Comics, women, power

[beccaelizabeth]

I've been reading people talking about 'the T&A thing' in comics.

My thought-

I don't mind about the naked. I actually quite like the naked. Complicated kick ass poses I can live with, even if they view from such an angle that the most prominent feature is tits or ass or even the area between the legs. Because they still kick ass, so I can live with that.

What bothers me is... I looked at a cover for the JSA Classified 1 with Power Girl on the front. The sort of soft focus one where she's lounging back. And my first reaction was *drool* because lovely art work, on PG of the lovely figure.

But then I stopped to think. They'd drawn her lying down, with her ankles crossed, and her hands I think behind her head, definitely hidden. And the rope that is meant to keep her cloak on and go sort of across her chest was instead up around her neck, looking like it was choking her. She was drawn with such a come hither look on, but she was also drawn like she was all tied up and stretched out. On display, but not displaying *herself*. All girl, no power.

And seriously, that's just wrong.

I mean I preferred a lot of the Justice League era costumes to what she's wearing now, but when the difference is between coloring it pink and coloring it white, it doesn't seem to me to be much difference.

But the poses are all wrong. Power Girl is *all* about the power. She's one of the more powerful being in the DCU. One of the earlier comics I read had her getting depowered (bad) but her eventual power levels were described in the exact terms used for Superman - faster than a speeding bullet, all that stuff. So she lost the 'more cosmic' end of her powers and ended up at Superman level. That is strong.

But lets loop back to the depowering. They've done it recently to PG again (intermittent power loss), they've done it to Wonder Woman for a while (blind), and that is just the tip of the iceberg. And then you get to the list of women who have Horrible Trauma, and its almost invariably sexual. And granted, it isn't *solely* women - in the Outsiders I think the only one who doesn't have sexual trauma is Shift, who is only existing a few months and made up of, like, goop. But with Roy it was only hinted, with Dick there's still some misunderstanding about if it even was rape. With Starfire, and now Grace, its the foundation of their entire freaking existence. These ultra powerful women apparently got to be that way because men fucked them up. What's up with that? Women can't just kick ass for the fun of it?

And Power Girl has been fucked over many ways. I don't recall her being raped in the conventional way, but she was host to an involuntary pregnancy, and then lost the baby when he got born (because he grew up in like a week and wandered off apparently out of continuity). So we have this wonderful powerful Superman level character and what do they do with her? Its a girl, of *course* getting pregnant is the key thing.

*This* is the stuff I have rage about.

Making women sexy, no problem. Sexualising them... has some different meanings but one of them is to make sex the *only* significant part of them. Comics wander that way with a lot of female characters, especially once they start dating a guy. Then, whatever powers they have, whatever issues they have of their own, they're The Girlfriend. And the art makes them the sex object, and the superhero part gets lost.

*That's* where I have a problem.

These people are heroes. Big time, save the world, ultra strong people with skills and powers that are what we are here to read about. The art should be about *that*. I don't mind if they kick ass in fishnets as long as the important thing about the picture is they *kick* ass, not just have one. And I don't mind if they've got the biggest tits in the known universe as long as the picture says Power Girl and not girl made powerless. Tits, ass, whatever, just draw the power.

Comments

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear. You might wanna send it to TPTB.

[beccaelizabeth]

If I thought there was the remotest chance they'd read it *shrugs*
TPTB=strange

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

TPTB=stoopid.

[unlovablehands.livejournal.com]

♥ Great post.

[beccaelizabeth]

*bows* thanksyou

[onjel-b.livejournal.com]

Very observant. Man, especially men in power, have always feared 1) female sexuality that is not controlled by them and 2)the fact that the female, being the bringer of life, has power over the continuation of the human species, giving them ultimate power.

So, it is not surprising that there remains a tendency to "de-power" females who become "too powerful" for comfort.

[beccaelizabeth]

erm, making all that a blanket statement - men and always - makes it less true. But yes, some men sometimes.
And some of them seem to work for DC.