Male Superheroes See How The Other Side Lives

August 9, 2012 12:09 AM

Male Superheroes See How The Other Side Lives
posted by Evilspork (38 comments total)

It's not like Hercules' costume is much better than Wonder Woman's.
I do enjoy The Line It Is Drawn. Last week's was pretty awesome too.
posted by Mezentian at 12:39 AM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Worth the click for The Hulk one.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 12:39 AM on August 9, 2012

Cyclops in Emma Frost’s costume looks pretty awesome!
posted by ts;dr at 1:03 AM on August 9, 2012 [4 favorites]

Yep, I'd read those.
Equal objectification for all!
posted by Mizu at 1:08 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Some friends of mine have kinda already done this, although their group tends to emphasize females in male costumes more.
posted by ShutterBun at 1:38 AM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I do like how for IRL comic villains, Superman II's General Zod and co-conspirators Ursa and Non got a good deal. In fact, I think Terence Stamp's outfit is showing more cleavage than Sarah Douglas (and man she still looks great).
posted by crapmatic at 1:40 AM on August 9, 2012

.... er, not IRL... I meant live action... you get the drift
posted by crapmatic at 1:41 AM on August 9, 2012

The picture of Green Arrow in Black Canary's fishnets makes me question some long-standing assumptions.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 2:53 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Storm trouper in a kilt?

Pretty pale girl in a white bikini and a white violin, what is that reference?

And a most clever young actress messing with cross genre/series.
posted by sammyo at 3:59 AM on August 9, 2012

Pretty pale girl in a white bikini and a white violin, what is that reference?

Umbrella Academy.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:29 AM on August 9, 2012

Solomon Grundy want pants too!
posted by cmoj at 5:06 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Most of these artists couldn't resist the low humor, and even a "hey, I'm not gay or anything" approach by depicting an onlooker with a shocked expression, the male superhero himself acting uncomfortable, or an onlooker or fellow superhero making a snide comment. Really, is this 1950 all of a sudden? Female superheroes are, for all the objectification inherent in their costumes, rarely if ever depicted as actually embarrassed by their own costume. The Josh Gowdy drawing of Cyclops dressed in Emma Frost's costume is a standout because Cyclops' expression doesn't tell the viewer what to think, and there are no snickering onlookers. To me, this drawing did the best job of making me wonder things like "why would someone dress that way? Was i supposed to believe that the female superheroes and supervillains chose these outfits themselves? Is it practical considering their 'profession'? Is he just doing this to be provocative?".
posted by Stoatfarm at 5:47 AM on August 9, 2012 [12 favorites]

I'm glad to see a push to make masturbating to comic books an activity accessible to all children.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:50 AM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

If I don't get pants, nobody gets pants.

Seems fair to me.
posted by tilde at 6:17 AM on August 9, 2012 [5 favorites]

The Josh Gowdy drawing of Cyclops...

I also thought Starfox owned that shit.
posted by onwords at 6:41 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

It does seem like a thing Starfox would wear.
(Unless they have name him grimdark in the past 10 years).
posted by Mezentian at 7:01 AM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Or made him grimdark.

Though Grimdark does seem Liefeldian for a name.
posted by Mezentian at 7:02 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

I laughed at Hercules complaining about the tight crotch of the Wonder Woman costume but my favorite was the JLA in all the Wonder Woman costumes with Aquaman saying, with resignation, that he's worn worse.
posted by immlass at 7:10 AM on August 9, 2012

The Cyclops as Emma Frost one is amazing. Love it.
posted by jillithd at 7:19 AM on August 9, 2012

This seems like a retread. I mean, I recognize that there's still a disparity in the number of women to men when it comes to artists drawing superhero comics, but the drumbeat of showing male superheros dressed in women's clothing is getting a little tiresome.
posted by crunchland at 7:51 AM on August 9, 2012

This seems like a retread. I mean, I recognize that there's still a disparity in the number of women to men when it comes to artists drawing superhero comics, but the drumbeat of showing male superheros dressed in women's clothing is getting a little tiresome.

crunchland it's more about the overall placement of female characters in comics. They aren't just by and large dressed in skimpier clothing; they're then placed in positions where said clothing emphasizes sexualization of them. The reason these drawings in the FPP are so blatant is because no one seems to find it problematic when Catwoman thrusts her ass three feet in the air, but if Green Lantern does it, that "looks weird."

