A Kitchen Witches Corner

Not yet had a chance to get back into the loop with anything, but I'll update as soon as I can.

Egypt was wonderful, even if all of the little trips I wanted to do fell through, but right I'm sunburned and tired and I've got a mild touch of stomach cramps so I'm going to spend tonight curled up with a good book and a warm drink.

Okay, I know the chances of me having any regular readers are probably mmm... Shitall. But, just in case anyone is rapt with adoration of my eloquently incoherent ramblings, I should warn you to expect radio silence for at least a week, as I'm off to Egypt!

Woo! Jollidays!

In themeantime, check out these places for your regular fix of feminist ranty goodness...

Feministe
Feministing
When Fangirls Attack

Sometimes it seems like the whole world has just given up fighting. Like there are those who hate and fear and harm, and those who just don't care what happens, and very few people left trying to make a difference.

It's always good when people do something to restore your faith in humanity. Especially when they do it with such panache...

GO HERE AND SEE!

Seriously.

I sawthis advert around, which has actually been going about for ages (the rock Ilive under is heavy), and although I know I should be offended by the gross message of violent sex and hurting a woman to get your jollies, I was actually just giggling at the very idea of extra large condoms.

Why?

Because condoms are stretchy.  Really Stretchy.

Seriously, here's a picture of my Uncle Pete demonstrating the stretchiness of condoms.

That is a standard-sized condom.

So basically, unless you actually do have a two-foot-wide penis (in which case I doubt you'll have any use for condoms since I've not met any women with two-foot-wide vaginas) then you should be just fine with the standard sized ones.

That said, I realise why companies manufacture extra large condoms.  It gives the male ego a little life, so in that sense I suppose it's not much different to when I shop for my bras and, being a bigger-busted woman, many of the specialist companies I buy from have custom sizing, giving a smaller back size or pantie size than the average highstreet shop.  Because most women like the idea of being slimmer.  It gives us a lift when we buy a pair of jeans and find the usual size we wear is too big. 

It's still daft, though.

And for a little something to lighten the mood after such a long period of serious posts, I give you the rules for the Condom-hat game, as demonstrated by Uncle Pete, above.

The Condom-Hat Game

1. Get Really, Really Pissed.
2. Buy a big load of condoms.
3. Share the condoms equally amongst your friends.
4. Let the younger ones and the virgins giggle at how "gross and slimey they are.  They'll get it out of their system, eventually.
5. Carefully slide first one hand, then the other, into the condom and stretch it out a little.
6. Place the condom over your nose and start blowing it up in short bursts.
7. Once the condom has been inflated to a certain size, slide it over the top of your head (be sure to keep your nose inside and try not to lose any air!) until only your mouth is free.
8. Continue to blow the condom up until you are either satisfied with the size or it pops.
9. Pose proudly with your condom hat and see who has the largest.

For an exciting twist, face your oponent and do this simultaneously.  Putting on a condom hat, drunk, is even more challenging when you're trying not to laugh at everyone else.

But don't play it with my Uncle Pete. He always wins.

One of the concepts often offered as an argument for continuing the occassionally sexist imagery in comics is that "women/girls don't read comics, or at least only a few do, so it isn't worth changing the product for them.  hey just aren't interested in reading about superheroes.".

Now, I could rant and rave about everything that is wrong with this statement, but I'm pretty sure I already have somewhere, and other comics bloggers have probably done so far more eloquently than I.

Instead, I am going to assume that this comment holds some basis in truth, and try to point out  at least one possible cause among many which puts women off of reading comics.

I will first reiterate that having an x chromosome does not automatically prevent one from being moved by tales of heroism and triumph over adversary, it does not prevent one from thinking bright yellow sandex is cool, or that being able to fly/turn invisible/shape-shift would absolutely kick arse.

Perhaps one of the causes of apparent female disinterest is the way in which said lack of interest is handled.

Let me make a comparison.

Go here.

