No, this isn't about the sexist drawings, costumes, and body images. That pisses me off too, for a variety of reasons.

1)It's insulting
2)It's degrading
3)It ignores comic's ever-growing female readership
4)That goddamned Mary Jane statuette. Nuff said.

But, no. That's not what my complaint is about, though it is directly related.

These women are supposed to be superheroes. Tough broads who can kick ass saving the day, all while delivering witty one-liners and snappy comebacks.

But, never fail, they're drawn all wrong IMO. Issues of sexism aside, which I'll leave alone for now, this is a matter of practicality. Let's give a few pointers on the basics of female boobage, since I'm certain some of those comic book artists have never seen real ones, let alone touched a pair.

It really boils down to one thing, actually: Tits get in the way

Don't get me wrong, I'm quite fond of mine. But the ladies know what I'm talking about. Anyone who's got any size on her at all upstairs has experienced a moment or two when her knockers are in the way of, say, picking up a kid without having her squishy parts crushed, or crossing her arms without having to manoever for a comfortable position. Or when throwing a mean right hook.

So why, oh why, is it that female superheroes are all sporting triple G cups? I know that that's what the dudes who illustrate and their male readership wants to drool over, but in this age of comic fans demanding gritty realism in every other aspect of the work -necessary or not-are these pen-and-ink tough girls being drawn with breasts so big a real woman might reasonably be cause to have trouble in holding both arms in front of her at the same time?


Moving on: The overall body type.

Yeah, yeah. I know. Alledgedly all men love helpless waifs, and so the superheroines are drawn painfully thin for something for the fanboys to drool over. I got that. Yeah.

But these are superheroes, dammit. Characters who, among other abilities, almost always have superhuman strength! How can a woman -even a superwoman -whose neck looks like it can barely support her own head and whose arms call to mind an underfed 12 year old's, lift a building?

Male superheroes are depicted with musculature so staggering it makes real-life bodybuilders look like 98 pound weaklings ready to have sand kicked in their faces. So why do their female super-counterparts look too weak to fasten their own capes?


I know there's comic geek aplenty here in Orgland -hoepefully one of you has some thoughts on this so I didn't waste my time typing it out.

1)I thought comic books (especially superhero ones) were meant to be fantasy.

2)Are you saying superheroines should be chubby and flatchested? Or creators should devote a few rows to their characters finding the right sports bra?
If you are and think there's a market for that, here's your opportunity to break some new ground.

3)When something bothers me that much, I don't buy it.

4)Comic books...fantasy.

You can rant about it all you want but it's about comic boys drooling over what they're looking at, not about realism. It's a comic book. Nothing's real about it. I don't think there's anything further to be said about it. The simplest answer is usually the right one.

"A COMPLAINT ABOUT MEN'S PORTRAYAL IN COMIC BOOKS"

They have super powers.

They fly. They lift gigantic things.

They get to shoot laser beams out of their eyeballs.

They all have muscles upon muscles. They rarely have male-pattern baldness.

It's not fair!!!

It's almost like it's make believe!!!

ThreadBare said:

Point taken, and agreed, but it's not a fair comparison. Male comic characters are not sexualized the way the females are, and that's what she's talkin' bout here.

We're talking about comic books written by men for men? There's even a discussion??? Of course the women will be written/drawn in a manner attractive to us...

You won't find me questioning the authors motives when SHE wrote this...



...that's entertainment!

CarrieMpls said:

Bulked out with inhuman muscles and sporting briefs on the outside of the costume isn't sexualized?

CarrieMpls said:

You mean as much as women are? I think there's some sexualization there. And, I wouldn't suggest it's any different from what we see in films or TV shows.

That's not a justification for the objectification of women. It just seems like Meow's knocking the Barbie-style characters in comics, when Barbie is sadly used as the standard everywhere.

Why is the exaggeration of female anatomy sexualizing but the exaggeration of male anatomy not???

RenHoek said:

Or wondering if the author/artist of this book have ever seen, let alone touched a real penis. .

i'm sorry..what was the complaint about?

My wife who is not a regular comic reader will occasionally browse a comic store specifically for the sexy women books. She views them as pin up art.

OMG as if the men in comic books are true to life

ehuffnsd said:

Fury said:

those are beautiful.

CarrieMpls said:

they have become sexualized in the gay community.

I thought I was nuts.

meow85 said:

I'd like to know to which comic books you are referring specifically. Because your complaints are something I would have readily agreed with back in the 90s, but I think the exaggerations are more toned down now. Or maybe I'm reading the wrong books. Depictions of women currently are not as bad as they used to be in my opinion.

Anxiety said:

They actually are.

sextonseven said:

I don't know which ones she's referring to specifically, but I'd guess Power Girl would be one of them. Artists have long been completely ridiculous when drawing her.

Male superheroes are mostly muscle-worshipped but not too often given a bulge, let alone a penis. (They're pretty much asexualized in a weird way--they usually are obsessed with fidelity and courtly love and pine away over one often plain-looking woman; and if that woman treats them like crap and emasculates them when they are in their secret identity, even better.)

As for lack of bulges: This Alex Ross painting of Steel that dared to show a VPL caused a huge uproar:

johnart said:

They're only fantasy inasmuch as the popular trend allows. In the pasdt decade or so there's been a call to realism in comics and comic-related ventures (movies, etc.) So why, when people are bitching about how unrealistic something as obviously fantastical as an origin story or even the superpowers themselves are, are female superheroes drawn in a way that would render them helpless in a fight?

CarrieMpls said:

It's all pretend? No shit.

But female characters are drawn completely impractically. Sexism aside, no woman shaped like that is going to be able to put up a good fight.

The only male superhero character I can think of that's as deliberately sexual as female characters is Gambit, and even then it's debated whether or not that was intentional.

RenHoek said:

Not all written for men though. There's a huge and growing female comic following. And since we, unlike the poor schmoes drawing these pictures, have actually experienced boobies in the flesh, guys shouldn't be surprised when it's pointed out just how stupid the drawings look.


If you want to draw sex kittens and slaves, by all means. Draw sex kittens and slaves. But if you want to draw someone who can save your ass from a meteor, draw someone who can save your ass.

johnart said:

When the day comes that Professor X and The Flash are drawn with giant schlongs, that will be a valid comparison. Until then, nope. You fail.

meow85 said:

I don't know...I seen some big tittied bitches throw DOWN!

And anyone who is going to bitch about how unrealistic the powers of a superhero are, should probably quit buying comics and move on to historic novels or something more "realistic".
[Edited 1/31/09 16:56pm]

Fury said:

Vallejo?

She at least has some muscle on her. I'd believe she could throw a man across the room.

sextonseven said:

Got a few hours?

The issue I'm taken is not so much with the sexist depictions, but with the complete lack of feasibility in a woman looking like that even having the strength to put on her own tights. They lack muscle tone and any visual depictions of strength, and giant ta-tas will definitely get in the way in a proper fight. Hell, all I have is a pair of C's and I find them cumbersome even doing day-to-day stuff.

Efan said:

Exactly. A real woman built like that would have difficulty even standing up straight. How's she supposed to be kicking bad'un ass?

meow85 said:

Say what? *Clears Throat* Anyway, my uncle was an avid collector and reader of comic books. That's about as close as I can get when it comes to ties with the intrigue of it all. Ah well. I guess someone's going to have to make some changes in that world.