Women/Comics research:

So, i went back a while ago and did my research on women in comics as my topic to talk about in my documentary. Here is what i found, in late post...

-Firstly i looked at 'Women in Refrigerators' a fan based website about why women in comics are ' either depowered, raped, or cut up and stuck in the refrigerator' more so than men. The fact that it's fan based, i think, is quite good because it means that it's not a topic that has really been explored so much for the masses, so it's unique. The site is quite old though, but it makes the point.

http://www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/index.html

And here is the list;

List

- I also found this article from the 'Guardian's' website'

Superheroes need rescuing from sexism

'Sometimes, defending superhero comics' right to a place in mainstream culture is like defending a sozzled, lecherous uncle's right to a wedding invitation. I dearly love them, but I'm ashamed of them, too. This year, for instance, three tawdry incidents have left DC Comics and Marvel Comics, the "Big Two", facing accusations of misogyny from even their most ardent fans.First and worst was the case of "Mary Jane Watson: slutty housewife", when Marvel released a statuette of Spiderman's girlfriend bending over to pull his costume out of a laundry pail, showing off maximum cleavage and thong.'

-Also looking at Manga, which can be seen as quite sexist towards women. I looked at this site, 'Understanding Manga: An Interview with Robin Brenner' which addresses this issue.

'The simplest answer is: should manga get more of a free pass than other mediums? No, I don't think so. The complicated answer is still no, but there are so many influences that inform both violence and sexism in manga. First, readers should take a step back and acknowledge that our own comics (or television, or films) are just as fraught with violence and sexism issues (seen the recent spate of horror films dubbed torture porn, anyone?). Manga's version of sexism, and limits (or lack thereof) for violence, arises from Japanese history and society, and so it is both similar to and different from the same problems we have here.'

I also found this, which was very interesting 'The Nationalism And Sexism Underlying Manga'.

'The trial of notorious child molester and murderer Tsutomu Miyazaki during 1989 and 1990 drew public attention to harmful comics, otaku meaning geek or animaniac, Lolita complex or pedophile (lorikon) videos and horror videos he enjoyed. Just after Miyazaki’s arrest, the interior of his room was shown on television. I noticed the manga comics there supported his perverted views.'

Example of lorikon, roughly, i'm not too sure if this is such a great example:


















-So for my research on Batgirl and Starfire, i will do late, but mostly on Batgirl (Barbara Gordon/Oracle), to keep things in order. I think this is, all, but i might come back to edit things.