What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than with vintage war propaganda? Above is the last panel of All-Star Comics #16 -- a single-issue World War II Propaganda Extravaganza from 1943.

Since Scipio blogged about gender issues today...

The Damned Depressing List linked at Newsarama.

The reaction?

Which list does "my childhood" go in?

Looking back on my last two or three days weeks of posting, it strikes me that I may have become just a tiny bit self-absorbed.

Just a tiny bit.

But I don't get our society's condemnation of self-reflection. I think it's important to examine our inner selves. Our motives. Our feelings. Internal focus helps you, and it's not hurting anybody else. I can't imagine the the instance where someone would be so lost in their own moody troubles that serious harm might come to another person as a result.



I mean, you'd have to be a complete and utter moron to let that happen.

The night before Kalinara left for HeroesCon, she asked me if I wanted her to ask Dan Didio anything for me. I had three questions, and told her one was infinitely more important than the other two.

Why was this particular question so important?

Because I was absolutely convinced that no one at DC had even had the idea to do this.

See, I'm a big believer in ingrained cultural sexism. I think empathy and respect, these need to be taught. Our culture simply isn't set up to teach empathy to women. Everything is masculine, everything is for boys. That's why "sissy" and "throw like a girl" and such as insults. When we're raised, we're taught to identify with the masculine. That's where the traditional values of society are placed. You need to teach yourself to identify with the feminine. You need to teach yourself to value the feminine viewpoint.

That's why I stories are set up that way. Male heroes, the story revolves around them.

And I really don't understand why having this viewpoint shaken puts people on the defense. I mean, that's what Feminism's for, to shake the narrow viewpoint that centers on the male. To focus on the female for a change. It's not considered a revolutionary philosophy anymore, but really it is. The point is to change the basic wiring of society. To make Women the Norm. It's not anything against men. It's just to introduce another way to view things, a way that doesn't center on men.

So, when I see the unconcious cultural sexism, I like to call it out. I like to single out cluelessness and make people think about it. Because if you're dealing with a good hearted person, I really think they'll go "Wait, I didn't think about it from that point of view," and think differently from that point on. It's revolutionary in a little way. Sometimes it puts someone on the defense, sometimes I get caught up in my point of view, sometimes we lose our tempers, but sometimes.. Sometimes it works.

And I don't think comic book writers are bad people. I just don't think they've looked at it from the other angle. We all get stuck in our boxed stories, our rotes, our formulas, our viewpoints. Rather than be defensive, we should welcome a fresh idea!

But I digress. My point was, I really don't think that Dan Didio or his massive creative writing factory are bad people. Not at all.

I really honestly figured that they'd just never thought of what I had. And I figured, if we got it out there, it might just happen because no one had thought of it before.

So, being unable to go myself, I asked Kalinara to prove it for me. And, like the wonderful friend she is, she used her one chance to ask my question:

"Will we ever see Major Force beaten by a woman?"

It's not that there's anything wrong with the concept of Major Force as a psychotic misogynistic villain. It's a fair idea, and it works.

Nor do I have a problem with Alex DeWitt's death, or the Green Lanterns being angry and white-knight about it -- because that rings true. Men react that way. Especially heroes.

It's not even that we have this horrifically misogynistic villain who specifically seeks out female characters and hurts them, not because he wants to get at them personally but because he thinks that is the best way to hurt their male relations, and he's not a Wonder Woman villain.

Because that's a kickass concept for a Wonder Woman villain.

And to be honest, while he's just too perfect as a Wonder Woman villain, he does work elsewhere. He can be a Green Lantern villain fine without bothering me.

No, the problem, is that every time I have seen him up against a female character -- He Has Won.

I saw him fight Wonder Girl in Battle for Bludhaven, and he beat the crap out of her.

He fought a depowered Arisia in Guy Gardner: Warrior and killed her.

He fought Alex DeWitt in what is possible the most one-sided fight in Green Lantern history, and, while she put up a fight (a better fight than Cassie Sandsmark did), she had no chance at all.

To be fair, as far as I know, he's never been up against Wonder Woman, Queen Hippolyta, Artemis, Supergirl, Black Canary, Huntress, Batgirl, Power Girl, Manhunter, Donna Troy, Lady Shiva, a live Katma Tui, Brik, Boodika, Soranik Natu, or even Jade. He's never to my knowledge fought a fully-powered, fully-grown, non-civilian woman.

Because he's Kyle's villain. He's Guy's villain. He's a generic Green Lantern villain and there are no female Green Lanterns on Earth. This I understand.

But here we get back to the proper structure of the story, and the payoff. The sexist jerk who offends/hurts/threatens a female character in Act I needs to have his ass handed to him by the same female character in Act III. Not by her boyfriend, or her brother, because that's the male protector fantasy. No, it has to be by her.

And if she should die in Act I, well, if the villain's actions are based on misogyny he still needs to have his ass kicked by a woman.

I've got no problem if a writer decides to write his characters equal, treat his female character the same as his male characters and not make a distinction -- as Ron Marz seemed to be doing in Witchblade when he wrote Sara as Kyle. Kyle's has his victory, when he was personally insulted, taken by the guest star. No problem.

But when you introduce a villain that is marked as evil because he is sexist, a sexual predator of some degree (the sexual harassment in Witchblade #89), you've just brought the inequality of gender into it. And to complete a satisfying story to a female viewpoint, that inequality needs to be refuted.

The Sexist Asshole in Act I Must Have His Ass Handed to Him By a Woman in Act III.

Because if it's just a man, then it's the fulfillment of the male fantasy alone -- the WhiteKnight Protector and the injured female becomes a prop.

Even women, though, get raised with the male viewpoint and need this shaking up sometimes. I was truly surprised when I first realized it, but it fell into place and explained some of my vague disappointment with some stories.

So, I didn't figure that by not understanding this little rule I've outlined, and by being used to the typical White Knight Protector cycle, that the writers were bad people. I figured they genuinely had never considered this. So, a simple, innocent question might change things.

How did they react? According to Kalinara:

Well, I asked during the lightning round, so it was kind of funny because it was all "Yes! No! Ehhhhnnn! (buzzer noise)" then I asked and there was a very obvious stall.

Like in the old cartoons...the record getting pulled off?

And there was a sort of group stutter and Rucka says something like "Uh...sure...why not? Just...might have to wait a few years..."

And Didio recovers and quips something like "beaten by a woman? Sure! He can be just like the rest of us!"

It's sad, but I get a vain, self-centered pleasure out of being right -- even about things like this.

Besides, this is Greg Rucka who answered. He probably started plotting it in the back of his head with Sasha or Renee or Kathy right there because we know he lives vicarously through them. And I just have to wait and I'll get to finally see this jerk get beaten to a bloody pulp by a superheroine for all his stupid sexist little comments. And it will be immensely satisfying.

I am a bit disappointed, as this does mean that Kalinara's hypothesis that Phantom Lady will get to hurt him in Battle for Bludhaven #6 is wrong.

Oh well, it'll come. Maybe it'll be a resurrected Katma Tui or Arisia. That would be downright awesome. Or Soranik cutting her teeth on him. Or Brik -- Hehehe, I'd like to see him just try and hurt Brik.

(Of course, this is no excuse not to keep calling out the little things like this. If anything, it tells us it works.)

In the meantime, we get to see him piss off Hal Jordan.

