dcwomenkickingass:
DC Comics dropped a bombshell today that will surprise fans of the Wonder Woman series and comics in general. Beginning with issue #12 Wonder Woman will be … a man. Actually a boy and the comic will change its name to WW: Wonder Boy. The character will be one of Diana’s new “Amazon brothers” introduced in the controversial issue #7 of the comic series.
The story calls for Diana to step down from the role after “startling” revelations in issue #11. It sounds similar to DC’s 52 series where she goes off to get in touch with herself. Following Diana’s decision the new character, to be named Dolus, takes on the role.
“We think having a male Amazon opens up all kind of stories that just can’t be told with a female character. Wonder Woman has had 70 years of stories. We’d be foolish to think that title of “Wonder” is one that should only be limited to women. We are super excited about this and we think our readers will be too.”
Wonder Woman has been replaced with other characters in the past. Diana’s mother Hypollyta, her sister Donna Troy and Artemis, a warrior from competing Amazon tribe, have all dawned the costume and the title in the comic’s 70 year history. But to date no males have appeared as the lead character.
There is apparently precedence for the character of Wonder Boy as a character with that name was a member of the future Teen Titans as seen here:
Additionally there was discussion of adding a character with that name as a sidekick to Diana in Phil Jimenez’s run.
So why the change? An insider commented:
“The Wonder Woman comic book has gone through a lot of changes. Really the only thing that hasn’t been done is to make Wonder Woman a man. They realize there maybe some be some controversy.
You can read more on “WW presents Wonder Boy” here.
I’d be a fool to say I’m not surprised to hear DC announcing this today.
WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?
HAVING THE REST OF YOUR TITLES BE CENTERED AROUND SUPER-POWERED MEN AND BOYS ISN’T ENOUGH?
DC COMICS, I HATE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE WITH EACH NEW ANNOUNCEMENT THAT YOU MAKE.
HOLY SHIT I BOUGHT THIS HOOK, LINE AND SINKER. WHICH IS REALLY JUST A TESTAMENT TO HOW MUCH DC TRULY HAVE SUCKED ON GENDER ISSUES LATELY THOUGH.
This was something I was thinking about yesterday - how Harley’s new origin actually removed the element of choice and agency intrinsic to her original transformation. Even though Joker warped her mind, the donning of the costume, the breaking him out, all that was something done off her own impetus.
Just another reason this origin is inferior.
As for the Waller thing - oh hahahaha, fuck you, DC. Fuck you so fucking hard you chumps.
moxycrimefighter:
clownyprincess:
You know.
That would be so awesome.
We’d smack oppression with over-sized mallets, shoot giant bullets at slut-shaming, and throw pies in the face of ridiculous assumptions based on societies “gender roles”
Any cosplayer who was inappropriately touched, commented on or otherwise violated (eg: the camera-up-the-skirt photo creeps) could call on us and we’d go all mob-vigilante-justice on that shit. Rain down a whole storm of pain and vengeance. Wedgies, arm burns, hair-pulling, pinning-em-down and smearing them in clown white and, of course,
several good hard kicks to the balls.
maxiandapril:
Now before you go poopoo all over this post, we are aware that this is not an EXACT match, but what do you expect with a total spur of the moment candid photo? This is us being our normal selves!
There just happened to be a camera near by… in the perfect position . .
… .magically set on a timer… just one of those CRAZY coincidences …
Huzzah!
maxiandapril:
April: Seriously Max, can’t you let anything go?!
Maxi: Hey! I helped you eventually.
April: Yeah, after I moved the dining room table, the china cabinet, the living room couch and the recliner! All you did was help move the coffee table!!!
Maxi: Avenged Sevenfold mofo.
dcwomenkickingass:
My pal Kelly Thompson has written a kick ass article, “No, it’s not equal” on the different ways that men and women are depicted in comics. Here’s a taste:
I think it’s a big problem that extends far beyond comics and like other media, it really affects the way people view women, and how women, especially young women, view themselves. I don’t think “it’s just comics” and it doesn’t matter. I think media is a powerful thing in our society and that there’s a trickle down effect in seeing these portrayals reinforced over and over again. These portrayals shape how we view and value women and contributes to everything from sexism in the work place to eating disorders. I don’t think comics are the only media to blame, but it does happen to be the medium I write about, so here we are.
I highly recommend that you pop over to Comics Should Be Good and read it. I also highly recommend that you watch this trailer for Miss Representation which hits on the theme of Kelly’s article but focuses on the media at large.
Kelly knew there would be some push back in the comments on this article and while there is lots and lots of positive support, the con of that is, well, here’s a sample:
When I hear Fems argue for more representations of fat, slovenly, lazy men as love interests in female power/sex fantasy oriented Romance Novels, maybe I might give a damn about their hissy fit over superhero comics.
or this!
