Anonymous said: “A beautful woman does not need clothes or armors… haha”
Tica’s Reply:
Actually, they do, unless you’re willing to sacrifice logic, reason, story, setting and treating both genders as equal.
It probably would be a bit thought-provoking if I said “A beautiful man does not need clothes or armors”, wouldn’t it? Especially when you see men run around naked… all the time.
You can be beautiful, strong, sexy, and everything in between with clothes on and a proper armor. There are some amazing examples out there, and many of us are hoping to see more of that. Who doesn’t love to actually see a design that describes the character or setting? A design someone actually thought trough, instead of just slapping on a bikini. Character designers are limiting themselves by doing this; when there’s billion of different ways to create a character.
And yes, I am aware of that there are some people, female and male, that do enjoy having their character running around naked/half naked, maybe because they feel more powerful that way or they like the outfit as fetish-wear or sexual-roleplay, and that is alright. As long as it’s equal, and treated with care and respect.
[4] Mika said: “May I say this to you all,they said on mmo news that 80 or 85 % that play mmos game are mostly guys so you womans better not be taking us down about this CAUSE THEY ARE MORE OF US THEN YOU IN ALL MMO GAMES.”
Tica’s Reply:
Just, allow me to laugh at this for a moment.