Ragnell the Foul, vainly and ridiculously wearing all of available Lady Monster traits for this event, adjusts her twin-tailed red and white striped jacket underneath her borrowed wings. She perches her tophat on the mass of hand-me-down snakes between her vintage antlers, and hops onto a makeshit, outdoor stage. She clutches a shiny new brass-tipped cane in her shiny new brass-clawed hands and before you have a chance to ponder the symbolism of this artifically amalgamated abomination, she speaks.

Step right up, folks, step right up. Welcome to the First Edition of the Carnival of Feminist Science-Fiction and Fantasy Fans! We have a lovely show today, full of many fine writers and a few artists!

First up, the featured fight of the evening: Magical Goth Princess Pretty Karen vs. the Giant Robot of WEEE. Enjoy!

Our next act, Kalinara, takes us Where No Woman Has Gone Before:

One thing though, I was always disappointed in the treatment of women. I mean Deanna Troi? She was there to bang male aliens like Riker did the women, but with idiotic babble about romance instead. And Beverly Crusher's main purpose was to be the will-they/won't-they love interest for Captain Picard.

And Raqua gives us something "for all female Star Trek fans, because most of the time, we never get what we want on the show."

In an old Looking to the Stars column, Matt Morrison offered the following send-up of "Get Your Girlfriend into Comics" articles:

Now, I know there are some people out there who may object to the idea that you should enter any relationship looking at the other person as a fixer-upper opportunity. They'll tell you that attempting what I describe here makes you no better than those women who clip articles like "How To Trick Your Man Into Taking You To The Opera" out of Cosmo. But let me tell you something. Most of these people are alone and unhappy, so who are you going to believe?

Breena Ronan shows a Must See Video, then relates it to video-game genderbending:

After listening to Joss, I have to make the connection between his comment that strong women characters are valuable for men as well as women, and the phenomenon of men taking on female avatars when they are gaming. For some reason, research shows that women gamers rarely switch genders when gaming. Because games are so populated by male avatars, women frequently play games with male avatars , but when given the choice they rarely choose gender bending.

For those of you who skipped watching the video and went straight to the text, Mr. Loodyvillanopolis kindly transcribes that speech for you and the Divine Goat has made livejournal icons out of the highlights!

And now, I must pause for some important information. Those of you who are unfamilar with the basic tenants of Feminism (which makes me wonder how found your way to this tent) are welcome at the show. Browse at your leisure, but I must caution you against pestering the performers unecessarily. They do not suffer fools lightly. There are simply too many fools to waste the time with them! Karen, after finding herself surrounded by pests, offers this helpful primer for anyone interested in actual discussion. For those who aren't interested in anything worthwhile and simply wish to be annoying, she has a few words:

I am profusely irritated that such clarification is necessary, but I shall point out that this isn't Feminism 101. Nor is it a place to whine about how feminists want to take over the world / they've already taken over the world / men are raped TOO! / you can't get a date.

This is a place for pointing out sexism in comics with white-hot rage and acid-tongued venom. I am not required to explain feminist principles, theory, or aims to you, much less endeavour to wearily soothe your ego while I explain that I don't hate men. I am not obliged to do your homework for you.

Unsure why the lady in the previous booth is so angry? Well, next up is a gentleman who might be able to clue you in:

Recent discussions about objectification of women in comics have tended to bring up the corollary question of whether men are equally objectified in comics, and if that isn’t “just as bad.” I think we’ve all seen the remixed covers by now that feature the Green Lantern’s Power Battery among other heroes’ attributes. Alas, it is but a dream, a hoax, an imaginary story. Truly it takes more than spandex over muscles to bring the objectification even close to in line with the way that women are presented by default (two of the most important words to remember in discussions such as this) on the comics cover/page.

Jeff tears down The Realism Defense:

In addition to simply being glossed over, all of these examples of sexism in RPGs also get defended by portraying critics as valuing “political correctness” over “realism,” a defense that’s especially pernicious because it goes outside the game to make claims about the world in general.

Over towards the ADD Theater, Shannon sounds off on would-be "allies":

The idea that we somehow need 'allies' that can only be satisfied if we are silent drives me batty. The whole point of allies is to stand up for people when they are exhausted from dealing with the issues or talking among their group to help soften attitudes.

Tekanji takes us through the ups and downs of gender in the CG movie Ark:

So, I finally got around to watching the movie Ark today. The first half hour or so got me really excited. The rest… well, let’s just say that the movie could have benefitted from an education regarding Women in Refrigerators.

The rest of the article is cut for massive spoilers that will ruin your ability to ever watch this movie if you read them. That being said, if you have already seen the movie or never intend to see it, please read on.

Behind this curtain, you see 100 Little Dolls contained in one woman! Note that they speak in unison as they respond to an article on female gamers:

One of the main points of his article is “that the majority of games we play don’t enforce sexual stereotype, gender biases or sexist principles”—that rather, instead, our conceived notions that video games are just for guys has been fed continuously by the media. True enough that the media treats geek girls as anomalies, but are the majority of the games out there asexual (?), or rather, unbiased, instead of being in favor of men and masculinity?

Moving along, take note of the Aquarium. Inside, you'll find the Amazing Drama Turtle questioning the Feminist_Fandom livejournal community as to personality differences between male and female villains.

Diagonal to the Aquarium, Alianne ponders the complexity of villains:

Well, I've never really been content with most non-anime cartoons because the villains in most of them are evil simply because they are. There is no complexity involved and reality isn't that simple. Take the story snow white, for example. The evil stepmother decides to do away with the princess because said princess is prettier? I mean, come on! What happened to them killing the current heir to get the throne for themselves. That reason, I would have accepted but for something as superficial as beauty? Evil for the sake of having someone to be evil.

Over in the concessions area, you'll see comics artist Lea Hernandez generously offer four grants to talented female webcomickers:

In order to foster women publishing independently, with economy, and as owners of what they create, I will award FOUR grants annually, of a year's free hosting at WebComicsNation.com, to women making a regularly-updating new or existing webcomic of any genre or style.
The recipients will have unlimited data storage and bandwidth, the ability to choose to support their work with ads, and a storefront for selling merchandise.

In response to criticism of this gesture, you can see a defense by fellow artist Colleen Doran, along with a little personal information on how she got into reading and drawing comic books,

As longer as we're looking at professional comic book creators here, earlier this month writer Gail Simone weighed in with her views on Fan-Fiction.

In an exhibit with no actual man-on-man action (I'm sure those of us seeking it know where to find by now, though -- this is the Internet after all), Lis Riba muses on yaoi/slash fanfic written by women for women.

Jess McCabe is reading an erotic graphic novel with an interesting premise:

The book concerns Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz), Alice (in Wonderland) and Wendy (from Peter Pan) - all grown up, the three characters meet in a hotel and embark on a sexual adventure. Part of this involves retelling their stories - the ones we are all so familiar with - as tales of sexual awakening.

Jenn finds a dismissive reaction to her criticism of a truly worrisome new comic book character:

I was incredibly disheartened to read this treatment of the criticizing voice of the Great Ten. This paragraph ignored the bulk of the criticism, which has been levelled primarily at the characters of Thundermind and Mother of Champions. The use of the phrase "mislabelled as a misogynistic creation" and the sentence referring to MOC as a Divine Mother archetype not only makes it sound like critics like me who firmly believe MOC to be a sexist caricature are speaking out of our asses (i.e. haven't done any research) but suggests that we couldn't possibly have said anything worth repeating.

