Recommended reading: The Vagenda

 

Recommended reading: The Vagenda

First of all, I'm going to come out and say that I do not buy mainstream 'women's lifestyle' magazines. Read: magazines pertaining to an approximation of all of women-kind's collective interests, which apparently does not stray from the confines of fashion, beauty, dieting, and dating (men only). I am very aware of the content and the problems with these kinds of magazines, which is one of the many reasons I choose not to buy them. Instead I find myself jostling for elbow room among many astonished men at the other sections of magazines at the newsagent's, such as computing and technology, music, leisure/interests, and sadly sometimes men's interests, which have in my experience been home to magazines catering to all the genres above. I'm not sure how or why we've let ourselves be caged into such a teeny, tiny, and very shallow little corner of the magazine world, but we have, and I'm kinda tired of the double-takes...

I bought The Vagenda gleefully anticipating that it may well be a longer, more media-focused, yet still witty version of The Noughtie Girl's Guide To Feminism by Ellie Levenson, which I'd read a few years previous. I was in luck! The Vagenda examines the content and issues with the media's current worrying vision of womanhood and femininity, including advice on fashion, health, beauty and relationships. The book also gives credit where it's due, praising the more promising, sexually liberated publications of the 60s and 70s, to the perplexing and frankly confusing attitude to sex undertaken by popular magazines today, who seem to make a profit from posing as a life-line for our problems, offering useless solutions, and then introducing some new things to worry about before the end of the issue – now you've taken the quiz to see if your boyfriend is cheating on you, you better figure out how to win him back: here are ten sex tips to please your man in the bedroom!' The Vagenda examines the trite subjects that appear and reappear in each issue of popular women's magazines, including body image woes, the ever-changing and sometimes baffling world of fashion (Vajazzling? Really?), relationship 'advice', diets, and the disturbing world of Lad Culture, and reminds you that you're not the only one feeling slightly weird about it all..

The great thing about this book is that it finds an easy balance between being informative, being hilarious, and reminding the reader that she really doesn't need to stand for this crap. The Vagenda does a great job of making the reader take a critical look at the way the media markets to and treats women, and what these magazines suggest our priorities should be. I know many people who, when asked about their opinion on the shameless woman-bashing and body-shaming that is packed into every tabloid or cheap gossip rag, would shrug passively and claim that it is no big deal – but why do we turn a blind eye to it? And more importantly, how is this shaping the generation of young girls who will be bombarded with this kind of trashy media wherever they turn? It's easy to claim that it's a form of cheap entertainment, but The Vagenda insists that we all sit up and take some responsibility for the media that we purchase as consumers and as women. Just because no real brain power went into the publishing of your magazine, doesn't mean that you shouldn't use your brain before you dig absentmindedly into the supposed latest sexual exploits of whichever b-list celebrity is the current flavour of the month.

When we examine the media, we examine our culture and our society as a whole. Because we are so surrounded by culture, we rarely step back and review the messages that we're receiving on a daily basis, and what it says about those who buy into it. It's easy to join a pack mentality and buy what is laid out in front of us, under a nice, bold sign that says 'women's lifestyle', and be satisfied that that is what we're meant to be consuming, but by never questioning our value of that media, we're essentially reading the magazines with our eyes closed. An interesting study cited in the book states that a 2012 study found that after just three minutes spent looking at a fashion magazine, 70% of women reported that they felt 'guilty, depressed and shameful'. When this is how our media makes us feel about ourselves, isn't it time to do as The Vagenda suggests we do and 'call bullshit?'

I wholeheartedly recommend The Vagenda to any woman and especially anyone who feels baffled and angry about the questionable ethics and ideals of media we are spoon-fed. This book gives some real incite into the toxicity of women's magazines and will get you chuckling as you read- if we didn't laugh, we'd probably just spontaneously combust. 

 

I also have some intelligent, thought-provoking and self-image-positive media to suggest to readers who like their mags without all the vapid nonsense:

Lionheartmagazine “Lionheart Magazine is a magazine for those looking for something that reflects their personalities and preferences. Editorial that’s smart, funny, friendly and a little irreverent, together with beautiful design, illustrations and photography. You’ll find craft, fashion, art, interviews and features that are interesting, inspiring and hearty.” 

www.cellardoormagazine.co.uk/

http://www.msmagazine.com/

http://www.rookiemag.com/

mookychick.co.uk

Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal- Mahou Shoujo at Its Finest

Even if you don’t follow anime all that much, it’s extremely hard to avoid the Sailor Moon phenomenon. Even the guys I live with know about it, and that’s not just because I haven’t stopped talking about it since I watched Sailor Moon Crystal at the weekend, but I’ll come to that later. Sailor Moon is one of the most popular mangas/animes in the world, and when you watch or read it, it’s easy to see why. Girl power! Relatable characters! Talking cats! Magic powers! Unnecessarily long outfit changes! The list goes on and on. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of Sailor Moon, it’s hard to deny it lasting influence and creation, if not affirmation of some anime tropes.