This is essentially about censorship. Saying bad art doesn’t deserve to exist because it offends your political beliefs is not acceptable in a free society. Maybe you wouldn’t jail an anime fan for child porn or assassinate a cartoonist for depicting Mohammed, but you are on the same side of the fence as the people who do. If only there was some sort of legal defense fund for comic books.
Fun times!
Given the aggressive defense of the BOOBZ and TITZ and BROKEBACK in comics by some (and come on this isn’t about a little cheesecake which I can enjoy), I am going to ask the same question that I asked on Twitter a few days ago after this story, by David Brothers (which you should also go read) appeared on Comics Alliance:
If you like Kelly’s article, please let her know.
Reblogged from gailsimone February 18, 2012
gailsimone:
ddelphinium:
gailsimone:
askmaridee:
The rising discontent with the treatment of female comic book readers and creators by the comics mainstream bubbled over on social networks this week after two new releases: the results of DC’s Neilsen Survey on their New 52 reboot and the premiere of Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men. DC’s…
This is a great response to the whole controversy thing. And I agree, I did ask a more open ended question than the survey did, it was completely off the cuff.
However, stores were routinely saying that their comics buying customers were up to 30%. I don’t think it necessarily suggests that it means those customers aren’t buying DCnU titles, it is just as likely, if not more so, that it suggests that the survey was flawed.
Which I absolutely think it was. We need a much, much wider in store sampling. 167 in store surveys is statistically too few to pay attention to.
There are anecdotal questions as well, and methodological ones. First, my friends who were hit up for surveys said the questioners were incredibly aggressive. That may well have been a turn-off for potential female participants. I also want to know when these surveys took place, as several store owners said their female customers are much less rigid about showing up on new release day.
I think the survey was very flawed. It’s possible that retailers who saw my question are biased somewhat towards female customers being significant, but when stores are routinely saying women are 20-30 percent of their base, it would be a fatal flaw to allow the idea of a 7% female readership take hold without scrutiny.
I think it would be more useful to ask the retailers directly. They are there every day, they know their customer base.
But I am deeply skeptical.
I live in China mainland. I’m a woman. This is the imported comics I purchased through Amazon. cn last year. You can even see the Chinese version of Green Lantern: Secret Origin. (It was officially introduced into China last year.) This stack of comics made me SVIP of Amazon. cn last year, because exchange rate made them cost me dearly.
Thank you Mr. Smith, for letting me know that since I own such a stack, I’m just not any kind of female humanbeing. Thank you. I might just buy a tablet instead to maintain my SVIP, and read some serious English novel or professional books.
I’m sorry that comment made you feel that way, I don’t blame you a bit. All the work that’s been done to promote and celebrate the wider readership, which included people of all genders, and we still have goofyass comments like this. It’s ridiculous, and the justifications for it (“It’s reality!”) are insulting.
I have never had a beef with Kevin Smith, he does what he does and that’s fine for the people who want that.
But Kevin Smith does not speak for the industry or all of us IN the industry or for all comic shops, many of whom are run by women, owned by women, and supported by women.
And THAT’S reality, Kevin.
ALL I want to know is why ANYONE is allowing Kevin Smith to continue to write comics. He seems to be universally derided as incredibly, unbelievably BAD AT IT. Certainly my experience of him as a comic writer has been: HE IS FUCKING ATROCIOUS.
I got bored of Kevin Smith over three years ago. Guys? His work reflects his incredibly limited mentality: misogynistic, homophobic, racist, superficial, contrivedly ‘edgy’ and juvenile. Stop fucking paying money for it. FFS.
(Source: boatbuildercomic.com)
"
I don’t want to be a feminist anymore. Like a five-year-old, I want to close my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears, stomp my feet on the floor and scream “No! No, you cannot make me, I won’t, leave me alone!” I am, simply put, too tired. So very, very tired.
I am tired of fighting with my friends. I am tired of arguing that someone groping and slapping my butt isn’t “what I have to expect”, just because I’m at a bar, and the one attacking my butt has a drink in the other hand. I am tired of hearing “boys will be boys” and “when you’re dressed like that …” and “that’s just what guys do”. I am tired of trying to drown those sentiments in loud, repetitive no’s, screamed over and over again, till my throat is sore and my voice weak – just to hear them repeated, as soon as exhaustion threatens to silence me.