Here's a basic single-issue comic book plot:

GA #54, the short version: Green Arrow and Black Lightning are looking for evil Doctor Light. Evil Dr. L. is conveniently only a few blocks away attacking Kimiyo Hoshi, the good Doctor Light. Evil Dr. L steals Kimiyo's powers and flies off cackling. Green Arrow finds Kimiyo in the hospital and is attacked by Mirror Master and Killer Frost, and runs off to fight them. Kimiyo is left bleeding on the floor and never seen again.

Except for the last line (which in a serial medium like comics happens), it doesn't sound so bad, right? But a brief synopsis takes quite a bit out of the execution. Marionette explains exactly what was wrong with the execution, up to and including the points that may need Trigger Warnings for sexual assault survivors in Incandescent: Losing the Light

Next door, Valerie examines another single issue, one that involves an actual sexual assault:

"Squadron Supreme" #4 is all about the rape that made Edith (Inertia) a warrior. Because when yer dealin' with women there has to be a reason, and more likely than not that reason is...you guessed it, sexual assault.

I strongly advise everyone to continue reading the comments, at least to this point.

Alau offers thoughts on discovering that she tests as a "Catwoman" personality. (And this person better answers her question about Wonder Woman)

Collie covers a lot of ground in this post on objectification, body image, clothing, inequality, gaming, comics, sports, and more:

If we had to pick one word to describe superhero men, it'd probably be "strength." Male supers are taller, stronger, shown with wider shoulders and narrower waists than normal men. Their abs are ripplingly developed, their jaws are square, their upper arms and thighs are well muscled. Those things may make them seem sexier, but it doesn't reduce them to sexual icons — they are active, and their muscles underline their power within the world. In effect, they are presented as exciting ideals to identify with, rather than as sexual toys.

If we had to pick one word for superhero women, though, it would not be strength — it would be "sex." Women have impossibly huge breasts (sometimes larger than their heads), strangely long and usually bare legs which are lengthened with high heels and slender or bare hips, large full lips, and imposing masses of unruly long hair. This might be fun in the bedroom, but it's likely to get them killed in a fistfight. Heck, were I a super-villain in such a world, I'd keep a minion working in the emergency rooms of all the local hospitals. Their sole job would be to record all the athletic women coming in with broken ankles — as possible super-heroines who'd fallen off their heels in a fight!

In addition to a mind that puts Paula Von Gunther to shame, she has pictures to go along with her many other points!

Though not directly in response to Collie's minor mention of hosiary, but still close enough that I can't resist giving them neighboring stages, Stephanie Chan stands up for fishnet stockings:

I wanted to wear all black! I wanted a black swimsuit, a black jacket, black buccaneer boots, and fishnet stockings. I don’t know why, but Alex Toth’s Black Canary absolutely captured me.

I must admit Black Canary captured me too, particularly what she stood for in her unusual outfit. So much so that I dedicated my first weekly feature when I joined Stephanie at Blog@Newsarama to explaining the feminist significance of this panel:



Next up, you see Liz's mixed reaction to the third X-Men movie:

First Mystique, then Rogue, then Jean, it’s like the raging anxiety about women being in touch with power had to hammer itself right off the movie screen. I enjoyed X3, but it pissed me off, especially the end!

Just across the fairway, Mickle lets you know what Eva Peron has in common with Jean Grey:

However, ALW didn't think that a musical with a woman as the lead, rather than just a lead would work (for whatever reason). He didn't think her husband's character was really the right one to pull it off either, so he created Che, Antonio Banderas's character.

She finished just in time for another act at the same booth as the first X3 review: LeGuin, Boys’ Own Adventure, and the Fine Art of Genderfucking

This book was written in 1968.

And nothing else written since has carved such a significant place for itself in both popularity and sheer genderfucking.

I repeat: this book was written in 1968

Elizabeth answers the above:

Lemme see. Okay, very few modern books period (nevermind SF novels, nevermind feminist SF novels) have entered the canon to the extent that The Left Hand of Darkness has, so frankly I think that's a straw man. If you set up a definition of success that more or less only includes TLHoD, it seems to me a little disingenuous to then disallow Joanna Russ for being less accessible than Le Guin. I think there's an unexamined catch-22 in that argument: Russ doesn't count because she's not popular; she's not popular because she's offputting; she's offputting because she's radical.

The normally political Maia geeks out for us:

So in honour of the greatness of Joss I've made a list of the top 5 most feminist episodes of Buffy, and just to show I've realised it wasn't all destroying phalluses and overturning stereotypes I've also listed the top 5 least feminist episodes of Buffy.

The author of this Chris Lightfellow story describes it best in her submission email

I wrote this 'fic to get a better grasp on the character Chris Lightfellow, from the video game Suikoden III, and to play around with ideas of how she (one of the few female knights in her country) might feel about gender roles in her society. Please do _not_ confuse the game character with her manga incarnation, as for the manga her spine was removed to make room for heaps of insecurity, daddy issues, and enlarged tear ducts.

Constance Ash of Deep Genre relates a ballet to Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a multi-part series that forces me to fudge the nomination cut-off, from Part IV:

In a sense, Mina is a foremother of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Buffy it is the male characters who are changed into monsters by sex. In the place of the Brotherhood of True Men who destroy Lucy in an ecstasy of voluptuous force, Buffy slays these monster males – or, on occasion, transforms them.

The whole series is brilliant.

Ariel shares some thoughts stemming from a presentation she made on Racialized Trafficking of Bodies in World of Warcraft:

I’m happy my first presentation to a big group (outside of the classroom) went so well. I closed by saying although I believe video games in many ways are sexist, racist, and classist, it’s okay to both critique and enjoy them, and that I’m optimistic people like us can demand games become more progressive.

With all of these lovely submissions and nominations, I wasn't sure whether to include something from this very blog, or if the analysis of the panel earlier was sufficient. It felt unfair to hog two posts on the Carnival even rationalizing it as "two different blogs". I broke other rules such as the date restrictions with stretchier rationalization ("It's the first one," I told myself, "Technically everything ever written falls under your submission period). I agonized over it, and as I am a shameless attention seeker who loves to see her own writing -- and I do write at more than one blog -- I chose to do the unforgivable and offer a second sample of my humble efforts, a stream of conciousness scribbling that touches on why I personally felt an event like this was needed. My sincerest apologies to those of you who submitted more than one nomination and saw it cut out. Takes off top-hat and bows her head apologetically

And with that, (Replaces Tophat) our unfortunately short show draws to a close. I'm more than pleased with the turn-out, especially as this was the first-ever carnival. My When Fangirls Attack partner Kalinara has graciously decided to host the Second Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans at Pretty, Fizzy Paradise on July 18th, details here.

If your craving for thought-provoking reading is still unsatisfied, there are other venues of feminist reading out right now. The Second Erase Racism Carnival has been up for over a week now. And the Second Carnival to End Sexual Violence is up at Abyss2Hope. And the big one, the The Mainstream Carnival of Feminists is expected on the Fifth of July. Bitch|Lab hosted the previous edition and if you haven't seen it I urge you to drop by.

Hat comes off again, takes a bow.

I'd like to thank everyone who submitted, nominated, and spread the word about this Carnival. And I'd like to thank you for reading. Please come by again, and please, feel free to link this and the future editions whereever applicable.

After another slight bow, the monstrosity replaces her hat and hops down from the stage.