Way back in the early 90s, a little show called Sailor Moon started in Japan. It followed the story of Usagi Tsukino, a 14-year old schoolgirl who discovers that she’s a member of the Sailor Senshi, and must defend the Earth against the evil Queen Beryl and her minions in the Negaverse. Luckily for Usagi, she has a (very patient) mentor in Luna, a talking cat, who also helps her find other members of the Sailor Senshi. A few years later, it got (poorly) dubbed into English, and aired in the UK, which is how I came across it, scrolling for shows to watch after school. Now, I’ll admit. I wasn’t that big on Sailor Moon when it started, and I preferred Cardcaptors (the dub of Cardcaptor Sakura) Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh. However, one of my childhood friends totally loved it, so I watched it, and then later we’d re-enact it on the playground at school. I never really thought about it that much as I got older until I got on procrastination-tool Tumblr, and a whole lot of the accounts I’d follow would reblog stills from the 90s show, gorgeous fan-art, and the odd still from the disastrous live-action film. I’ve found that as I’ve got older, I appreciate the show so much more. I’m rewatching the show from the start and absolutely loving it, as well as all the nostalgia! 

But why do I love it? As well as essentially perfecting the formula for mahou-shoujo (that’s magical girl anime, in case you were wondering) the content itself is really amazing. The characters aren’t just caricatures and archetypes, they full, expanded personalities. They have completely human traits, which make them extremely believable as characters. When Serena/Usagi finds out she’s a sailor scout what’s her first reaction? She wants out! I would most likely act in the same way, especially if my cat started talking to me. Above all that is the underlying message of girl power running throughout the show. Sure, Tuxedo Mask helps the girls out, but they’re never dependent on him to save the day, and they kick ass in their own regards and in their own way. Every single character fights, an no one slacks off. It's all about teamwork and co-operation, which is an excellent message to send. It (as well as Cardcaptors) had a pretty profound effect on me as a kid, and was one of the things that made me realise that ladies could totally kick ass and be super cute at the same time.

Sailor Moon Crystal is the reimagining/remake/adaptation of the manga that has been highly anticipated by a lot of fans. I’ve lazily followed its progression, rumours and news online, but when I sat down to watch the first episode, I totally loved it. I’m not usually one to follow anime (I’m VERY choosy when it comes to watching anime) but I’ll be following this! It follows the story of the manga almost perfectly, with the first episode being the first chapter, or act in the manga, following Usagi as she becomes a Sailor Senshi. The animation is updated, favouring a more ethereal colour palette and modernised style. The only niggle I have with the animation is that in Usagi’sepic transformation, it looks almost TOO digitised and almost video-gamey for my liking. This may well be me being a bit picky and too in love with the original, but it just didn’t sit right with me. The new series seems to be trying to be more serious than the old series, but I think it works quite well. The girl-power drive is still strongly in the show (just check out the theme tune for evidence of this!) and this warms my heart to see. The story is an almost perfect adaptation of the manga, and while there are less of Usagi’s OTT facial expressions and reactions, it’s still damn good, and I will continue to watch it weekly, and regale my housemates with tales of talking cats and magical girls.

If you want to know more about Sailor Moon, The Mary Sue are putting together an exhaustive guide to the show here.

You can watch Sailor Moon Crystal here.

Let me know what you think! 

Weekly Round Up #1

Hello and welcome to a new segment here on Geeky Femmes! I (Ari) will to do a weekly roundup of interesting/important things have hit the (or at least my) radar this week.

First up, Noelle Stevenson did this ace short comic about what it can be like going into comic shops as a lady. Luckily enough I’ve never had this happen, but I’m always guarded in case it does.

Images grabbed from Noelle's Tumblr.

Actress Ellen Page recently came out and delivered a gorgeous, inspiring speech about love.

She-Hulk #1 was released by Marvel, continuing the group of lady-led comic books coming out. I gave it a good review over on my other blog.

Apologies for the brevity of this, but if you feel I’ve missed anything, feel free to comment and share!

