Sexism In Comics: Let's get something straight...

Have you ever noticed how people, since the dawn of comics, movies, television, etc. have always felt that there’s such thing as a line between “too much” and “acceptable”? Whether it regards violence, nudity, language, or even religion, there has always been a line. If you’ve taken a look at any news site in the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen the questionable alternate cover of Spider-Woman that has the Internet all abuzz. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s how it looked:

The cover is by famous Italian comic book artist Milo Manara, and reflects his personal style, which has won countless awards. Tonight, I signed into Facebook, and was greeted with a link portraying the cover of a new comic book based on the pop culture character Vampirella. Here’s what it looked like:

 BREASTS. Bare naked, no excuses, breasts.

Now, if you, at gunpoint, HAD to choose one that you thought would cause more controversy than the other, what would you choose?

Here’s my point: Over the past two (or so) weeks, the Web has been buzzing with imbalanced beliefs about sexuality in comic books, because of the Spider-Woman “controversy.” Some viewers said that it appeared as though she was “presenting herself”, or that her costume wouldn’t cling to her in such an unrealistic way, saying that men have never been portrayed in such a way, and that the comic book industry is sexist. (This is a load of garbage, but not my point at this particular time...)

Granted, it may not have been the most realistic, or even the most decent cover in the world. But suffice it to say that there are definitely more unrealistic things in the world of comics than a character’s costume clinging to their skin.

But I digress. Now COMMENCE F***ING SUPER PISSED OFF HOLY S***T RANT OF DOOM:

I love comics. No, I LOVE comics. I don’t see them as sexist, racist, religion…ist…whatever. If you have half a brain, and can see that they quite obviously take place in a fictional realm wherein people have super powers and have, for damn near a century, donned skin-tight costumes in the process, then you will be as un-offended as I am. But this Vampirella garbage? This is where the “exploitation” that so many have been complaining about becomes a real, serious issue.

Now, I don’t have kids. I plan/hope to someday, and at such time as I do have them, I’d LOVE to take them to a comic book store. So if you can, please join me in this future situation: You and your six – to – twelve year old child (male or female, it really doesn’t matter) walk into the comic store together, and you see this cover, featuring a woman, TOTALLY bare-breast. Heck, for the sake of argument, let’s say the Spider-Woman cover is right next to it. Chances are, you AND your kid will notice the Vampirella cover first, and be FAR more shocked by it. Now as a parent, who loves and cares for your child, are you going to be okay with exposing your child to this at such a young age?! I’m not talking about anything religious or not, what I’m talking about is plain DECENCY.

But TGWLComics, the human body is art! You're an artist, you're just being immature.

Okay, you're right. I went to school for art, and I learned that the body is a beautiful thing, and inherently is not a sexual thing, until sex is added into the equation.

That said, I pose a new situation to you: 

You and your child are walking down the street. Suddenly, a completely topless woman walks past you. Men can't help but stare at her and cat-call her, purely because of her body. Not because of anything she's ever done to prove that she's anything but a pair of breasts. Do you want your son to learn that this is okay, or your daughter to learn that this is how she should act?!

This comic book cover is the first and ONLY time I've EVER been this furious about female exploitation.

If you have any brains at all, you won't support this...this SMUT! If I had any disposable income, I'd buy and BURN this crap, and I hope you'd do the same. Personally, I have nothing at all against the Spider-Woman cover, and if that shocks you, take a look at this video, and I hope you'll agree with me. But this Vampirella crap does NOTHING to end the media's attack on comic books/video games/movies and sexuality, and I pray that you join me in fighting this garbage.