((EDIT: In my sleep deprived state this morning, I left out 4 wonderful posts that had been on my list -- My apologies for that. Merc Wanderer's Chris Lightfellow fanfiction, Valerie's review of Squadron Supreme #4, Constance Ash's piece on vampire ballet, and Shannon's article on Allies are edited in as of Sunday afternoon. Sorry!))
((And, for those of you wondering, this is why I skipped my regular Saturday feature on this blog. Figured it more than made up for it.))

Sweet Lord Ares on an Alaskan Fishing Trip, I take one Friday night to catch a late show after work and I come home to this:

NRAMA: Noticeably absent (and for some time) is a female creator in that group. Big picture wise, why hasn't a women creator made it into the tight circle of Marvel creators?

JQ: Because currently there aren’t any female writers working on any of our major titles. That said there are female editors at the summit.

So basically you didn't invite any female creators to the editorial meeting that plans your creative direction, because you haven't hired any female creators?

Excuse me, I need to go dig out my clue-bat.

After seeing Superman Returns, one thought nags at my brain.

Mild Spoilers

Lois Lane, you utter moron, don't you know that when you're in an airplane and the oxygen masks come down you're supposed to put your own mask on before you help others?

I mean, seriously, that air pressure thing affects you getting drunk. Better safe than sorry.

Anyway, even including the laughable aeronautical errors in that scene (which made me laugh), I really enjoyed this movie.

Even Lex's stereotyped girlfriend was a riot.

If you thought we'd dropped this, you haven't been reading long enough. We're still compiling a list of all characters at DC and Marvel superhero Comics that have been sexually assaulted. The whole story's here, and here. The last updates are here and here.

Once again, this is just a preliminary list. The Clear list is just to jumpstart your memories.

We have a host being set up, and we plan on visually verifying everything on this list. This project is far from over.

But here's a progress report on the women. Please peruse, correct, and add as necessary in the comments. Then head over to Kalinara for the men.

Our List So Far

Attempted;
Secret (YJ#7)
Diana/Wonder Woman (WW#10)
Diana/Wonder Woman (WW#51)
Jenny Hayden/Jade (GL#109)
Shining Knight (SK#4)
Spoiler (Robin #111)
Hawkgirl (Hawkman, ish # needed)
Storm (forced marriage, X-treme X-men 11-16)
Kitty Pryde (Forced marriage, Uncanny X-men 179)
Lara of Krypton (false pretenses, forced marriage; World of Krypton trade)


Actual:
Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (SM/BC mini)
Elektra (Elektra: Assassin #1)
Grace Choi (Outsiders #17)
Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Ref Needed -- Perpetrator was the Purple Man)
Mia Dearden/Speedy II (GA #42)
Crazy Jane (DP)
Swift/Shen-Li Min (The Authority #27)
Engineer/Angela Spica (The Authority #27)
Rogue (Ref Needed)
Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel (Avengers#200)
Abby (Ref Needed)
Red Sonja (Kull and the Barbarians #3)
Emma Frost (Ref Needed)
Big Barda (Action Comics #592-593)
Cora (Atlantis Chronicles)
Mirage (NTT -- Need ish #)
Calliope (Sandman)
Catwoman (Her Sister's Keeper)
Queen Hippolyta (WW#1)
Atlanna (Incest, Atlantis Chronicles)
Sue Dibny (IDC #3)
Helen Bertinelli/Huntress (Huntress miniseries ??)
Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk (SH#7)
Engineer/Angela Spica (The Authority #21)
She-Hulk (Sens. She-Hulk ish # needed)
Kate Bishop (YA Special #1)
Katherine Anne Summers (Uncanny X-Men 156-157)
Saturn Girl (false pretense, forced marriage, ref needed)
Sally Sonic (Statuatory, Bulleteer #4)
Spoiler (Statutory, ref needed)
Terra (Statutory, New Teen Titans v1, issue 39, page 11)
Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl (Statutory, TT Annual #1 -- Age?)
Dazzler (False pretenses, Longshot's luck power, ref needed)
Marrow (Weapon X: The Draft)


Implied/Subtextual:
Lian Harper (Outsiders #19)
Dinah Lance/Black Canary II (GA: The Longbow Hunters)
Arisia (Warrior #42)
Elektra (Daredevil #181)
Dream Girl (Universo Project)
Phantom Lady (IC#1)
Alicia (Fantastic Four #255)
Cobweb (TS#1)
Barbara Gordon (The Killing Joke)
Starfire (Ref needed)
Debbie Darnell/Star Sapphire (JLA #115)
Salamandra (Fantastic Four #515)
Supergirl/Kara Zor-El (Incest, SupergirlV5#5)

Symbolic:
Arisia (GLC #213)
Susan Richards/Invisible Woman (FF Annual #23)
Susan Richards/Invisible Woman (FF 278)
Jessica Jones (Alias 25)
Dinah Lance/Black Canary II (GA/GL #76)
Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (JLI#30)
Rachel Summers (Mind control, Ref Needed)
Power Girl (Zero Hour buildup -- Ref Needed)
Donna Troy (WW #136)
Oracle/Barbara Gordon (BoP #85)
Imra/Saturn Girl (Mind control, Ref Needed)
Donna Troy (RoDT)
Catwoman (CW#50)
Debbie Darnell/Star Sapphire (IDC/JLA-SSoSV Ref Needed)
Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire (Pretty much all of Vol 2 GL)
Dawnstar (Forced transformation, Ref Needed)
Zinda Blake (Mind control, Ref Needed)
Kitty Pryde (Mind cotnrol, Ref Needed)
Dr Light II/Kimiyo Hoshi (GA #57)
Jean Grey (Dark Phoenix Saga)
Diana/Wonder Woman (WW#160)
Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl (Mind control, ref needed)
Supergirl II/Cir-El (Forced transformation, ref needed)

Perpetrators:
Martika (GG: Warrior)
Tarantula (Nightwing)
The Mist (Starman #16)
Psylocke (X-Men, ish # needed)
Circe (Wonder Woman)


Mentioned, but even circumstances still unknown -- Sharon Ventura


Clear List:
Lois Lane
Ma Hunkel/Red Tornado
Maggie Sawyer
Renee Montoya
Hope O'Dare
Cassandra Cain
Sandra Woosan/Lady Shiva
Wasp
Andromeda
Katma Tui
Black Widow

I've been saying for a while that I was mad about Wonder Woman supporting cast member Etta Candy becoming Dietwoman, Slim-Fast USAF Officer, Wife of the Man Who is Rightfully Diana's Love Interest, but I didn't realize just how much superior the Golden-Age Etta Candy was to the watered-down version until I saw these panels.



I hereby reinvest my hope that there's room in the relaunch for a retcon/regression of Etta Candy to her Golden Age incarnation.

Anyway, this week: Kyle Rayner. Here's hoping the artist smartens up about the panel angles in Ion. Nobody is reading to see his face. Stop giving us the front view.

Jenn's thoughts about blogging, and her new Wiki project on Ethnic Stereotypes in Comics. She's requested some help getting it off the ground, but all I can really give her is Italians and she doesn't have a spot for them. Any other experts?

I'm really liking Planet Karen lately. Not sure Can't imagine why, though.

I got Justice.

And Dora's got a feminist manifesto... feminifesto... womanifesto... Ehh..
Dora's got a cool idea.

And for those of you still curious about Yesterday's Quote -- Anon, a moose gave it a guess and nailed the quote's origin in the comments. You may speculate on the meaning of this development, or you can go with my explanation.