You can find me on Twitter (@ariellalphabet) and Gina (@HEXX_)

If you’d be interested in doing a guest post here, let one of us know! 

DC stands for Dubious Choices, Amirite?

Hello fellow Geeky Femmes, it's Ari! It's been a while since I wrote anything here, but I've been saving up all my wrath for writing and working on something really needed to be reported on. Sure, over the last month we've had some pretty bad stuff from creator of Kickass, Mark Millar's egotistcal and self-entitled mouth, but it hasn't enraged the comics community as much as what DC have spent this last week doing. 

While I don’t typically read many DC titles (and so my judgement may be either biased or missing in vital information, two things I’ll admit) what’s gone down this week has still majorly pissed me off. DC have truly been rocking the boat with a variety of questionable decisions, all of which have coalesced into one group of seriously annoyed fans. Earlier this week, J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman announce that they were leaving hit title Batwoman due to ‘editorial interferences’ from the higher ups, the most shocking of which stated that Williams and Blackman could not show the marriage between Kate Kane and fiancé Maggie Sawyer. Effective as of #25, the duo will no longer be on the title, much to many fan’s dismay. (Read more over on CBR, including Williams and Blackman’s statement. iO9 also had an interesting take on the news, and comicbook.com features a factual report) Secondly, DC have then gone on to announce a fun new art contest for talented readers and fans, with the prize to have artwork included in Harley Quinn #0, written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. Sounds all fun and games, right? Not quite. The contest requires prospective artists to illustrate four specific panels, as written by Conner and Palmiotti, with no knowledge as to the rest of the content, but the content is rather… Questionable. It follows Harley’s various suicide attempts, and climaxes with Harley, naked in a bathtub about to drop a variety of electrical appliances into the tub. Leaves rather a sour taste in your mouth, doesn’t it? 

A match made in heaven...
Art from DeviantArt.

While the actions mentioned within the panels may be more representative of Harley Quinn’s more frenetic characteristics (since the contest has gone live, Jimmy Palmiotti has stepped in to give more context to the panels- see here for more details) it has still sat wrong with a lot of fans, myself included. While some internet speculators have suggested the possibility that DC may be attempting to make Harley into their very own Merc With A Mouth, it’s still an odd direction to take Harley’s character. Many sites on the net have practically bent over backwards offering their views on the subject (Tumblr and Twitter being such places, much to no-one's surprise) and many news sites have jumped over each other to completely vilify DC, or in some rarer cases, defend them. All things considered, DC are being portrayed as the villains they have dedicated this month to. 

First of all, we’ll discuss the news on Batwoman, and what this could mean for DC.  While it certainly isn’t the latest DC cock-up, I feel it’s definitely up there as one of the more significant ones. As mentioned, artist and writer J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman have both walked off Batwoman, citing ‘editorial interference’ often at the last minute, forcing the duo to drastically alter scripts and art. While this level of editorial interference is nothing new with DC, it’s what’s being interfered with which is raising tempers.

As a brief bit of backstory for those of you unfamiliar with Kate Kane/Batwoman, here’s a cram

Cover to Batwoman #17,
art by J. H. Williams III.

session. Batwoman is one of DC’s few female superheroes leading a solo title, but in a move unseen from either of the Big Two, she is also a lesbian, and her positive portrayal within the series has garnered the creative team/s (including Greg Rucka and J. H. Williams III’s storyline Elegy, which takes place shortly before the New 52 not-a-reboot-reboot offers a well written and insightful look into Kate as a character) a series of awards from LGBT+ group GLAAD for positive representations of LGBT+ characters and portrayals in comics. Recently in the comics, Kate Kane proposed on-panel to her long-suffering girlfriend Maggie Sawyer, in what was hailed as an exciting new turn in comics and equal LGBT+ representations. 

Before I continue, it’s extremely important to clarify that at no point have DC said that they are against gay marriage, or are anti-LGBT+. This is not a thing that they have explicitly said, nor is it an attitude they’ve taken. Furthermore, from these actions you can’t necessarily prove that DC are anti-LGBT+, in this case, they’re just being dickheads to a good character. They (Dan Didio) has simply stated that DC are anti-marriage… 'Cuz y'know, God forbid a superhero be married and have a loving relationship. 