When comics wirters/artists/editors and so on are asked "why don't women read comics?" the answer is all too often something like;

 "Because - they’re not written for women. Why don’t you read Harlequin romance novels*? I would speculate that they simply don’t appeal to you." 

Bob Layton, interview in Inside the World of Comic Books

 The answer pretty much dismisses any concept that expanding the comics fanbase would be a good thing.  Women do not read comics because comics are written for men, and women aren't interested in that sort of thing.  They like romance novels.  Or Manga.  Or stories about princesses.  (Before anyone jumps on me for exxagerating, a recent blog post actually mentioned fairy princesses as a viable alternative for girls).

I would like to offer, in contrast, the reaction from the PC gaming community, to which I also belong.  I am a regular reader of PC Gamer magazine (the UK publication) and intend to begin a monthly subscription once I have sorted out a couple more of my debts.

In their August 2005 edition (guess who was rifling through their pile of old magazines, recently?) one of the leading articles was entitled "Why Won't Women Play?  A Manifesto for Change". 

The article starts by addressing and dismissing the old recycled excuses;

 "When the men making videogames for males occassionally look up from their passion to realise that they are missing 50% of the potential market, then the excuses are trotted out; women have more demands on their time than men; or at least they choose to spend that time differently..."

 The writer, Jess Bates, then goes on to offer some real reasons women don't play games, or at least not as much as men do.  She points out that, as men design games, such games are designed around the male ay of looking at things.  This may sound like an odd arguments, but mens' and womens' eyes are actually constructed with minor differences, resulting in an overall different way of viewing the world.  Men focus on individual points at a time; taking in the details, whereas women will glance over a wider view to get an overall picture.  Of course, this doesn't mean all men see one way and all women see another, or that eyes cannot be trained to see differently.  But the inherent difference is there and does affect gameplay.

Jess points out that she often has difficulty, when playing a single character in a fighting game, in actually seeing and differentiating between the individual combat moves another player makes.

She points out that relentless action in a rigidly linear setting is boring to many women, and that greater depth and more exploration and freedom tends to be more attractive to women.

 "The Sims is not a great game, it is not even plot driven; it's success with females lies in the fact that the developments are not linear; and even though the player can try to adapt, the outcome is uncertain.  Moreover, anybody can pick up their controller and play; and an overlooked plus is that the game has environmental interaction."

 She then points out the tried-and-tested formulae in games which are already being tweaked and improved and matured, and how this is attracting more women.  She points out that, while games like Half-Life 2 and Syberia have gorgeously detailed landscapes, this doesn't attract women because the landscape, whilst pretty, is irrelevant.  The game is all in the action and violence.  In contrast, games like Prince of Persia have stunning landscapes which you can explore and interact with, and in which exploration nd avoidance of conflict is as important as knifing the bad guys.

Jess also spends some time explaining how the sexist advertising for games like GTA can put women off ever even giving the game a chance.  She points out that suddenly coming across the "sex-kitten" or "slut" character in a game makes her uncomfortable.  Jess also points out that there is a way to convey this concept of sexiness without putting women off.  She points out the importance of empathy and of being able to identify with the female characters offered.

 "My big Christmas present this year was two of Ballistic Publishing's digital art books.  As I drooled through the pages, I noted a different kind of idealised female.  Yes, often dressed in kleenex, , but conveying a different feeling of empowerment that was distinctly positive.  I was surprised to see that all those illustrations were from Korea and it's nearby neighbours... What is going on in Korea to cause this movement, this positive feminine presentation?  ...Korea has the highest ratio of female game players in the world."

 It seems that, according to Jess, women aren't specifically put off by the violence, the gore or the sex in general, but by the nature of the sex provided and it's portayal of women.

 "I had Silent Hill kicking it around the house... Because it's kind of gory, I wasn't sure that females would like it.  I was surprised, then, when the women not only picked it out of a pile... asked to take it home.  And, after beating it, they played it again on a higher setting.  Here's why; the cover art revealed only the face of a female character.  Her expression was intriguing."