I'd also like to reclaim the term "Harpy" for feminist empowerment. Anyone else?

Deadline for the Carnival of Feminist Sc-Fi Fans is only 2 days away!

I was saving this for next week. Tonight I was thinking of a post on the impending return of Egg Fu, how Judd Winick screwed over John Stewart, or why I love Hal Jordan (and no, the main point wasn't his butt -- or any of the other physical parts that Ivan Reis draws so prettily). I changed my mind.

You see, some of the reaction to yesterday's post -- indeed, some of the reaction to the WiR-list, girl-wonder.org, pro-women projects and feminist posts in general convinced me that another learning post was in order.

I'm going to give you a quote this morning. It's several months old. Tonight, after work, I will post the link to where I first saw it.

Most likely I'm especially vicious for lack of a true life target. In nearly every other office there has been "The Woman I Hate." I only work with one other female since I was moved across the hall to actually work again, and she's fun to be around.

Until then, please, discuss.

I'll acknowledge that Misogyny may not necessarily be the most accurate term here. The comment in question is so confusing it's difficult to make an exact classification, though it does strike me as a definite form of anti-feminism, which is why this one goes under this heading today. You see, Passive-Aggressiveness can be a greatly confusing tactic. It results in offense, and it becomes difficult to pin down precisely where the offense came from. So, I've prepared a training exercise.

In the exchange below, I'm going to reproduce one of Kalinara's posts in it's entirety (she's given me permission to do this), and then I'm going to quote you from somewhere around the thirtieth comment. The commenter names will all be obscured, but the actual content is completely reproduced so you can judge what happened without looking back at the names.

What I need you, dear readers, to do for me is to explain to me precisely what Fan #1 is talking about, and what in the original post prompted such a comment. And then I need you explain exactly what point Fan #3 inadvertantly proved, how she proved it, and was she too hard on Fan #1?

This is a long one..Original Post:

An Open Letter to Male Comic Fans:
Recent developments over the cause of comic-book feminism have gotten me thinking. I don't know if a lot of guys really understand what feminism's really about.

At least what *my* brand of feminism is really about.

So I'll tell you.

It's not really about the costumes, be they midriffs, boob windows, fishnet stockings. Yeah, some of them are silly. Some of them are stupid. And yeah, when I think they are, I'm gonna damn well say so But I don't want female characters to go around in shapeless tracksuits any more than you do. I like most of the costumes, and while I might prefer it more if Kara Zor-El wore the Matrix Supergirl's costume and cheered when Huntress changed to the non-midriffed bodysuit, that's not what I really care about.

It's not about breast size. Look women come in all shapes and sizes. And in general, when it comes down to it, I like the variety in comics. I'd like to see more variety in comics. I certainly don't want Power Girl or Phantom Lady to suddenly become a b-cup or anything like that, (though I much prefer Phantom Lady in the recent BfB art style than the Freedom Fighters.) Regardless of what certain folks might think, I like Power Girl's breasts.

It's not about making comics less fun for guys. I don't begrudge you your action, attractive characters and power fantasies. I like them too. I don't begrudge you your eye-candy, though I want more male eye candy to balance out.

So what is it about?

It's about:

# Rape/Sexual Assault Storyline being few and far between. It's got incredible evocative power. But only when used sparingly and subtly. It loses all sorts of impact when everyone and her mother has it in their backstory. It should Never be the default method of establishing strength and development in a female character.


# Female characters being defined as more than just their male counterparts with boobs. Having two X-Chromosomes is not a sufficiently defined personality. Female characters should be as complex and developed as their male counterparts.


# Female characters being no more or less sacrificed for a storyline than their male counterparts. Characters have to die sometimes, we understand that. But a hero character should neither be specifically targeted nor specifically spared because of their gender.


# Female characters being on average of an equivalent competency level with their male counterparts. For every Steph Brown there should be an Oracle. For every Jennie-Lynn Hayden a Katma Tui. The woman should not always be the weakest of her ilk.


# Writers caring as much about the consistency of the characterizations of their female characters as they do their males. We love these characters for their personalities as much as their appearances and powers, these should be kept consistent. Growth is a good thing, rampant out of character-ness for the sake of the plot is NOT. For a man or a woman.

# Gender not being used as a crutch to stick to the same old archetypes. Men can be nurturers, women can be ball-breakers. Men can be sensitive, women can be sex-crazed. Variety is a wonderful wonderful thing.

It's about respect.

I don't want to spoil your fun. I don't want to make you feel bad or defensive. I don't think you're all misogynists and sexist jerks. I don't really see anything wrong, for example, with you liking to see attractive female characters in revealing clothing.

I just want the gals to have personalities, brains and skill to go with their beauty. I want female characters to have the same respect and consideration as male characters. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Our desires aren't mutually exclusive. We've got no reason to be adversaries. It would be very easy for us both to be happy. Think about it

This post gets to thirty comments before I see one that really sticks out to me, so I'll be nicknaming the commenter "Fan #1"

Nice piece. Of course, the two main things that would need to change is there to be more female leads (either in their own book or another series) and more female creators (not always working on female characters, either).

But the thing feminist comic fans need to remeber, is that it's going to take time. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the comic industry. Things are changing to the better for women in comics (both in the books and in real life), but there is still more to be done. Guys understand that. But it seems that a good bit (not all, because not everyone is the same) of comic book feminists are a VERY impatient lot (and concidering the patience of "regular" comic fans, that's saying something).

We know you want to make things better. We even want to help where we can (because, I'm sure it wasn't just feminist comic fans who wrote in and saved Manhuter and Spider-Girl). But when you get impatient, you really hurt the cause more than help it. This is just a little something you should keep in mind, when you want to go off on rants about something you don't like. Normal comic book fans look stupid when they do it, having a "cause" behind you doesn't make you look any less so.

Let's keep making those strides to make better comics for men and women (has anyone here been reading Witchblade lately? Man, that is some good stuff.). But don't let the passion you feel for the issues, cause you to turn people sour to your points, simply bacause of your tone and attitude in expressing them.

When someone is screaming in your ears, the reflex is to cover your ears. Not listen more intently.

Just a little something to think about... :)

Within ten minutes, Fan #2 replies (With a slight edit for the name):

[Addressing Fan #1], you remind me of Terry Long.

It's a full hour before Fan #3 comes along, and feels a need to point something out:

When someone is screaming in your ears, the reflex is to cover your ears. Not listen more intently.

Conversely, when someone continually refuses to listen, the reflex is to raise your voice.

You're very quick to take this opportunity to point out the shortfalls of feminist comic fans, when none of these shortfalls apply to Kalinara's post.

The original poster returns:

[Addressing Fan #1]: Female Leads and Female Creators are all well and good, but the thing is that respect should be across the board. Many male creators clearly respect women, many female characters are written respectfully even when not the star. There's no reason to segregate ourselves to just stories with female leads written by women.

[Addressing Fan #2]: Heh.

[Addressing Fan #3]: Conversely, when someone continually refuses to listen, the reflex is to raise your voice.

There's definitely that factor. We've spent centuries not being listened to, being overlooked and disregarded, so it's perhaps understandable that now that we're actually getting somewhere, well, we're impatient.

Fan #1:

[Addressing Fan #2]: How so? I'm genuinely curious.

[Addressing Fan #3]: True enough. But then, some people won't hear you, if you had the "voice of God" telling them something. Sometimes, you just have to chalk some people up as a lost cause and focus on finding those who aren't.