However, DC have gone on the record as saying that they don’t want to show the marriage between Kate and Maggie, if it happens at all, horrifying people everywhere. This goes in flagrant opposition to Marvel’s X-Men 2012 summer event, wherein Alpha Flight superhero Northstar (alias: Jean-Paul Beaubier) married his partner Kyle Jinadu in Astonishing X-Men #51, which had many fans celebrating the pairing, event and progressiveness that Marvel seemed to be showing. However, some have criticised the event as Marvel treating it as a ‘novelty’, due to the limited references to it. While it is mostly unfair to compare the two companies, it’s certainly not unfair to compare the two companies’ stances on marriage and gay marriage. 

Surprise! It's weakly written character motivation.

We can now go onto look more into DC’s position on marriage and relationships, and what this means to readers. It’s no big secret that very few folk in the DC universe seem to be able to keep and maintain a healthy relationship without incurring murder or worse. Just look at the latest issue of Batgirl, wherein her boyfriend gets shot. Heck, the trope ‘girlfriend-in-a-refrigerator’ as a ‘motivation’ for male characters came from DC, where Green Lantern Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend was murdered by supervillain Major Force and left to rot in the refrigerator. Charming.  However, in a curious turn from that also embodies a false sense of we-know-lady-comic-readers-yo, DC announced a comic based entirely around the romantic relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman (‘cuz all lady comic readers are super-interested in romance. By geez, I know it’s all I want from my comics, as it might just melt my cold, cold heart) and how they work as a couple and as crime-fighters. To many female comic readers, this series came off as more as an insult to many fans. That said, I’m not holding out much hope for it, but we’ll have to wait for its release before we judge… At least before we judge too harshly, anyway. Returning the topic of marriage and relationships, it’s safe for us to establish the DC has a horrible tendency to mistreat romantic partners and spouses as a poor excuse for character motivation.

The fact that DC is so against romantic relationships and marriage is not just inherently sad, but

Kate proposing to Maggie,
art by J. H. Williams III.

it’s also incredibly damaging. While I as a person may not have a positive view towards marriage, I’m not going to insist that my media follows my worldviews. I think that marriage, for the right people and right reasons is a wonderful thing, bringing together two people who are very much in love. In the case of Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer, it would be an absolutely earth-shattering, jubilant thing. It would potentially change the shape of comics to come, and would prove a talking point for years. As I already mentioned, I’m not a fan of marriage, but I would read and celebrate the hell out of a Batwoman marriage comic! I think it would be a good thing for DC, and a great thing for Kate herself. However, If DC aren’t willing to portray positive relationships or marriages, then what does it mean for future characters? What does it mean for people read the comics? It is perpetuating that superheroes can’t have romantic interests. They can’t be happy in a relationship, which is an extremely negative message to send. To all those people who look up to superheroes (myself included) it’s saying to them, you’re either a superhero, or you can have a romantic interest, and to this, I say no. I refuse to accept this. You can be a superhero with a husband, or wife, or girlfriend or boyfriend (or a mix of all four!) if you want to be. Superheroics don’t end on the streets. You can have both. The fact that these relationships are being portrayed in such a negative way is hurtful to those who consume the media. 

Next up, we’ll discuss the art competition based around Harley Quinn. At it’s very, very base, it’s a fairly good idea. A contest to scout out new talent, (God knows DC are doing a damn good job scaring away their own talent!) using the premise of one of DC’s most popular characters outside of the Holy Trinity, of course, and launching a new title. On paper, it’s a great idea, gives a lot of  amazing unknowns the opportunity to share their work with a big company, something they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. The contest is being judged by artist Jim Lee (Superman/Batman, Dark X-Men who also wrote a series of interesting tweets about the controversy, collected here) and DC head honcho Dan Didio, so artists really are getting their work looked over by professionals.

However, the thing that has sat wrong with just about everyone is what the script requests:  

PAGE 15

4 panels

PANEL 1
Harley is on top of a building, holding a large DETACHED cellphone tower in her hands as lightning is striking just about everywhere except her tower. She is looking at us like she cannot believe what she is doing. Beside herself. Not happy.

PANEL 2 
Harley is sitting in an alligator pond, on a little island with a suit of raw chicken on, rolling her eyes like once again, she cannot believe where she has found herself. We see the alligators ignoring her.

PANEL 3
Harley is sitting in an open whale mouth, tickling the inside of the whale’s mouth with a feather. She is ecstatic and happy, like this is the most fun ever.

PANEL 4
Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of “oh well, guess that’s it for me” and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen. 

Cover art for Harley Quinn #0.
Art by Amanda Conner.