 Jess points out that, given the choice f female characters to play in this game, women usually preferred the "drab girl, with the sweatshirt and vest".  This character was considered easier to identify with.  She was more "strongly dressed" in warm clothes.  Women avoid attracting atention in dangerous situations and the drab attire was "an instinctive choice to decrease vulnerability.".  In short, women couldn't imagine being the scantily clad woman and not feeling overly vulnerable, exposed or reckless.  The animations given to this character gave her a sense of being a reluctant, clumsy and tentative fighter, someone nervous with the situation, which the women playing identified with.  Women also claimed to enjoy the fact that the character, despite being weak, could persevere in this dangerous setting.

The article ends, after a few more points, explaining the importance of reaching a wider market and the fact that this benefits more than just woman gamers.  Overall, the impression I get not just from this article, but from the entire publication in general, is that greater participation by women is welcomed and encouraged, and that the gaming community is willing to explore the market and to create options for it, as well as gender-neutral games.

***

And there you have it.  The comic book community responds to a lack of female gamers by taking note of the more common differences in womens' and mens' interests, addresses the areas where games actually do well at attracting women nd dissects the parts of games which women generally enjoy more, looking for a solution.  It writes articles about womens' interest in games.  This publication also rightly gave the more recent Leisure Suit Larry sequel a scathing review and one of the lowest scores I have ever seen them offer, because the misogyny, racism and stereotyping was distasteful to the reviewers.  For the record, these reviewers are mostly white men.

The gaming industry doesn't always get it right, but they try to, and they do pay attention when women show interest in a game.

Where women don't play games, the gaming community asks what is wrong with the games.

When women don't read comics, the comics book community asks what is wrong with women.

...

And if you don't think that these different ways of looking at the issue have an effect on the range of comics and games produced, then you're not living in the real world.

I grew up in a small village, which had a very mixed population.  The nursery, then schools I went to were filled with children of all different colours.  The village was full of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Atheists, Jehovah's Witnesses.  You name it, we had it.  Like myself, a fair proportion of those that were white were of a mixed background. 

Throughout my early childhood, skin colour was, to me, just like eye colour and hair colour.  It meant nothing, beyond basic physical appearance.  Religion, to me, was irrelevant.  If some of the children I knew wore religious clothing, well, that was just their clothes.   I was aware that they wore such clothing because of their religion but I, well, didn't notice it.  It was just there.

Then, one day the school I attended started teaching us about race, and about racism.

Suddenly, when I looked at a group of my friends, some of them stood out as different.  Suddenly, I was seeing my friends and seeing the colour of their skin.  Suddenly, that meant something.  It occurred to me that, with racism having been an acceptable social norm so recently, some of my older living relatives could be racist.  Perhaps, some of them may even have done something racist.

All of a sudden I found it hard to be around my friends, those that weren't white, because I felt embarrassed.  I kept wanting to apologise for being white, and I was so embarrassed to find out that I was one of the priveleged.  (We all had one thing in common- regardless of the reality, in which some of us had parents who were doctors and some had parents who were greengrocers, we all identified very strongly as working class; being better off than your friends was something to be embarrassed about, not proud of, because it was "snotty").

I started analysing my behaviour.  Every time I went to talk to one of my friends I would find myself overly aware of my mannerisms, my behaviour.  "Am I a racist?  Does being white make me a racist?  If I act too polite and nicey nicey, will they think I'm playing it up?  Will I seem over-eager to be friends with a black person?  Will they think I'm racist?  Oh no!  Does thinking this make me a racist?"

And I resented it.  I resented the fact that I had this white guilt thrust upon me.  I resented the fact that suddenly I was being forced to see the people I had known since I was so young that I couldn't remember ever not knowing them, as different.  As belonging to a different group to me.  I wanted to go back to not knowing.

I remember thinking that, since none of us had ever experienced racism, since it didn't happen in this village, that there was no need for us to be taught, for my perfect little bubble to be broken, and I almost thought they had done more harm than good.

It wasn't until somewhat into the onset of puberty, as I became a little more aware of the world beyond my own nose, that I realised just how bigotted and, in fact, priveleged, I was behaving.

