She-Hulk, Superheroines, and Seeing Ourselves as Heroes

The cover of Sensational She-Hulk #40

Enter Issue 40 of Sensational She-Hulk: She-Hulk bears all on the cover. An “off-screen” male hand hands her a jump rope while she tries to hide her body behind a newspaper. While essentially nude superheroines are nothing new to comics, She-Hulk laments on her cover “Hey-- No...! You’re kidding right?”.

The issue continues with her addressing the reader (breaking the fourth-wall) and discussing how ridiculous it is that a woman of her power and standing is reduced to this for some boosts in sales. Not only is the commentary hilarious, it is also poignant. Here is a woman in comics that is saying “Hey, do you ever notice how ridiculous this sexualization is?”.

She-Hulk doesn't care for your sexualization.

To male readers she may open their eyes to the double standard. Whether these pages and She-Hulk’s overall powerful lady persona do anything to change men’s minds about sexualization, I think She-Hulk’s true power lies in her ability to reach out to women and girls. She is a superheroine that makes no apologies. She’s strong, and often angry, and many of her comics (especially the Savage She-Hulk and Sensational She-Hulk versions) comment directly on sexist attitudes.

In the recent GDC panel on #1ReasontoBe, one panelist said that because the culture is hostile and the games sexualize and erase women, young women don’t think of themselves as gamers and thus don’t think of themselves as becoming game developers. Comics have that same potential. Women and girls often see themselves as sexual objects in comics. Even with superpowers, female characters are written and designed to be enjoyed by a heterosexual male audience. How can young women strive to be superheroes, strive to be comics artists, writers and editors, if the books that come out and the culture surrounding comics is so hostile to women?

She-Hulk is often aware she's a comic book character.

And yet there are beacons of light. I think that Savage and Sensational She-Hulk is an example of a great role model character. Unfortunately, she’s not an A-List hero. Her trademark break of the forth wall was popularized later by male superhero Deadpool and many write her off as “just a female Hulk” before they even pick up an issue.

Jennifer Walters is a successful lawyer who becomes the She-Hulk thanks to her cousin Bruce Banner. In her hulked form, She-Hulk gains confidence and speaks her mind. She doesn’t lose her ability to articulate, but she does gain physical strength. Once she learns to control her ability to hulk, she actually prefers her hulk form. She later becomes a successful lawyer who serves other superhumans in the Marvel Universe. She-Hulk is a member of the Avengers and a reserve member of the Fantastic Four, among other teams. She values strength, but also justice and compassion and her character is often hilarious.

Savage She-Hulk fights Iron Man, with intelligence!

She-Hulk isn’t a total win, though, because she is often sexualized. Her hulked out form increases her breast-size and she doesn’t get nearly as much muscle as her male Hulk counterpart. It’s important to recognize these components when discussing She-Hulk, even if you are fan of her, as I am.

I think She-Hulk and other strong, successful women deserve their own series. These superheroines not only give women (young and old) role models that can help them feel welcome in comic creation and comic culture, but these superheroines show women as they really are. Sure, real women don’t have super-strength, the power of flight or invisibility-- but real women do have incredible strength, emotionally and physically, are successful and are incredibly complex. Comics should reflect the complexity of women not just to help young women recognize their potential, but because complex women are a reality and we should celebrate that. We should be able to imagine ourselves as heroes-- because we already are heroes.

-H.

(For more on seeing women as heros, check out this ongoing Kickstarter and this excerpt from the Wonder Women! the Untold Story of American Superheroines documentary).

Volatile, Self-Obsessed, and Doesn't Play Well with Others: Post-Avengers Movie Fandom Backlash

Ladyvengers, fan art by _kreugan on DeviantArt

Geek, nerd, gaming and comic book culture have members who claim the culture is inclusive. They say that nerd culture is for outcasts, the bullied, the alone. While for some people this may be the case, for many others nerd culture is a hostile place. It is dominated largely by white males who are also heterosexual and cis. This privileged group not only has a lot of control of the content that is released in the gaming/comic/movie industries, but they are also the most vocal of the fans. This has caused many problems, where certain groups of people aren't regarded as "real fans".
After Joss Whedon's hugely popular The Avengers was released, many new folks wanted to join in on comic book superhero fun. Those who hadn't read comics before were intrigued by the movie and many decided to give comics a try. While this new surge of fans is good for the industry, and debatably the fandom, many new fans received huge backlash.

As a member of the Avengers fandom on various internet platforms, I watched as people were targeted for "not really being fans" because they were introduced through the movies. However, not all "fake fans" were targeted equally. One group that was specifically targeted was women. Women were first assumed to be heterosexual, and then accused of only liking the film because of all the hot men. The prevalence of "hot women" in comic book culture to attract heterosexual males was never questioned. I noticed that men frequently discussed the attractiveness of female comic book character, or in the case of the movie Black Widow, but they were never told they "only liked comics for the hot ladies". Even if a female fan had been reading comics for a long time, they were assumed to "only be fans because of the movies". Many times I saw women being grilled for information about the Avengers team, but men did not receive the same scrutiny. Women were assumed to be "fake fans" until proven otherwise.