While a lot of news sites have gone for the sensationalistic headline “DC COMICS ASK YOU TO DRAW A NAKED LADY COMITTING SUICIDE!!!!!” it boils down to much more than this. Palmiotti has gone on to explain what the context behind the script is (a mildly intelligent fourth-wall breaking commentary on the state of the strange imaginings from writers, as well as a strange commentary about nudity in comics? I’m not entirely sure on that part) but it still leaves many questions unanswered. Sure, Harley is the lovable, crazy rogue we’ve always known, but isn’t this a bit extreme? Sure, in context, it’s a commentary on crazy writers, but it’s still a strange concept. Draw a woman, naked in a bathtub about to commit suicide (for whatever reason)? Even WITH context it’s kinda weird. It perpetuates a rather lackadaisical attitude about suicide, and with the contest happening the weekend before National Suicide Prevention Week, it equates out to either a sick joke or incredible bad timing- take it as you will. 

In conclusion, DC Comics have done some shitty stuff this week. The Tumblr page Has DC Done Something Stupid Today? Has been buzzing constantly, and the counter has rarely raised above one. Everyone knew DC were capable of doing stupid stuff (and have been doing for years) but it seems that this past week they’ve been making bad choices in an abundance this week, pissing off people left, right and centre. DC’s anti-marriage/positive relationship has resulted in them looking like fools, and the fans and followers of Batwoman have almost launched a revolt against the company. As for the Harley Quinn palaver… Less said the better. I still hope to wake up one morning and find it was all a horrible dream. That said, there are still potential silver linings to be made from both situations. With the Batwoman-marriage issue DC might one day rescind and change their thoughts, we might be onto something- I’d rather see positive relationships in my comics than awful ones, and I’d especially like to see a good wedding- especially so if it’s Kate Kane’s. DC seem to be ‘learning’ through a trial by fire, as fans are more vocal than they ever have been when things have been done that hasn’t been to their satisfaction. Also, as J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman leave Batwoman, it’s been announced at Baltimore Comic Con by Dan Didio that Marc Andreyko would be taking over on writing, and has promised that he wants to live up to the legacy.  All in all, it’s safe to say that DC have really screwed us all over this past week, and seem to have lost a lot of fans.
 Follow me on Twitter for more comic ranting: @Ariellalphabet 

Ari: Female Superheroes in Film

Hello! Ari here, resident comic book geek, here to talk about female characters in films and TV programmes. "Why is this an important thing? At least there are female characters in the things you watch. That should be good enough." To which I respectfully reply, while having female characters in there is enough, oftentimes it is simply not good enough. The point of feminism and ultimately the point of this post is equality. The same for both genders, and for people who identify as either gender. What goes for one, goes for the other. This really isn't a hard concept to understand, even for the most unscholarly of us.  So, in this context, for every one male character/superhero I see in a comic book film, I want to see one superheroine. In the last thirteen years, there have been 48 comic book adaptation to the big screen (accounting for series from Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. For the sake of my argument, original scripts such as Super (2010), Chronicle (2012) and Hancock (2008) have been omitted) and I'll cheerfully (or cheerlessly if we're talking about Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) admit to having watched nearly all of them. However, out of those 48 films, only two of them, which is less than 5% have female characters as the lead. Frankly, that's an awful number and a rather dire representation of women in film and superhero fiction, and I for one want it to change. 
    
Let me preface this mini-rant by saying I LOVE COMIC  BOOK FILMS. I cannot get enough of them. Every time I get the news that another of my beloved characters is making the transition to the big screen, I shriek with glee and hunt down every single piece of information about the potential film that I can. Also, like a lot of other straight girls, I especially love watching attractive actors taking my characters and making them into something new, and I have absolutely no complaints about the gratuitous topless scenes featuring the aforementioned actors (Watch the TV series Arrow and you'll see what I mean!) or anything else, and view it as an interesting view on the 'female gaze' as opposed to the male gaze. 

Referring back to the 48 superhero films and the characters contained within them, the female characters tend to be one of of two extremes: powerful warrior women or weak little girls in need of being rescued. If we look at Bryan Singer's X-Men (2000) we can see the two extremes almost straight away. Storm/Ororo Munroe, played by Halle Berry is a powerful warrior woman. Jean Grey, played by Famke Janssen, is a powerful warrior woman. Then, we have Rogue, one of the most powerful mutants in the world reduced to be being a weak little girl who then goes onto be rescued by Marvel's fucking poster boy, Wolverine. Of course, we can't blame 100% of this on Wolverine, but the story itself shouldn't need such a cheap writing device to get the point across. At it's heart, X-Men is about social injustices and prejudices, a fascinating subject in itself, especially when you transfer the message to the attitudes for/against the gay community. However, all this said, the female characters in this film are successful and powerful and fairly positive representations of the characters that they're portraying. While it does (only just) fail the Bechdel Test (like many superhero films tend to) it's not one of the worst offenders within this group. 

