The Sexualization of Women in Comic Books

[Rix222]

Women being oversexualized in comics is bad, though has nothing to do with what the original poster has commented on such as clothing or attire, atleast in comics. It's personality, always boils down to personality, unless the clothing is that bad or ridiculous.

 

[nothingspringstomind]

I am a bisexual male.
My girlfriend is also bisexual.
We BOTH agree that women are more aesthetically pleasing than men.
That is all.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I thought a topic similar enough to this was covered already, except instead of comic books, the panel used video games, something about woman on woman characters, I think.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Nip outside.

Take a quick look around at the real people. See any women wearing far less than they should or men dressing like they have far more than they do?

So...what's the problem? Everyone in the world will be desired sexually at one point, and probably could make money selling photos of themselves - however repugnant they may seem to us.

Give me a good storyline and I don't care what the character is wearing.

 

[Gamer_152]

Both sexes get sexualised in comic books but with males it's rarely ever for the point of sexual stimulation of the reader, it is a by-product of making them looking strong, whereas women are specifically depicted in a way that is intended to titillate readers.

The problem with this article is that, the characters don't look ridiculous and unsettling purely because they are wearing revealing clothing but rather because they are wearing what are obviously women's clothes, and guys wearing women's clothes is something that often feels a little uncomfortable to us heterosexual males (not that there's anything wrong with it). Think about it, if you saw a guy in nothing but a pair of shorts it wouldn't be surprising, but seeing him in Black Canary's costume is unsettling to many because fishnets and backless latex leotards are clothes we usually only see on females. Likewise a guy could be clothed in a full-length dress and it would in no way be revealing but just the fact that he was wearing women's clothing would make a lot of people uncomfortable. It's not a valid comparison.

 

[gCrusher]

I will pose my own question.

Would you read Batman if he traded in his typical uniform for a mankini?

...

Eyyyaaa! My mental eyes!

"Who are you?!!"

~~I'm BATMAN. Also, I'm cold. So very cold.~~

 

[likalaruku]

If comic books existed in Alexandros Makedonan (Alexander the Great)'s time, all the chicks would look manly & the men would be hyper sexualized & probably nude.

I don't agree with men being idealized in comics. In my clique, we prefer puny docile long haired men with girly faces, but we were weaned on anime since the mid 80s & Jrockers since the late 90s.

I wouldn't say comics should stop making girls sexy, but they should either include fat & scrawny women & men, manly looking chicks & girly dudes, or make men show more skin to appease their female & gay demographics; not just wear skintight suits, we want to see some damn skin; exposed legs, pec windows, fishnet, sheer mesh, etc. Though I have seen about 4 costumes that hilariously & probably unintentionally look like men in women's lingerie; Spawn & Starman 3 being among them.

Ralph Bakshi & Fank Frazetta kept is equal in Fire & Ice.

 

[Yokai]

This is why Frank Frazetta is great.

Spoiler

Equal-opportunity sexualization! Boobies and man-ass in the same image!

Honestly, I understand the issue here, but it should come as no surprise. Superhero comics are syndicated, run by publishers trying to sell a product, so chances are pretty good they'll try to pander to (what they assume is) the majority of their audience, i.e. adolescent males.

Creator-focused comics such as Hellboy, Akira or the Walking Dead don't have this issue. Cripes, Hellboy runs around in little more than hotpants and a utility belt whereas the main female characters are rarely seen in less than an entirely sensible several-layered field uniform. It's the difference between comics intended to make people buy them and comics intended to tell a good story. Granted, the two can overlap, but you're much more likely to see blatant sexualization in the former.

The same goes for video games. It's why Soulcalibur girls look like strippers with swords whereas the women in Half-Life 2 wear jeans and long sleeves. It's all about how important the marketing angle is to the publisher.

 

[Mallefunction]

I am a woman so maybe I'm biased, but I agree with her. It's a combination of the costume, bodily proportions, and poses.

Yes, most male superheroes are muscled because they have to be fit to be heroes, right? Well does a woman REALLY need triple F-cups to fight crime? That's the difference. Even idealized men are more practical for comics than this.

Yes, these women kick ass and I do have my fair share of favorites, but it'd honestly hard for me to read comics a lot of the time just because there is so much...of this.

I dunno, I guess I'm arguing for more variation. You can keep your blonde bombshells, but can we have less slutty posing maybe? Or ridiculous costumes? Please?

you are not in fact agreeing with the OP, or the article writer, that's the difference and point to be made

The original article writer would in her mind argue that if women were to be posted with bikinis, then well shucks the equivalent for men would be bikinis worn by men

See the issue here is not about the comic book at all

It's a misunderstanding in how men interpret the comic book.
Women go by and by assuming that men interpret the comic book the same way they do
They should see difference between wonderwoman and superman so to speak
But they don't

this is a rare development in male psyche but to men, the heroes and heroins in comic books are what they are, heros superheros.

Sure there's a fair share of men who'd sexualize a character like any of the images posted in this thread of female characters
But when you go to anime/manga/comicons you will find women doing exactly the same thing

Actually I dare you to look up say for example Axis Powers Hetalia fanart on deviantart
I dare you no even double dare you to try to go 3 pages without the biggest gay porn/yaoi collection you have ever seen propping up

This goes for a lot of shows series and comic books , even video games


And to give an example of what the original article was doing a proper one

If we reverse the standard of the article you'd get something like this

Would you still play gears of war if instead of marcus phoenix and dominic santiago you were playing Mary-Ann A big muscled chick with a strong army tone in her voice who'd be wearing a bandana and stuck in power armour acompanied by Delilah a Toned muscled broad with shaved sidecuts and spikey hair and a foul mouth??

It's the exact opposite of the original point but you know just as well as I do that above example would look ridiculous

Actually, I would play Gears of War if it was like that. You know why? Because we've had about 10 million other space marines before. At least this would bring about some diversity in that regard.

 

[Kahunaburger]

This is why Frank Frazetta is great.
Honestly, I understand the issue here, but it should come as no surprise. Superhero comics are syndicated, run by publishers trying to sell a product, so chances are pretty good they'll try to pander to (what they assume is) the majority of their audience, i.e. adolescent males.

Creator-focused comics such as Hellboy, Akira or the Walking Dead don't have this issue. Cripes, Hellboy runs around in little more than hotpants and a utility belt whereas the main female characters are rarely seen in less than an entirely sensible several-layered field uniform. It's the difference between comics intended to make people buy them and comics intended to tell a good story. Granted, the two can overlap, but you're much more likely to see blatant sexualization in the former.

The same goes for video games. It's why Soulcalibur girls look like strippers with swords whereas the women in Half-Life 2 wear jeans and long sleeves. It's all about how important the marketing angle is to the publisher.

This. The best comics generally don't have an issue with this sort of thing. Persepolis, for instance. Or Nausicaa. Sandman might or might not, depending on the artist and issue, but generally leans sharply towards "not." I think the main solution to the issue of any medium catering to the lowest common denominator is for consumers to stop allowing themselves to be catered to as if they were the lowest common denominator.

Actually, I would play Gears of War if it was like that. You know why? Because we've had about 10 million other space marines before. At least this would bring about some diversity in that regard.

+1

 

[CarlMin]

I don't read comic books, but seeing as the sexualization of the female body is pretty much everywhere in media, I think this thread really brings up on an important issue.