I resented having my perfect world changed.

I had assumed that, because I had never seen it, that none of my friends had ever been victims of racism.  I had assumed that they had grown up as blissfuly unaware of the horrors of the world as I had, that their parents had acted just as mine had, never even bringing up religion, race or skin colour as a subject, except to point out the similarities between different religions.

I had also assumed that racism was something that didn't exist in the wider world, that it was perpetrated only by a very small number of ignorant people.

I had presumed the right to preserve my own naievity, ignoring the fact that racism still exists, and that we must be educated about it in order to be able to do something about it.

But, even then, I still thought of racism as something that, while still out there, was rare.

Thinking about it, I don't think I even really understood what the term meant.

Then I turned 17 and moved away from my home village, and found myself in a town where the local population, aside from students like myself, was overwhelmingly white.

I found myself socialising with people that seemed perfectly normal, only to later hear them describe a local corner shop by using the P word.  People who never met a black person growing up, or knew one black child and made fun of them for "eating too much chocolate" but "it was okay, we were only joking and he ribbed us, too".  People who looked down on Romanies and other travellers as dirty, and untrustworthy.  Who would, when meeting a black person, discuss the fact that they must be "enjoying this summer heat" a lot more than me, because I'm such a pasty thing with blood from cold countries whilst they, obviously, are "built for the heat".

I met my step-father-in-law who, on the first evening he met me, asked me "I hear that crime rates are pretty high where you come from.  There're a lot of Blacks there, aren't there?".  I met young children who made jokes about "what poor people eat" and who casually bandied about racial slurs.

I encountered people who, when entering a local corner shop, would start making "dakka dakka dakka" and "bud bud bud" noises and smirking.

And I learned that racism doesn't just continue to exist with great force, but it is still institutionalised.  It's just wedged in a tiny bit more sneakily, so that us white people can pretend it isn't there.

Racism is still rife, and it still affects the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this country, and billions of peopel worldwide.  The priveleged people out there need to be watchful, and need to educate their children and do what they can to help wipe it out.

Why?  Because the people in this world who have been victims of racism have spent generations striving to live equally and, to be perfectly honest, white people have, for the most part, been sitting on their arses watching it happen.  We are the perpetrators of this ignorance through either active participation or wilful neglect.

That "white guilt"?  It's there for a reason.

(And yes, I realise that, as a white person blogging about my "oh-so-terrible, poor baby me" experiences of being exposed to racism, that I am again acting like a priveleged little bitch.  I want to talk about this issue and help end it.  I would welcome any advice anyone can give on ways that I could do this better and, if anyone notices any instance of me being guilty of any of the above, please let me know.)

I learned something, today!

And it wasn't about porn! It was about animal rights!

You know PETA?

Yeah, you do. That group for the ethical treatment of animals. The guys that harass whalers, pour blood over fur-wearers and the like?

I wanted to be like them when I was a little kiddling. I mean, they seemed to my fuzzy little preteen brain to be the only people aside from the WWF that really worked to stop the clubbing of seals, whaling, killing dolphins, animal research for cosmetics...

As I got older, I learned a little more.

I learned that they are against the use of animals to support human life. I'm not just talking about cattle and chickens for food, here. Nomad communities and their herding dogs? Bad. Seeing-eye dogs? Bad. Pet fish? Bad. Experiments for cures for AIDS? Bad. Testing medicines on animals prior to human consumption? Bad.

I learned that they actually don't seem to have any problem with people choosing to threaten the lives and families of people involved in the use of animals for things like medical research, etc.

I learned that they wait outside of schools for children as young as six, handing out fliers like this one. (Actual real example. Seriously. You couldn't make this shit up!)

I learned that their shock-tactic posters have actually involved the use of photos of living holocaust survivors, without their consent, and that they refused to change the pictures even after one survivor asked them to.

And you know what I learned today?