Like many superhero films, the narrative is often derailed and deviates (in some cases very,

very far) from the original source material, and one of the worst offenders of this is Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). Funnily enough, it was these films that got me hooked on reading Marvel comics in the first place, but now I can wholeheartedly say that I hate them. Whether they were intended to be loose adaptations of the Ultimate universe Fantastic Four or whether they just lost track of the story somewhere down the line, I don't know. However, one problem I've always had with the film is the way Susan Storm is represented. I understand catering to a larger audience by using eye-candy or whatever reason they found for having Sue act/dress the way she did, but it just sat very uncomfortably with me. In the comics, Susan Storm/Richards is an intelligent, deadly, and modest woman who developed the use of her powers without a humiliating and unnecessary scene that left her wandering the streets of New York in her underwear. Call it humour, call it allowing for the male gaze, call it whatever you like, but I know the original Sue Storm would never be in that situation. Frankly, I could talk about how the Fantastic Four films have annoyed the crap out of me with their terrible character representations, weak narrative and ridiculous script, but for the sake of brevity, I won't. 

Fortunately for those who are supremely annoyed by this shit, there's slowly but surely been a difference in the way women are shown in superhero films. In Superman: Man of Steel (2013) Lois Lane (a character I talked about in my previous post, which you can read here) is a strong, female character who didn't fall prey to being damselled or otherwise incapacitated for whatever reason. While her romance with Superman did feel rather tacky and awkward at the end, her character still came out on top, which was an absolute delight to witness. Not only that, but in the promotional shots did an unspeakable justice to the characters, and instead of featuring Lois in either the stereotypical damsel pose (see here for an amusing parody) or any other ridiculousness, but Lois was at the forefront of the picture, and Superman was stood behind her, mirroring her pose. Here, we see a strong, confident woman who doesn't need to be saved by Superman. Here, we see a damn change. 

Credit to Kate Leth of Kate or Die. Taken from
 http://kateordiecomics.com/archive/xyz/

Another example of a female character who was surprisingly awesome was Catwoman/Selena Kyle, as played by Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (2012). One of many big complaints about Catwoman (aside from the film from 2004) is the sheer impracticality of her outfit, as illustrated in the strip by Kate Leth of Kate or Die! comics. Kyle's outfit/catsuit/whatever-the-hell-it-is remains zipped up and covered throughout the whole film, and the film itself doesn't rely on her cleavage as (if you'll forgive the pun) cheap titillation for the audiences. Admittedly, the fact she's wearing high heels to fight crime is rather redundant, but her characterisation and representation were certainly satisfactory. Again, like X-Men (2000) its passing of the Bechdel test is rather rocky. Lastly, we can't consider women in superhero films without considering one of the biggest superhero ensemble films of the decade- Avengers (Assemble) (2012) directed by Joss Whedon. While I (and many others) have problems with the way in which Whedon creates sympathy for female characters by frequently placing them in peril (see this post over on the Mary Sue for more details, and read the post on the Geek Feminism wiki for more information) it doesn't seem to happen in Avengers, prompting a celebration from this blogger. Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlet Johansson fights her way out of every situation she finds herself in without any problems, and ultimately, if it wasn't for her, the Avengers wouldn't have been able to save New York, as Romanoff was responsible for closing the portal that the Chitauri were pouring out of. Not only that, but Maria Hill, played by Cobie Smulders, member of S.H.I.E.L.D. was similarly kickass, and basically beat the crap out of anyone that dared to get in her way. If you wish to read more about Feminist readings of Avengers, read this article by the Opinioness of the World. 

So with all that said, why are there so few female-led superhero films? As I mentioned in my previous post, there are absolutely no shortage of awesome female characters who could easily hold a successful film. Sure, Elektra (2005) and Catwoman (2004) were absolutely dire. But not because of the characters in the film. Because of a series of creative decisions, directorial decisions, and generally bad writing. However, you can't place the success/failure of female-led superhero films on bad creative decisions, and with the correct writers, directors cast and so on, a female-led superhero film will be brilliant. Not even a film in necessary in this juncture; even just a TV series would be a start, such as the Birds of Prey series that shakily made its way onto screen and then off again after one paltry series several years ago. The last female-led superhero TV show that wasn't animated was Wonder Woman, from back in 1975-1979, so we're certainly due for a new one! Returning back to Joss Whedon for a moment, his newest series (premiering this autumn) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. already features a strong, equal cast, but we'll ultimately have to wait for it to air before we can make assumptions or readings on it.  