Data comparing screen time in minutes to number of character toys at 5 major retailers, including the Disney Store.

Additionally, the idea that only men are fans of comics (and superhero movies) was perpetuated by the merchandise sold in affiliation with the film. While Black Widow, the only female superhero in the Avengers movie, was prominent in the plot she is often missing from t-shirts, backpacks, toys and other merchandising.

One member of tumblr, who created the butnotblackwidow blog, is in the middle of a study comparing screen-time to number of toys. Currently their data shows how drastically Black Widow is erased from the toy sales (see graph below). This also perpetuates the gendered ideas embedded in toy sales  in which certain toys are specifically made for boys and girls. In this case, toys that target boys don't include female characters, even important ones.


In addition, many new fans began to actively ship characters into gay relationships. These ships were attacked with homophobia, and many men in the fandom complained about these members "ruining their characters" with by making them potentially gay. This backlash is also gendered because queer women as superheros are more accepted, like Batwoman.
There are many fans of the Avengers who are not men, who are not heterosexual and who are not white. These fans produce amazing fan art, fan stories and contribute everyday to the fandom in positive ways. But the backlash following the Avengers film demonstrates how geek culture is not always welcoming to everyone. In fact, the industry and members of the culture often actively attempts to remove women, queer folks and people of color from geek circles.

-H.

Harassment: Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of sexual harassment/threats of sexual assault, links contain potentially triggering material.

When I play World of Warcraft, I always play female toons because honestly, I relate to them. WoW does a pretty decent job of providing clothing that doesn’t drastically change between the genders. I’m not going to stop playing female-bodied toons because men in game feel that they have the right to harass me.

I’m sick of walking into dungeons, being asked my real-life gender over and over again and when I finally concede? I get asked to do sexual favors, to makes sandwiches, “can I feel your boobs? lololol”, “where do you live real life— you’re probably fat”. I’m sick of walking into PvP and being inundated with angry players threatening rape on each other’s mothers and daughters and girlfriends. I’m sick of men loudly proclaiming their relationship status in game as if women are some kind of commodity that allow you to be accepted into gaming communities.

The infamous trolling excuse.

I’m sick of, when I call out these misogynists, being called a "bitch" and told that I should just “laugh it out, they’re just trolling”.

“Trolling” is a universal excuse that basically amounts to “they’re just joking” or “they’re just trying to get you angry”. This excuse is problematic because trolling almost always targets marginalized groups. In gaming, much of the “trolling” I have seen has been targeted towards women, gender and sexual minorities and people of color.

Additionally, a lot of insults used, no matter the victim, are usually gendered or based off of racist/heterosexist ideas. Often times “trollers” will insult people by mis-gendering them or calling them gay.

Essentially “trollers” often get away with making horrible remarks by saying that they’re just kidding. Many people also claim that trollers are only like that in-game, that truthfully they are not racist or sexist.
There are many problematic aspects of these arguments  and unless we deconstruct these excuses, we cannot move past the rampant harassment in the gaming world. If you are truly against racism, sexism and the like, trolling is unacceptable.

Another popular excuse is that people shouldn't be offended by harassment because "it's just the internet". In no other form of communication do we dismiss the words and actions of others based on the form of communication itself. We don't yell at folks over the phone, "Don't get upset, we're on the telephone!". As gaming and online communities become more and more common, we must recognize that the internet is a valid space for communication and that words and actions matter.

(TW for link: Sexual harassment, threats) At Fat, Ugly or Slutty, moderators compile screenshots of thousands of cases of harassment. This website serves as evidence for how rampant harassment in video games really is, and how there are very little repercussions for bullying online. The content of the website is sad, angering and potentially triggering. In reality, though, these screenshots represent the everyday gaming life of many women.

Fat, Ugly or Slutty compiles online gaming harassment directed at women.

Extra Credits, in their video on Harassment, note that harassment online is just a vocal minority of players, the worst part of the gaming community. Whether this is true or not, there is a large part of the gaming community that is complicit in harassment. In the Cross Assault debacle, no one in the room stood up against the sexist harassment. When I've experienced harassment in game, no one has stood with me to stop it. This has to change. We cannot just stand idly by while folks are harassed. Not only must developers do something to police the community, but we as a community must work to police ourselves.

-H.

Accommodation, Resistance, and Ranged Roles in Games

In our discussion last Thursday, we talked some about the stereotype that women always play "background" roles, like healers, spellcasters and other ranged positions. There is also a stereotype that these roles are not as strong or important, which is probably linked to how gendered "female" they tend to be. Being a healer in particular is often a thankless job.