And I think it fit in fine with Kali's piece, insomuch as she seemed to think men don't understand "the cause". While I think many do, but get turned off by some of the tactics and attitudes some feminist comic fans employ. It's yin and yang here. Both sides have their weak points.

Kali: A key factor in respect if equalit and/or balance. And the comic industry isn't (although it is much better than it used to be). With each new generation of creators coming in, I think things will only imporve. Afterall, a lot of the creators who hold on to those sexist conventions, also grew up in thimes when that was considered "normal". Today's younger creators know that's not true anymore and act accordingly (both in their writing and personal lives).

But as I said, it's still going to take time. I understand the impatience (some) women have. But that doesn't mean it should be acceptable, anymore than the sexism they deplore should be.

I think what it really comes down to, for me, is exactly how women express the issues. Sure, everyone jumps on something that's "wrong." But how many also praise what's "right?" Not nearly as many. I know you, Ragnell and a few others do, but you guys hardly make up the whole of "feminist comic fans." There is very much a lack of "respect" from the feminist comic fan movement, IMO, by that lack of "fair play" in reporting events and issues. If all one does is complain about the bad, but never acknowledges the good, how can you expect someone to really listen to you, no matter how LOUD you get? Who listens to someone who is always complaining about something?

As I said at the start, a key point to repect is balance. But it's not just men who need to work on it, but the women, too. Perhaps that is something to think about for another "open letter" style entry. I certainly think you are up to the task (as this entry showed). :)

Fan #3 reads more than enough:

True enough. But then, some people won't hear you, if you had the "voice of God" telling them something. Sometimes, you just have to chalk some people up as a lost cause and focus on finding those who aren't.

Good point. I won't even bother reading or responding to your comments anymore.

Fan #1:

>>Good point. I won't even bother reading or responding to your comments anymore.<<

Thank you for proving my point for me.

For today's Monday Misogyny, please readers, explain to me what exactly happened here and weigh in -- impartially -- on whether this is misogyny or a hair-trigger in action. Both Fan #1 and Fan #3 used passive-aggressive tactics when arguing, as those tactics are the bane of the candied civility that tends to replace actual civil discourse and productive debate. But what exactly in the original post was Fan #1 responding to? What set Fan #3 off? Was Fan #2 justified in his comparison, and was it an insult or a misguided compliment?

The original comments are still intact back at Pretty Fizzy Paradise so that you can check them for accuracy, but I'd prefer you not take the names into account while trying to explain. Although if you go over there, you'll see Fan #3 broke her promise.

No, I didn't forget, but lately I'm distraced by the heat. Summer in Oklahoma makes me long for the icy embrace of a snowy Pennsyvania winter -- the frosted mountains, the shaded woods, the warm stove when the heater went out. I adore the winter seasons here, and the between time. But when it comes to summer and we approach 90F every day, and surpass it every afternoon (often surpassing 100F), it gets to be problematic. I'm almost completely localized to the South now (I roll my eyes when my mother complains about the heat back home -- "Ma, you don't know rough weather...") except for this one thing. Especially when the air conditioning in your apartment goes out and you need to clean. Concentrating on linkblogging isn't easy at the moment.

But enough complaining, on with the links!

This week, I'm going to start out with Colleen Doran's blog, which is a daily stop for me. You can find posts about her personal life and thoughts, industry news, her work, and other tidbits there.

Lis Riba blogs more about personal and political topics, but rest assured, she is certainly a geek, though her greek cred is hidden deep in her archives and unearthed with a simple search.

Well, I was going to read this one all the way through before I linked it, but some news hit this week that made me want to link more webcomics. I've read the first chapter, it looks itneresting, but what captures me is the art. If you go through from the prolouge to the end of the fourth chapter, you can actually see her skill improve. It's called Shades of Grey, and its created by Robin Dempsey who also has a livejournal and a DeviantArt account.

Kalinara would kill me if I didn't link The Pen Stealer, especially as her partner-in-crime, Chu is also a female geek. They only have a couple chapters up so far, but even as a non-Manga-style fan I can see the art is lovely.

And finally, the reason I'm linking webcomics today -- Lea Hernandez has announced the requirements and guidelines for the Nan Grant, which aims to promote female webcomickers:

In order to foster women publishing independently, with economy, and as owners of what they create, I will award FOUR grants annually, of a year's free hosting at WebComicsNation.com, to women making a regularly-updating new or existing webcomic of any genre or style.
The recipients will have unlimited data storage and bandwidth, the ability to choose to support their work with ads, and a storefront for selling merchandise.

If you're eligible, look into the details. And then come back and give the link to me if you get one of the grants.

Last week's WWGO can be found here. If you find a female-friendly and operated geek-site, please point me in the right direction either in the comments or through e-mail. I have a few in the queue, but could always use more to keep this feature running as long as possible.

I'll end with another link to the Carnival of Feminist Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fans, because I want more submissions. Thanks to everyone who's submitted and reposted that so far. We've got one week left!

For my 300th post, I give you the glorious gift of Me...

In Audio.

Lene Taylor interviewed Kalinara and me for one of her "I Read Comics" podcasts. I am so proud of myself keeping this a secret for three weeks, and now it's up! So, you can all go over there and hear my real voice.

Well, you can strain to hear my real voice. I'd never realized before how quietly I speak, but I'm hearable at least. Kalinara's the louder one with the slightly higher voice, I'm the soft-speaking (except for a few excited moments) one who sounds like she has a sinus problem. There's a reason I prefer the written world to the spoken word.

I warn you, while we didn't actually discuss the character, I had the Flash so heavy on my mind that I said "Wally West" instead of "Wally Wood." Thankfully, now that he has a regular book out I won't suffer such Freudian slips.

We talk for over an hour, and around the hour mark I go into a story that I very much love to tell. I'm a little afraid that it's not coherent, but it seems like Lene turned up the volume while it was only me speaking.

And also, my first weekly feature was up on Blog@Newsarama yesterday. Yes, I gave them that feature. Every Friday. And just because I'm newsblogging and analyzing panels over there every once in a while doesn't mean this site will die. I have post ideas still.

And I'd also like to say to everyone who comes by and reads my scribblings, thank you. I sometimes put the emotional stuff here that would belong more on my livejournal simply because I feel its written so well I want people to see it. I'm thankful people do, and that they like it enough to link it and comment on it.

I mean this. I don't think I could handle just shouting to the void here, and while I don't take compliments so well, the encouragement feels good.

Then there's Kyle Rayner. I mustn't forget Kyle Rayner, it's a very bad idea to ever forget Kyle Rayner on anything that's going to appear on the Internet.

-- Dave Gibbons (Wizard Entertainment interview)

The rest of the interview is fairly interesting. Please bear in mind that when he describes Soranik Natu as "hot" it's in reference to liking to draw her should you choose to examine artistic attitudes towards women (I won't, as I'm overflowing with Green Lanterny love right now.)

As for Kyle fans, his sweet doofiness is due out this week in Ion #3 with previews scans here (I dislike this artist, but Page 3 actually looks nice. Sure, not a butt in sight, but this is merely a preview).

The writer of the book is interviewed here, the last two questions are pertinent.

And the esteemed Devon of Seven Hells pauses from making light of Kyle to reconsider his value as a character.

Sadly, there is little Hal fun in sight (I suppose we were too blessed last week with him in 52 and Battle for Bloodhaven), but I'll keep my eyes open.

