That Feminist Dyke

yourdarkladysatan:

vriskittles:

brodinsons:

yourdarkladysatan:

there are actual white heterosexual men actually complaining about the hawkeye initiative

wow

I was actually just about to comment on that.

Because really, if you’re “upset” or “offended” by this creative means of commentary on the comic industry as a whole, you should probably take a massive step back and reassess the reasons you’re “offended”.

1. Is it because you’re uncomfortable seeing a man contorted into physically impossible poses for the sake of emphasizing his “assets”?
2. Is it because you’re uncomfortable seeing your own sex objectified for the consumers of the opposite sex? (Generalizations, here. Since the number of queer comic fans is actually massive.)

Welcome to the life of female comic fans the world over.

Believe it or not, but despite the overwhelmingly persistent notion that “COMICS ARE FOR DUDES!!!”, we’ve been there from the beginning, and have only begun making our voices heard in recent decades because we’ve finally managed to eek our feet in the doors of the industry to produce some of the content.

The “Hawkeye Initiative” is not derogatory, nor is it intended to mock male-identified comic fans. It’s a creative-oriented commentary on the hilariously sexist industry that is the world of comics.

i don’t get why it’s okay for women to be upset when women are sexualised but if men are upset when men are issued the same treatment it’s damnable??

It’s a problem because this is something we live with on a day-to-day basis, and now that they are forced to confront it head on, they’re uncomfortable.

• they’re uncomfortable because they don’t like being portrayed that way
• they’re uncomfortable because it threatens ‘manliness’ and the identity of the straight male as it has classically been portrayed
• they’re uncomfortable because they don’t want to admit that women are portrayed in a way that makes us uncomfortable
• they’re uncomfortable because it’s hard for them to realize that women are oftentimes made uncomfortable in the exact same way almost every single day of our lives

They should be upset about this, and instead of turning it on women and blaming us for “taking away their rights” or similar, sexist bullshit, men should be able to own up to the problems women as a gender face, and recognize that changes need to be made.

The Hawkeye Initiative isn’t an attack on men. It’s putting men in the shoes of women around the world. They don’t like it for the same reasons we don’t.

But, of course, instead of owning up to it, admitting that changes need to be made, helping us go about making those changes happen, there are more than a handful whining about how it’s unfair to them. Which, frankly, is like someone using a weapon in a fight, then complaining when their opponent takes out a weapon as well. If you’re going to fuck with someone’s rights as a human being, you better be prepared to be fucked with in return. People are held accountable for their words, actions, decisions, everything. And now that men are finally being held accountable for all the shit they’ve pulled throughout not only the decades, but the centuries, they’re upset.

Which is just too bad.

I’ve even seen people say that women are only using it as an excuse to see Hawkeye in scandalous, sexually appealing clothing—which is also ridiculous. If we wanted to see Hawkeye scantily-clad, we could just pick up a particular issue of Fraction’s Hawkguy. And just because we can pick up an issue and see that doesn’t mean that men and women are equal in comics—far from it! When men are naked or sexualized, it’s in a way that appeals to a macho-man fantasy. It’s a power trip. It’s asserting dominance, perhaps despite being armed in nothing but his own muscles. When women are naked or sexualized? It’s turning them into an object, a fantasy for men. I, personally, would like to see an athletically-built woman kicking ass without her breasts being the main focus of the spread.

That is what is empowering to me. Women in comics have a horrible rep, and while there are some comics taking initiative (DC’s Sword of Sorcery featuring Amethyst, Marvel’s new title Fearless Defenders) that’s not enough for a full-blown revolution. Before men and women can be equal in comics, the men buying the comics have to come to terms with the unwelcoming, degrading effects most comics have and do have on the perception of women. And only when men and women are equal in comics (which, newsflash, isn’t for men to decide) can men who complain about being sexualized and be taken seriously, because at that point, the treatment will be an anomaly, and unfair. As of right now? The dudebros of the world should be taking it as a wake-up call. If they want to stop feeling sexualized, they should stop sexualizing us in turn.