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound much to me like they were being sent far too many animals that they couldn't handle, and killed them out of desperation and a need of space. It sounds like they actually encouraged people to give them the animals instead of passing them to elsewhere, and then killed them there and then. (Seriously, administering a lethal injection to an animal in front of the person you've given it to and saying "yup, we'll have no trouble finding a home for this one. We need to sedate it for the journey, though." just comes across almost as if they wanted to kill them? Or is that just me?)

And, y'know, if I ran a shelter and I was being given so many animals that I just HAD to kill 90% of them? I would STOP ACCEPTING NEW DONATIONS. And SUGGEST ALTERNATIVE SHELTERS. Because, lets face it, sending them to a shelter that might kill them if they don't find a home in a certain timeframe is surely a little better than sending them to a shelter where they will be dead before the van door is closed?

Just...

Okay, I'm gonna go have some milk now and calm down...

But, yeah!

So the interweb is not just for porn!

So, Scott Anderson over at MadThinkerScott asked me to provide examples of the comics where I think women are portrayed as oversexualised, as weak, as needy or otherwise shown in a negative fashion.

I know which images I had in mind when I posted the comment, but bugger me if I can't remember where I saw them.  I'm absolutely rubbish at rifling through scans daily and my scanner died, so I've restricted myself to...

Comic covers advertised on the DC, Dark Horse and Marvel official websites.
Images I have seen online recently and could find again.

I realise that some of these characters are supposed to be sexy as part of their profile, so I have tried to choose images which have either been unnecessarily sexed-up in a manner that doesn't fit, shown weak when they could be shown strong with the same message, shown as just sexy with no other qualities, and so on.

Some people may disagree with my choices, which is fair enough, but I was asked for images that I feel show women in a negative light, which don't need to.  (I am well aware that there are always going to be plots etc where a character of either gender will be shown as weak, and I'll accept that as part of the story).

I have also selected a few where the image isn't so bad, but the blurb provided by the comics writers is off-putting.  (I'm looking at YOU, Ant-man!)

I've also added ones that I think are bad, purely because the artist is worse than I am and, while I don't think I'm an awful artist, I am realistic enough to know that I shouldn't be expecting money for my scribbles.

My main gripe with this is when otherwise strong, capable characters are shown in thislight, despite it being out of character, for the sake of the sexy.  I admit, however, that I have pretty much been concentrating on indie titles, as I like bein able to read a whole story arc without having to choose betwene buying porn I don't want and missing out vital plot moments, so Imay not be fully onthe ball here with the most up-to-date personalities etc these characters are given.

Here follows some linkage...

Marvel Comics, Shanna the She-Devil

Marvel Comics, Heroes for Hire

Marvel Comics, Ultimate Power

Marvel Comics, Irredeemable Ant-Man

Marvel Comics, Exiles

Marvel Comics, X-23

Marvel Comics, Fantastic Four

Marvel Comics, Iron Man

Marvel Comics, Ultimates

DC Comics, Black Canary

DC Comics, JLA

DC Comics, Birds of Prey

DC Comics, Superman/Batman

DC Comics, All-Star Batman and Robin

DC Comics, All-Star Batman and Robin

DC Comics, 52

DC Comics, Birds of Prey

DC Comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths

DC Comics, Wonder Woman

DC Comics, Wonder Woman

Dark Horse Comics, Accident Man

Dark Horse Comics, Aliens

Dark Horse Comics, Buffy

Dark Horse Comics, Cheval Noir

Dark Horse, Dark Horse Extra

Dark Horse, Dark Horse Presents

Okay, Dark Horse may be a bit too easy.  Browsing their comics list we have Barb Wire, Babe, Bettie Page, Bubblegum Crisis, Cannon God, the Dirty Pair.   I could pick almost any random cover under any of those titles and have a field day, and using any of those would almost just be cheating.  (After all, at least with these it's pretty obvious that you're buying cheesecake!).

Okay, I got as far as the letter E with Dark Horse and I need a break!

But that's what I've picked up so far.  If anyone else has a particular "favourite" they'de like to add, please feel free to add a link in the comments!