(*Ahem* For the record, I did like Flash #1, and the new character introduced in 52 is pretty damned cool already, but I loved those Bogart films)

Second call for submissions to the Carnival of Feminist Sc-Fi/Fantasy Fans. Submissions due June 29th for a July 2nd Carnival.

Once again, quoting from the original call:

The Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans periodically collects posts from the hazy side-reality where feminist social consciousness meets the outer limits of the imagination. This is to draw attention to lesser known bloggers, to bring individuals of like-minded (or at least, understanding) interests together, and to foster the growth of feminist fan communities.

The first edition will be on Written World (a comics weblog, so posts from other sci-fi/fantasy fandoms will be welcome and necessary) on July 2, 2006.

Deadline for submissions is June 29th, 2006. Since this is the first edition, we’ll be considering posts during late May 2006 and all of June 2006. After that it will go back to the deadline of the previous carnival. Please email the hostess at ragnellthefoul AT hotmail DOT com or use the submission form.

Some Basic Guidelines:
* All Weblog Postings on Science Fiction and Fantasy works in all media (books, comic books, television, film, roleplaying tabletop games and video games) written from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Fan fiction written from a Feminist Perspective is eligible.
* Posts about fan fiction written from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Posts about conventions and fan gatherings of a Feminist nature are eligible.
* Posts about conventions and fan gatherings written from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Posts about any science fiction or fantasy fandom written from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Posts linking to newsand announcements are eligible, so long as they pertain specifically to the Feminist Sci-Fi Fantasy community.
* Considerations about science fiction/fantasy news from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Analysis of non-Feminist works from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Rants about any of the above written from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Posts which spell “Space” using 3 A’s and two exclamation points and are written from a Feminist Perspective are eligible.
* Posts about Green-Skinned Amazons (from Outer Spaaace!) with more than two breasts that are not written from a Feminist Perspective will not be eligible (and if they aren’t damned funny,* will be reproduced for mockery).
* Posts about Getting Your Girlfriend into [specific type of fandom] had also better be damned funny. If written from a Feminist Perspective (even tongue-in-cheek), they will be eligible.

*Sexist and/or homophobic does not equal damned funny, nor does it constitute anything approaching a Feminist Perspective.

Again, I'm willing to fudge the dates since this is the first carnival.

In other news, the 17th Carnival of Feminists is up at Bitch|Lab (She linked my Fridge post, yay!) and it looks awesome. I don't think I'll have time to read through it all until this weekend, but right away I can see some good comics posts and some other pop culture posts. Head over there and settle in for a good evening's read.

Ahhh. The Flash #1. For a brief shining moment, all is right with the comic book world. It's been so long (January, February it ended?). Will it be the same?

Probably not, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun. I have a confession to make. I watched that TV series. Over and over again on the SciFi channel. I loved it. I am a very indiscriminant Flash fan (Unlike Wonder Woman where I'm picky as hell). I mena, this is the franchise that got me into DC. It would take something major for me not to like this. So I feel safe looking forward to this.

Also, don't forget to grab Manhunter and the She-Hulk collection.

The new contributor at Blog@Newsarama?

Yeah, that's me.

I'm thinking about my hair. It's shoulder length and frizzy and brown, just long enough to fall forward over my face when I look down, just dark enough to obscure my point of view. I picture it longer, flowing forward over my face and down my back, blending with my skirt that goes into the ground like roots. I'm rooted to the ground and still moving. My thoughts come too fast, they seem to slip out through my hair, down my back or float out of the top of my head into the sky. Only a third of what I think, even as I write makes the arduous journey down my arms, through my hands and fingertips to the keys to the computer into cyberspace. It's a steady flow, a steady flow of information ideas in all directions.

And it's broken. (I strain my hair through my fingers, drawing it back out of my eyes.)

More Stream of Consciousness

Fandom has major sections, separate sections, local store cliques, newssites, message boards, blogs and livejournal. The message boards and blogs are primarily male, a feminist sticks out. I find myself choosing sides in arguments. ("Yes, I wanted her dead, but not that way and her fan has a right to be upset about it without you being a jerk.") There are livejournal feminist communities, but most of the livejournal superhero fans are fic writers. I never had the patience for it. Too much planning, too much can change, too many chances to get distracted (I've put off that Lois Lane post for over a month, Bitch|Lab has a category for "the virtues of being a mouthy bitch" in the Carnival of Feminists due tomorrow -- what a shame not to have a Lois Lane post there!) The analysis and arguments about whether Superman or Wonder Woman would win are on the blogs, the message boards and in the local stores. (Why am I the only girl sometimes?)

So many Mainstream Feminists just don't bother with fandom, or when they do it's derisive. (Some of those comments are downright hateful. It hurts to be dismissed out of hand in both communities.) It's strange, obsessive, cliquey, childish, wrapped up in dreams when there's real world work to do. (People would never think that someone who uses their leisure time reading comics books is spending their work time doing something life-heavy and worthwhile) Pop culture is too small, or maybe just too big a problem to examine. (There's too much to be done everywhere, do we even have leisure time in this movement?) So much of our culture is wrapped up in Entertainment, all areas of Entertainment. It shapes us, whether we realize it or not, and we never examine it. People resist examining it. Our time is best spent going after the real bad guys. (It's easier to find a clear villain than to look at the trends that we've been subject to since birth.) It's not radical enough. (What's more radical than examining the very basis for our world views?) You need to shake things up. (Like viewpoints.) You need to be angry. (This does make me angry.) You need to be rational. (This is what I enjoy thinking about.) You need to look at the language. (Like the prevalence of the Super- prefix?)

There's room for academic metatextual analysis in both areas. I'm not academic. I never went to college. (I pull the front two locks of hair out of my eyes, pin them back with a metal clip. My hair's still parted, to the side, and a lock from the longer side falls forward in my eyes.) That doesn't bother me (It bothers me.) I got real training in the military. (I learned to fold shirts to an exact measure while my high schoolmates learns Physics 101.) I do a productive job (Monkeywork) that I am highly trained for. (They crammed four years worth of computer science into six months, and I just ended my sentence with a prepositional phrase.) I don't fit in the non-college crowd, I'm too cerebral. (I don't fit in the college-educated crowd. I'm too practical.)

I don't really think that, do I?

I have so much to do, so many people to talk to. My sister tries to rebuild her geek cred, and I worry mine's too high. I'll never fit in the regular feminist community, I'm too much of a fan. Fandom's disjointed. I'm disconnected. I'm not lonely, there's community all around me. There's communities all around me. They have walls, and corridors and parties inside. I wander the corridors aimlessly, searchingly, there's pluses in every part. I peek in every room and make myself at home. My favorite member of the Greek Pantheon was always Hermes. I love him, he could go anywhere. He was in so many stories, having him there was natural and he didn't get too immersed. He showed up to move things along. He connected the gods to the mortals. He connected the divine to the mundane. He connected life and death. He stood at the threshold of the house. No world was off limits to Hermes, he could be anywhere. Strange that my favorite of the Aesir is Heimdall, who stands at the bridge that seperates the worlds and I adore the idea of Yggdrasil, the tree that connects everything. My favorite superpowers? Teleportation, time travel.

Connectivity.