A strong point I'm trying to make here is that in the original texts (the comics books) there is a never-ending, wonderful smorgasbord of strong, female characters, and yet they have little to no equal representation within the world of film and TV. You know what? That is awful. Why is there such a small fraction of female characters in the big screen adaptation? Because people haven't realised how flippin' awesome the ladies in comic books are, and this is wrong. 

"Now," I hear you say. "Ari, you've been waffling about female characters in superhero films for

a very long time. Why do you want them so badly?" Well it boils down to simply wanting an equal representation in the fiction and media I love. I want to see my favourite characters on screen. I want to see Carol Danvers on the big screen being sassy and beating the crap out of people that deserve it. "But it's not always that simple!" You say. Well sadly, I'm aware of that. Not everyone likes to see strong female characters (for whatever reason) and not everyone is interested in making films like that. I don't know why, but it is damn frustrating. All that I (and many others around the world) want is for both genders to be equally and fairly represented, and it really isn't a big ask. However, unless these films or TV programmes are to be made by the right people, there is that horrible possibility that the characters will fall into one of two camos: They'll be either hyper-sexualised, or frequently put into damsel-in-distress situations, both of which are boring, overused concepts and ultimately lazy writing. 

In conclusion, I'd like to say that this isn't a losing battle. It's an uphill battle. There is a distinct possibility of there being more comic book films featuring female characters in the starring role. As the DC cinematic universe looks to be following in Marvel's footsteps by making an ensemble film (Justice League) it would be extremely hard to do it the correct justice (haha!) without having a standalone film featuring Wonder Woman, exactly in the way of Captain America or Thor. Furthermore, it is frequently rumoured that such a film will exist featuring everyone's favourite Amazon, so again, we'll have to wait and see. On the Marvel side of things,  there are two currently unnamed films coming in 2016, and there is the distinct possibility that one or both of these could have female characters in the lead, and there has been enough support from the Marvel cinematic and comic universe fandoms to make individual films starring Black Widow and/or Peggy Carter, which is a wonderful idea. With Black Widow, you could do a film about her origins, and for Peggy Carter, you could look at her character development post-Captain America. 

So, to sum up: Wonder Woman film? Yes please. Captain/Miss Marvel films? Yes please. Black Widow film? Yes please. Peggy Carter film? Yes please. We want superhero films led by women, and they are absolutely capable of leading them. However, if we so much as get the slightest whiff of damsel in distress or hyper-sexualisation, we will fuck your shit up. 

All we want is a fair representation in the media. It's not difficult. 

Ari: Behind Every Great X-Man Is An Even Greater X-Woman- Female Comic Book Characters Are Great, So Where's Their Titles?

I'm Ari, resident comic book geek here at Geeky Femmes! Apologies for the long delay, but I'm hopefully gonna get the ball rolling today. I'm ready to talk about the new all-female X-Men team, a comic that's recently started and has been making waves in the comic world. It's written by Brian Wood and features artwork by Olivier Coipel. 

 As long as there have been comic books, there has always been the female voice within it. Sure, maybe in the early days of DC and Marvel it was somewhat subdued or caught entirely in the romance sub-genre of comic books, but it was still there. Women have always been in comic books, and have quite often had big roles. Look at Betty and Veronica in Archie. Look at Olive Oyl in Popeye, ad nauseum. This isn't even considering the bigwig titles that started coming from Marvel & DC in the 50s and 60s, such as Superman, the Fantastic Four, X-Men and The Avengers. Lois Lane, fellow intrepid reporter alongside the unassuming Clark Kent will have been in comics for 75 years

this year, which is downright impressive. She's dallied with having her own title here and there, but sadly, not enough has ever been made of it. Then of course, we can't think about female superheroes without considering Wonder Woman, the powerful Amazon. She's always had her own title, and is easily recognised from either the comics themselves, or the gloriously cheesy TV programme from the 1970s, starring Lynda Carter as the lead character. As a character, Wonder Woman has always fought against the patriarchy, and given girls a positive role model in comics. Same with titles like FF, where Susan Richards (neé Storm) has always been a constant in the team (however, we won't look at the gendered roles she was often given back in the day- it's enough to give me a headache!) and as the team work as a family, something rarely seen in comics of the day, it gave FF the relevant edge to stand out in a world full of Supermans and Batmans. 

