you keep your brain under your belt

[ivy_chan]

Had a disagreement with Sexist Friend about the body shapes of Marvel superheroes. He claims that they're the perfect human bodies for male and female, and I disagreed, saying that they're idealized male and female bodies from the male perspective, designed to cater to male interest: uber-testosterone, muscle-built men, women with giant breasts,

Comments

[samatethecookie]

Well, they've reached the point where I wouldn't call them female. Their testosterone levels are so high they haven't reached puberty.

... But that makes no sense whatsoever. Who thinks like that? D:

[ivy_chan]

I DON'T KNOW. Apparently you are not female if you don't...fit within his parameter of female behavior and appearance, I guess. All of his insults towards women involve refusing them the right to be called female: saying they don't have vaginas, for one.

[samatethecookie]

Oh, he sounds like a prize.

It's sad because it's thoughts like his that keep Marvel/DC from changing the typical norm when it comes to character designs. I'm an occasional reader of Marvel/DC and I would like to see realistic proportions brought into the designs, but whatever, girls don't read comic books so who cares, right? :|

[ivy_chan]

I think I'd be a much bigger fan of the comic book genre if there was a more evenhanded treatment of male and female characters. What's even worse is that the comic books are a woman's dream world compared to the movies they're throwing out: look at Emma Frost's treatment in the latest Wolverine movie, for example. I ranted way back when about some dick from Marvel basically telling girls to stop reading comic books if they didn't like the female characters being sexualized and marginalized. Right, it would be too much of a pain to acknowledge the female demographic, wouldn't it?

[samatethecookie]

I ranted way back when about some dick from Marvel basically telling girls to stop reading comic books if they didn't like the female characters being sexualized and marginalized. Right, it would be too much of a pain to acknowledge the female demographic, wouldn't it?

See? This is why a lot of girls avoid reading comic books at all: there's still dicks like him who don't want girls to get anywhere close to "their world". Whatever, dude. We exist; deal with it.

I really don't understand why it's so hard to appreciate that they're attracting a female demographic - or that they've always had one, except it's constantly being ignored in favor of their male readers and what they want. You would think the fact that they're gaining female readers would inspire them to examine the gender roles between their male and female characters.

Really, it's not difficult, you guys! You can still have a sexy super heroine without the ridiculous body proportions. Honestly.

[ivy_chan]

I'm waiting for the nonsexy superheroine, who is set up to be badass, but not made a sexual figure. Avatar did that really well (well, it was a children's show, but..) with Azula, Katara, and Toph. That would show that it's actually set up there for the female audience to enjoy and sympathize with, not for the male audience to drool over.

I do think some progress has been made as far as male/female gender roles are concerned in characters like Emma Frost, Storm, Kitty Pryde, and the treatment of Mary Jane in Spiderman Ultimate, but there is definite room for improvement.

[xerahanadu]

Superhero book that doesn't have big boobie women? Invincible. by Kirkman

Kinda like... Spiderman if Peter Parker weren't a whiney twat and Mary Jane had her own damn superpowers. The gals in the series have boobs, yes, but not insane-o knockers and certainly with less emphasis than the artist gives to the fact that they've got fists and kick-ass kicks too.