In many major games there are essentially three different roles for players. First, there are the heavily armored, slash and shoot frontpeople who can take more damage than others-- often called "melee". Second, there are the "ranged" folks who do damage, like often lightly-armored spellcasters. Lastly there are the healers, who do the least damage and focus on keeping the group healed and prepared.

These sorts of delineations in roles are common in games with team play, like the massively multiplayer World of Warcraft and the single-player but squad-driven Mass Effect. The roles are often inspired by table-top RPG's, like Dungeons and Dragons.

In Mass Effect, Adepts are biotics specialists. They wear light armor and use abilities like telekinesis and spatial distortion, harming enemies from afar. Liara, pictured here, specializes in biotics. Players can choose to be an adept.

When discussing women playing the ranged and healing roles, I was constantly reminded of my own experiences. While playing both a mage and a healer in World of Warcraft, I am often confronted with sexist comments like "oh, of course you play a healer, you're a girl". I don't think there is actually any truth in the statement that more women heal than men, but I think that there is an important gender dynamic occurring with ranged roles and the women who play them.


As a healer, I feel a large sense of power and control. The role is always varied and exciting. I get to literally have the lives of my team in my hands. This is a challenging and sometimes nerve-wracking experience, particularly with new encounters, but I think that I handle it very well. While healers often cannot do much damage, they are very important to a team.

I think that healing allows me to enter into the gamer space as a women and play a role that is powerful without being relegated to the heavily-armored, "slash and burn" roles that are often associated with men. In a way, the stereotype of "women as healers" or "women as ranged" makes me feel confident and strong in my healing role. Playing healers or ranged characters may allow women to carve out their own space in gaming communities, where they are strong, necessary components of the game and retain some sort of femininity.

The Priest crest in World of Warcraft. 
Priests are primarily a healing class.

K noted in our last meeting that often times when she plays with a team of women, they are more interested in communicating and strategy than men. I would agree with that based on my experiences as well. I think that because women are often socialized to value relationships and communication, they work well on teams in video games. Communication, strategy, and ranged ability are valuable components of gaming and women may find these skills to be gender affirming in the gamer space. Rather than becoming "just like the men" and taking on traditionally male roles and strategies, women may carve out their own space through an interplay of accommodation (choosing roles that are seen as more feminine) and resistance (making these roles their own, taking control of important team functions).

While women can and certainly do play both ranged and melee roles, the women who are playing ranged roles are not simply accommodating the stereotypes. In many cases these women are actively creating a space for themselves in an often women-hostile environment. These roles may allow women to become powerful and important members of a team without the insistance that traditionally masculine roles and strategies are the only way to be valuable or strong.

-H

"She was asking for it!": Victim-Blaming and Damsels in Distress

The "damsel in distress" is component of storytelling in many different kinds of media. From the oral story to the novel, from the theater to the big screen, women have often played the role the kidnapped, the beaten, the victim. Video games are a different spin on this trope. Rather than being passive, watching a hero rescue a damsel, video games allow the person playing to have an active role in the rescuing.

A response to Princess Peach victim-blaming

In some games, rescuing the kidnapped damsel is accepted as such an key part of the game-play and storyline that it is taken for granted. These titles include the Legend of Zelda games and the Mario games, both of which hinge on rescuing a captured princess. In the Mario titles, Princess Peach's kidnapping has become so predictable that the developers don't even make it creative or, frankly, important, anymore. In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, a new title for the Nintendo DS, Peach is kidnapped unceremoniously by Bowser, but that issue isn't even really discussed-- of greater concern in the missing stickers. It has gotten to the point that simply rescuing Peach is predictable and boring, so other elements must be added-- and yet Peach's kidnapping remains. Why preserve something that now serves very little narrative purpose?



Similarly, Princess Zelda is captured in almost every iteration of the Legend of Zelda games. While she does play some stronger roles in some titles, overwhelmingly her role is that of a victim.

It is important to note that these characters are always captured by men and saved by men. There is a gender dynamic here. Women are being used as essentially objects to serve as the hero's motivation or goal.

I think the most key result of these dynamics and storylines is seen within gamer culture. In the Mario and Zelda fandoms, many players take saving the damsel one step further. They believe that it is unfair that Link and Mario (the heroes) never receive any physical compensation for their heroism. These fans think that Zelda and Peach owe their male "saviors" romance, affection, or even sex. They blame the Princesses for their own kidnappings ("they were asking for it!") and say that Mario and Link are being "friendzoned".

Princess Peach saves Mario with powers of emotion in Super Princess Peach.

