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| Home > Editor-in-Chief Blog |
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| 7/9/2008
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The "Women in Refrigerators" phenomenon -- the use, in superhero comics, of brutal violence done to women in order to motivate the hero -- is well-documented and often discussed, but my sift through the slushpile this month has revealed to me more than ever that this is not something unique to superhero comics -- it just takes a less lurid form in other comics. Indie and alt comics are still dominated by male creators, and in these men's minds, women serve as plot devices that aid in a male development's character. The women are damaged and victimized and usually odd -- like that hot, messed-up chick in Fight Club, brah! -- and I'm tired of them. Just in this month, only a week old now, I have seen women who have been lured into porn, women who are hookers who teach young men lessons about life, women who were raped by stepfathers, women who are bi-polar and suicidal, women who are naive and long-suffering girlfriends of scumbags, and women who seem pretty cool and normal and then get kidnapped in order for the male protagonists to have something to do by saving her. Women who are never the protagonist.
Guys, STOP IT. The cumulative effect of these crazy/victimized/damaged-women-as-plot-device submissions -- almost every other envelope I've opened -- has got me wanting to hurt someone. And you know where that will lead me: In trouble with the law, I'll slip into the underbelly of society, start a nasty meth habit, turn to prostitution and then have to be saved by the man who has always loved me. Don't let it happen to me. You can be a hero. |
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