I am tired of being afraid. I am tired of seeing someone writing something offensive, sexist, racist, ageist, ableist, somewhere online. I am tired of seeing those writings getting likes and lol’s, and SO TRUE’s. I am tired of being consumed by confusion and anger, typing, typing, typing and typing a seemingly endless response, including research, links and statistics, and then hesitate clicking “submit”. I am tired of knowing that I hesitate because I am afraid of the flood of responses that will come. I am tired of knowing that I will be bombarded with lighten up’s, stop whining’s and get a sense of humor’s for so long, that I will start to wonder if I am indeed wound up too tight, a nagger and humorless. I am tired of the fact that I’m afraid of being called a cunt, even though I don’t find genitalia insulting or demeaning.
"
(via notafraidofruins)
This is a really frustrating feeling. It really, really is, and the problem is even worse for the trans* and POC community (who are liable to suffer much more than just name-calling), and the whole thing just gets so ridiculous and infuriating sometimes.
(via wonderwomanv2)
Yannow what super-duper sucks? Being tired of being a feminist in the fucking queer community and having anti-racism, anti-ableism and anti-cissexism treated as a joke, or worse - as is the trend in Sydney at the moment - as “thought-policing”.
I mean, I expect this shit from the straight community, though I hate it. But you queers should know better. :/
You need to read this. You all need to read this. I will never, EVER, disbelieve a woman (cis or trans) who tells me she has been raped or abused. Because it happens to too damn many women. And that’s not okay.
anotherhookerblog:
Why does everyone beleive you, even though they don’t know you? Your blog description.Seems like an act of a revengeful princess ‘bitchface’.
This message motivated me to start writing more personal follow-ups to something I wrote that was a pretty big deal in lots of peoples lives. This gets long and full of my feelings. Sidenote: this girl is friends with the little sister of Nino, my rapist. His partner told me tonight that he hasn’t told any of his family, which was against the terms of our initial accountability process. Personally I’m really fucking angry that something that has dominated my life and interactions with my family has managed to be easily hidden from his, and I’m really a bit scared that teenage gals are being allowed to socialise with him while he refuses to accept what he has done. Gross.
I grew up around lots of stubborn women, and a very conservative mother who raised me with all the traditional narratives about rape and DV “fight tooth and nail if someone attacks you, go straight to the police, never let them get away with it”, as if it’s always that easy. And I always thought I would. As a teenager, I looked down on women who DIDN’T report their assaults, I thought they were weak and probably said things like that in discussion (fuck I hope I had the manners not to say it to their faces). I hadn’t been exposed to feminist thought and honestly, I didn’t know any better. I wanted to feel safe and powerful and the only way I knew how to do that was by agreeing and siding with men, and shit was never ever their fault, was it?
Getting to know better was a gradual process; starting uni and studying a little more, coming out as queer and seeing how people who didn’t conform to the gender binary were treated by institutions (like hospitals, the police, Centrelink etc), and big-time when I started sex work and was in all-female workplaces where people spoke intimately about the relationships with the men in their lives: fathers, husbands, boyfriends, ex’s, brothers. I heard stories about abuse (physical, sexual and psychological), dripped out over years of grooming and degradation. I learned how women are trained to accept violence and aggression as a part of male expressions of love: from boys pushing you in the playground in kindy meaning that they like you, to the pressure to be sexual in high school, to putting up with having sex in a relationship because ‘men have needs’.
When I started dating women and people who were raised as such, when I started to develop more mature friendships with women I started to hear more personal stories of assault. I can only think of a few CAFAAB people I know who haven’t been sexually assaulted or raped. It’s insidious.
You obviously already know a little bit about Nino, so maybe you can look up what it’s like for queer people accused of assault in the prison system, which is one of the initial reasons I didn’t take police action. My story also has credibility because in a way, these people do know me. We haven’t met, but they know what I look like, what annoys me, my job, my girlfriend, my friends, I’m a 3-D person to them, not just some random girl with a sob story (being a random girl with a sob story is ok too).
These people believe me for many reasons, but one of the main ones being that they themselves or a woman in their life (sister, mother, lover, friend) has been assaulted by someone they were dating, someone they were in love with (and I was very much in love with him at the time). Maybe they know someone who tried to get justice from an abusive partner and watched them struggle against bureaucracy and the boys club, not to mention their own destroyed self esteem.
I can quote statistics about DV at you, I can tell you about conviction rates and how abuse effects your ability to stand up for yourself, but you don’t really sypmathise until it happens in your life. Honestly, the main reason why most of these people believe me is that they remember what it was like. They remember when they were assaulted and told someone and got it dismissed, or told it was their own fault, and how much that hurt. People believe me because they made a choice at some point in their life to ALWAYS believe a woman if she says she is accused of rape, because it’s probably true and the consequences of believing otherwise are pretty fucking dire.