It is clear that video games are not the source of these victim-blaming sentiments. However, video games perpetuate these ideas. Since so many games do not represent women well, or at all, this has obvious effects on gamer culture. Sexism and misogyny in gaming circles can be overwhelming for many women. The victim-blaming that occurs in many fandoms can isolate women and make them feel threatened and frustrated, particularly women who have survived trauma.

I think that a solution to these problems is turn these tropes on their heads. Take these loved characters and give them their own titles. Let the damsels (from these titles and others) do some saving. Super Princess Peach attempted to do exactly this, but it was criticized for the game-play mechanics. Peach's powers in the game involved using her emotions  to manipulate situations (why can't she fight too?) and the game was said to be much too easy.

Nintendo, and game developers as a whole, can and should do better. Not only would better representations and role reversals shift the dialog about damsel characters, it would also be new and different. As a gamer, and a huge fan Mario and Legend of Zelda, I would enjoy the change!

 -H.

A Plea for More Monstrous Ladies

When discussing the treatment of women in gaming circles, I often come back to the designs of the characters themselves. I feel as though a lot of the sexist harassment experienced by players in game is often backed-up by the portrayals of the women characters in the game. In games where very few women even exist in the world, it may be simply under-representation that creates these tensions resulting in male players feeling like they are in a "boys only club". In games where women characters are rather prominent, however, representations take on more layers and complexities. Reading this blog post, I was especially struck by the reaction that this woman received when attempting to ask for more reasonable outfits for many of World of Warcraft's most prominent lore characters.

She has an excellent point, many of WoW's key characters are powerful women, including the Dragon Aspects. That being said their outfits are in many cases bikinis-- creating confusion when compared to their often heavily armored and certainly more covered male counterparts.

For some examples take a look at Alexstrasza, the Life-Bringer and leader of the Dragon Aspects compared to Kalecgos, the youngest Dragon Aspect. She's much more powerful than him-- in charge of life itself-- and yet her outfit appears to be right out of a Victoria's Secret catalog, as the woman at BlizzCon noted.

Dragon Aspects

Need more convincing? How about two Forsaken lore characters. Both are undead (zombies essentially). Sylvannas, the leader of the Forsaken and an extremely powerful character has the bikini on, while Putris, a male Forsaken gets an awesome mask and full body coverage plus bones showing, displaying that he is actually undead and frankly, creepy. An archer and leader with an exposed stomach? This just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Sylvanas and Putris

What ends up happening is that powerful and complex characters like Sylvannas are reduced to sexual objects. Sylvanas is downright diabolical. She has a tragic backstory. She controls a legion of undead forsaken, many of whom worship her. And yet, as many male players will comment in-game, she is just portrayed as sexy. This kind of representation, degrading even powerful women to sexual objects to be ogled, creates an environment where it is okay to call female players "sluts" and "bitches".

These representations extend into the playable race models for each gender. The sexual dimorphism between male and female models of the playable races is very apparent, and it is clear that the female variations must a) be clearly and without a doubt "female" and b) be sexy, with clear focus on thinness, breasts, and behinds.

The draenei and the worgen are good examples of this. Both are "monster" humanoids. The draenei are a race of aliens  and the worgen are werewolves, cursed with transformative powers. However, the female characters are less "monstrous" and more sexualized. The draenei women are clearly designed to fit a supermodel ideal and the lady worgen are a lot less menacing than their male counterparts. As a female player, I felt especially downtrodden when the worgen models were released. It seemed like the developers felt they had to try to balance "monster" with "clearly female/sexy" and the model that resulted was a disappointment-- particularly in comparison to the very menacing male.

Worgen

In addition to these tensions in design, there are only 3 or 4 humanoid mobs in the game (besides established playable race models) that are female. This means that there are almost no monstrous and dangerous ladies to kill as an adventurer in the World of Warcraft. Even the Naga, which have prominent female mobs, have clear sexual dimorphism favoring a "prettier" lady monster. (I mean, just compare the female and male faces!)

Naga Models

So what does this all mean? For one, these trends mean that WoW players aren't seeing powerful ladies that aren't bikini-clad or super-model pretty. Whether it's a playable character, a mob or a pivotal lore character, the females consistently stand out as being sexualized and made "pretty" even in a world torn by violence, war and adventure. This leaves female players with a sense that even in a virtual place where their heroism is needed, it is still very important-- if not most important-- that they are pretty, that they are sexy, and that they appeal to heterosexual male sensibilities. Not only does this focus re-enforce the media socialization that women and girls are constantly bombarded with, it allows male players to focus on these attributes of women as well. If the game developers see many women as merely sexual objects, why wouldn't the players immersed in that world feel justified in feeling the same? Ultimately video games are just another type of media and there is a clear focus on attractiveness in the most conventional sense. Being sexy isn't bad, but when sexiness is the focus and one of the only options, it sure is discouraging.

So lets have less focus on attractiveness. I want more monstrous ladies!

-H.