Why Women and Gay Men Don't Particularly Like Comics

I was never too into comic books. They were kind of fun to read but let's face it- their target audience is male. Oftentimes things geared toward males have very offensive elements to them. I've heard a lot of people argue, for example, that lots of women love sports but there is no denying that while there are sports fanatics among women all the sports programming is targeted at straight men. This is why you will see sexist beer commercials between plays and why there are scantily clad cheerleaders bouncing all over the sidelines.

Similarly, superhero comics may have won the hearts of some women but they will always offer a decidedly male point-of-view. And because men are visual creatures, the view is of half-naked women with huge bazambas.

This is so annoying! The argument that it goes both ways is bogus. The muscular superheroes like Superman were not created to set women's hearts aflutter, though some live action versions of the iconic hero have done just that; they were actually created to showcase the epitome of manhood from a man's viewpoint: the guy who had little to fear because he could fight anyone and also whisk off any babe in a single bound. The men with the rippling Mr. Universe muscles were exactly what men longed to be, including Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, co-creators of the Man of Steel. Most women I know (including me) do not like such exaggerated musculature though of course washboard abs and nicely defined biceps are welcomed.


(EXHIBIT A)

Unfortunately, straight men not only like their super men super large, they also want their women to be tiny-waisted but large-breasted. Worse, they have absolutely no clue when it comes to fashion! A woman with a perfect body is okay to grace the pages of comics but for Pete's sake don't dress her in garish glorified Hooters uniforms! These poor gals, be they mere mortals like Superman's wife Lois Lane or super-human like the She-Hulk are often forced to parade around like cheap hookers or in "what was she thinking?" ensembles that make the fashion police in all of us cringe. To borrow from a gay fashion expert, their outfits look like "the lampshade at a whorehouse" or "the dress Pia Zadora wore to the 1988 Bob Hope Christmas Special." (EXHIBITS B & C)

Part of the problem is that "casual fashion" is hard to keep up with and the men who couldn't care less about that (i.e. comic book artists) will often depict a serious journalist like Lois Lane in tight blue jeans, a white crop top, a blue denim jacket and red boots (egads!) when she ought to be wearing slacks or a dress suit. Even if she was on her downtime she should have worn something fashionable or at least not trampy. At least during the Golden Age of comics, everyone was elegant and there was no need to worry about fashion felonies.

As for the fighting women who can take out Lois in one flick of their fingers, they go beyond the usual painted-on garb that even the men wear (to highlight their bulging muscles) and are forced to fight in bathing suits or tops with large holes cut out in the middle for maximum cleavage exposure. It's not only degrading it seems downright impractical! It seems to me they can wear similar skintight outfits like the men (Batman, Superman and Spider-Man come to mind) but like the men be covered from neck to to toe. Instead, the women often have on bustiers or bathing suit bottoms or tiny skirts (Supergirl looks like a cheerleader herself).

The whole thing reminds me of the way the differences between straight men's tastes in women's fashions and looks and women's (and gay men's) tastes are so great they constantly have to bring it up on "America's Next Top Model". Tyra has done both- the high fashion catered to women and gay men and the bootylicious sexpot stuff for the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue". In fact, this season they had a photo shoot to illustrate the difference.

EXHIBIT D: MEN's MAGAZINE VS. WOMEN'S MAGAZINE

Another example is Pamela Anderson. She is a beloved icon of men's desire with her dyed-blond hair, pouty lips and horrible clothes designed to showcase her ginormous boobs. Her look is very reminiscent of a comic book woman: pure exaggeration and no subtlety. Sigh.

(EXHIBIT DOUBLE-DD's)

This situation will only change when people take a little more care to pay attention to the details. I'm pretty sure there's got to be female artists or storyboard editors who can say, "Wait a minute. I know we want to give the guys what they love but should Lois really be wearing such a skanky dress to the Daily Planet?" I mean, c'mon!!!