Not that I want a blended mess. My apartment is a blended mess. "Little piles of chaos," as Liz described her dorm room. It was a mess, little masses of mess. Junk mail I haven't shredded (I'm afraid to have the cat near a shredder). Comic books I haven't boarded or bagged yet. (The cat sits precariously on top of a shortbox, looking at the comic books around him that I won't let him lay down on, and mews pathetically. He has a vet appointment) Longboxes, top open because I rifled through them for a single panel. (I haven't made dinner yet.) My dishes are away, at least. I haven't mailed my Christmas presents yet. (I at least bought them in December.) Unpaid bills. I stopped sorting laundry to do this post (I hope there's a washer open when I'm done) and there's little piles of clothing. I need to vacuum.

I don't have pests or food out, and the litter box is regularly emptied. I still need to vacuum.

I need compartmentalization. I need order. That's why I'm this way. I'm disconnected, trying to connect everything. That's really why I started When Fangirls Attack. I wanted connection. I wanted the communities to mix, to see each other. I pop in with links. I get annoyed when people will link their posts everywhere, but hypocritically I do so too. (I also link other peoples.) I don't want a hub. I want a corridor. I want a hallway I can walk down and see the arrangment of opinions. And I want them ordered, categorized and filed. (This will never happen.) I want a community linked, but not a mess. Right now, it's a mess. People wander into other's rooms, they don't know the rules, the mood. Inter-fighting leads to in-fighting. Things are a mess and I distance myself. (Sometimes.) I can't keep quiet, though.

I'm such a between person. I wish I was a phantom, a messenger, but I'm a blocked connection, an open wire and a closed door. I don't fit in any community, not properly. Feminists? (Hey everyone, Nazi Gremlins from Outer Spaaace!!! Conan vs THOR!! Come see! Everyone?) Superhero fans? (Well, my biggest problem with writer A is the underlying message of the story supports the stereotype that women are emotionally ill-equipped to handle power and the artist spent whole panels showing Female Character X's breasts while we saw not a single shot of Male Character Y's butt and now everyone's ignoring me. Great.) Feminist superhero fans? (Well, I'm actually satisfied with the current direction of the company storywise...) I need to walk in and carve my own niche. And by that I mean pound out a space for myself. (Look at me.) Flaunt my misfit, not hide it. Risk being ignored and singled out.

It's worked so far. I still feel like a between person. A stop. A washed-out bridge. Disconnected. Is this why I like Wonder Woman so much? Her whole concept the last twenty years has been being between. Between mortal and divine, between Batman and Superman. The middle road. Even now, she's rebooted as the bridge, described that way in numerous reviews. And for the past twenty years, much as they tried to treat her as a connection she really connected nothing. Futility, more than anything, has been the theme since the days of Perez. Every step ahead tempered by two steps back. The bridge was washed out. I have those days.

The sun is setting over my shoulder. I used that line as an opener once when I wrote for a New Age newsletter. I still have to work on that feature I promised for Friday. (No, I'm not telling you what it is.) It needs a name, and it needs to be done beforehand. I can't just pound it out the day of. (Well, I can, but there's a certain amount of dependability expected here.) That's a newssite, how would they react to this style of writing? Pretentious? Profound? (Someone read too much Sandman as a teenager). I've been reading Megha and Frankengirl too much (too little) and I see a style influence (Stolen style or out of style?). And writing's like painting in a way. You can ruin it with a single brushstroke (though it's far easier to fix).

I wanted to build a community, really. A small one. I saw a number of people touch on the issues and I wanted to see how I could get discussion flowing. I enlisted the help of a friend (and a few more joined in, to our boundless joy). We didn't build a community, we built a corridor. Bigger than I'd expected. I'm attached to the corridor now. A community would still be nice, many communities would be nice, but I'd rather they be off the side of the corridor than surrounding it.

A corridor is better. Communities are too limited, but you can open a door anywhere from a corridor. You can stick your head in and watch, even pull away and let your hair fall in your eyes again. So long as the door's open, the flow's steady. You can collect insights and idiocy from the safety of your own mindset, and you can take them wherever you like. I can feel disconnected while connecting.

(And that's the closest you'll get to the Secret Origin of When Fangirls Attack)

(The irony of where I found this one was irresistable.)

But that's the thing: Nobody becomes stereotypical housewife, no matter how hard they try. It's a gender construct, which means if there is such an individual, they're not a perfect embodiment of that gender, they're a parody.

Looking for WFA links, I find other things. I thought I'd share some with you.

Kevin and Mag treat us to Silver-Age Superboy while the Fortress Keeper looks specifically at his father.

Gordon treats us to his favorite comedian.

Chris gives us a glimpse of Apokolips.

Melchior shares a Schnackenburg poem.

Jog runs by Raymond Briggs.

Johanna tells us about the ice cream parlor.

Jenn, after last year blasting commercial sexism, this year focuses internally on personal relationships.

And while that's not a post to follow, if anyone's curious as to what sort of father I have -- check out my livejournal.

And that's it for Father's Day 2006. Maybe next year I'll send him the flowers like I meant to, chickened out this time and went halvies with my sister on a CD instead.

A few weeks ago, on Feministe, I saw the following comment:

They actually did a run of Wonder Woman in the seventies that involved both changing her powers (they made her more of a karate chick than a superhero… that was lame) and changed her costume to an Emma Peel style jumpsuit. There was OUTRAGE! It was incredibly short lived.

According to wiki, some of the loudest voices calling for WW to be changed back came from feminist groups. Make of that what you will.

The context of the discussion was Wonder Woman's costume, but the truth of the matter is that Gloria Steinem didn't want DC's foremost female superhero to be depowered. (Source: Wizard Magazine #177) The bathing suit wasn't the central issue (Edit: It just got her attention, Thanks Marionette). Now, this irked me, and confused me, but I let it pass as I wasn't entirely certain of the facts until I read an article. It was a silly assumption on the Feministe Poster's part (or else she'd have never brought it up while the conversation was centered on her costume), and I should have seen the difference immediately. The context clues had thrown me and I laughed to myself now that it made sense.

Still, I have to wonder, why is it when there's complaints about the weak portrayal of female characters in superhero comics is it conversation always assumed to be the costumes and not the serious sexism/misogyny in the plot and characterization?

After seeing the Newsarama preview scans for Robin #151 (via the Fortress of Fortitude), I've come to the conclusion that the Spoiler's death wasn't so meaningless as Mary and Co. believed.

In fact, I think it had quite a large (potentially spoilery) impact on the Batfamily.

Yes, quite a large impact...



Yeah, not the impact you were looking for, but still...

I have to say, though, she's reminding me of the 90s Huntress, who, despite being on the outs with Batman and everyone else in Gotham remained a hero. And now she's been falling in line, and the position of "Batfamily Black Sheep" is open, and Cassandra was ready to give up "Adoring Daughter" anyway.

It could work out very well, actually. I'll be picking this up now (I'd previously decided against it after issue 148) to see the whole story. At the very least, there looks like seriously interesting metatext and symbolism going on.

But for now, I just have one more thing to say about this:



On behalf of Wonder Woman, Superman, Huntress, Catwoman, and Sanderson Hawkins --

Fuck you, Tim.

Make-A-Wish Foundation helps 6-year-old girl with inoperable brain cancer be a superhero for a day

"I'd like to thank you for your extreme bravery in capturing Black," Mayor David Bieter said on the Statehouse steps after Black's arrest.

"You have shown extraordinary crime-fighting skills," Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson said before presenting her with a custom-made police uniform, badge and all.

Bieter proclaimed June 16 Make-A-Wish Day and Star Day, and swore her in as an honorary Boise police officer.

Aubrey also received a medal and pin from the city.

(Via)