The same can be said of the X-Men. Originally conceived back in 1963, the 'children of the

atom', featuring among their ranks Scott Summers (Cyclops), Warren Worthington III (Angel/Archangel) Henry 'Hank' McCoy (Beast) and Bobby Drake (Iceman) also had the supremely powerful Jean Grey (Marvel Girl) amongst them, and she was without doubt the strongest mutant out of all them, her psychic prowess matched only by their kindly teacher Professor Charles Xavier. Since the early days of the X-Men (and of the Marvel Universe altogether) there have been dozens and dozens of female X-Men, mutants, and super-humans, and many of them being just as strong, if not stronger than their male counterparts. So why, I ask, are there so few female-led superhero books from Marvel? Ever since Marvel unofficially rebooted last year in an enormous creative shake-up and renumbering that annoyed thousands of fans the world over, there's been a dismal amount of female-led comics. Before Marvel Now! There was the incredible X-23 series, which focussed on Wolverine's daughter/living weapon Laura, there have been Ms. Marvel titles over the years, but sadly these titles have never lasted long. Out of all of Marvel's current superhero titles (and boy, are there a lot of them!) there's a tiny fraction that are lady-led: Captain Marvel, Fearless Defenders, Journey Into Mystery, and the newly minted X-Men.

Frankly, this is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong though, I love comic books. There is rarely a day that goes past where I'm not talking/writing/reading/thinking about comic books, and many of my role models have fallen straight out of the pages of my favourite comic books, so it upsets me that so few of them have their own titles. As I previously mentioned, it's definitely not that there isn't any interest- female led titles have often proven to be successful, fan favourites, but they've always been cancelled prematurely. The fact of the matter is, it's frustrating how long it's taken for a full-female team of the X-Men to have their own title. There's plenty of female characters within the X-Men's universe, so it's never that there hasn't been enough interest. I for one am really happy to finally see this book see the light of the day, and despite the negative attention a couple of douchbag assbros have given the book, it's a good thing, and it should be celebrated as being A Good Thing. 

So what's the point of this post? The few lady-led titles from Marvel are totally kick ass. Kelly Sue DeConnick's run on Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) has really opened my eyes to a new character, and I never miss this title when it comes out. Cullenn Bunn and Will Sliney's take on The Fearless Defenders is also an awesome title, and the art is downright gorgeous. I could go on and on about my favourite Marvel comics all day, but for the sake of brevity, I won't. 

I’ll leave you with this: How freakin’ awesome would a female-led Avengers title be?! 

Feminist book review: She's such a Geek

We're back!

Wow, what an unexpected hiatus! Unfortunately I've been busy with other personal stuff lately and this blog just slipped to the back of my mind! Oops. Anyway, I'd like to announce that myself and Ari will be posting a lot more regularly over the next few weeks, and I hope you forgive us both! For now, please enjoy my review of a great book entitled She's such a Geek. 

  

For me, reading She's Such A Geek was stumbling upon a literary treasure trove of inspiration and hope. Far removed from a narrative, She's Such A Geek is an anthology of first-hand experiences of the trials and tribulations of being a woman in science, technology, video games and comic books. If you have a young woman in your family who has aspirations of a job in these fields (or you are one yourself): buy this book.

The real life experiences shared by the women in this book are both inspiring and realistic, offering a truthful insight that expresses the happiness that following a passion (no matter what your gender) can offer you, and exposes the negatives that the male-exclusivity of the geek world can have upon a female interested in the culture. Adding to its credit, the book displays a fantastic and very admirable diversity in its contributors, showcasing the experiences of white women, women of colour and varied ethnicities, handicapped women and, wonderfully, a transgendered woman. This progressive viewpoint is a rare and valued encouragement for geeky ladies who are wary of being discriminated against for their race, disability or gender, and proclaims 'you are not alone!'

The women in this book have been top of their calculus class, they've been the lone girl in their circle of gamers, they've been to MIT, they're been in system administration, they've developed video games, they're engineers and comic book creators. They've invaded every corner of the geeky spectrum and they are damn good at what they do. This book is a call to arms for all female nerds, and a reassurance that they can be part of their scientific field of choosing, they just have to work hard, and watch out for bigots. I highly recommend this book as truly inspirational reading, and whether you're a coder or a kick ass biologist, there is room for you in the world of geekery.

Buy She's Such A Geek; where women meet adversity and say 'bring it on!'