It's not just "costumes," it's placement, positioning, the way the female team member faces the other way so she can turn around and look at you over her shoulder while shwoing off her ass-- comic artists aren't just creating a "disparity of of women to men;" they're treating men like characters and women as poseable dolls.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 8:21 AM on August 9, 2012 [3 favorites]

An unintended consequence of this kind of thing is that it portrays men wearing women's clothing as objects of ridicule, which doesn't seem much better or more enlightened than the sexism it's skewering.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 8:25 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

An unintended consequence of this kind of thing is that it portrays men wearing women's clothing as objects of ridicule

The reason men wearing women's clothing makes them objects of ridicule in these drawing is that when you see men wearing them, you break the mental/cultural ingraining that makes you ignore that these articles of clothing are ridiculous.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 8:28 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

It just seems like a linkbaity thing for someone who draws superhero comics to do... draw the men in the ridiculous armor/clothing that the women wear, and you'll draw the attention of sites like Metafilter and buzzfeed. While I don't think the videogame or comics industry is doing much to correct the core issue, this just seems to be reiterating the same point we've seen over and over.
posted by crunchland at 8:37 AM on August 9, 2012

it portrays men wearing women's clothing as objects of ridicule

Some are funny and lighthearted. But there's a weird undercurrent of homophobia in some others that icks me out.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:57 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

comic artists aren't just creating a "disparity of of women to men;" they're treating men like characters and women as poseable dolls.

Males in comics are uniformly ripped and show off their gi-normous muscles in skintight uniforms. They also pose constantly, except in stereotypically macho 'warrior' / phallic type positions rather than girly ones.
posted by zipadee at 9:16 AM on August 9, 2012

"If I don't get pants, no one gets pants!"
I laughed my ass off.
posted by charred husk at 9:20 AM on August 9, 2012

Okay I am totally gonna redesign the male antagonist in a female-led story I've been planing for a while to look more like that drawing of Starfox in Starfire's outfit. YUM. MORE LIKE THIS PLEASE.
posted by egypturnash at 10:17 AM on August 9, 2012

zipadee: Males in comics are uniformly ripped and show off their gi-normous muscles in skintight uniforms.

This is a classic complaint, and here is the standard answer. The men are presented as male power fantasies; the women are also presented as male fantasies. You would expect exactly this is comics were drawn nearly exclusively for men. In that sense, it's no real surprise.
posted by gilrain at 10:27 AM on August 9, 2012 [4 favorites]

I just googled up Starfox's real costume and holy shit sticking him in Starfire's harness is such an improvement. Plus apparently his powers are based around INDUCING PLEASURE. Oh yes. I stay away from the DC/Marvel rack but I would buy the living fuck out of a comic about a SPACE GIGOLO.
posted by egypturnash at 10:33 AM on August 9, 2012

it portrays men wearing women's clothing as objects of ridicule

No, it portrays typical women's superhero outfits as objects of ridicule.

If any of these male superheroes were to wear sensible women's clothes like the new Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) costume, it wouldn't cause the same kind of snickers.
posted by straight at 12:04 PM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yet another reason I love Joss Whedon. Take a look at what Zoe wears, from Firefly.

She's curvy, and statuesque, and that outfit does nothing to detract from her attractiveness. Yet it is eminently practical for walkin' around, avoidin' cow patties, and shootin' people. The boots don't even have heels on them! It's arguably more practical than what Mal wears, as his pistols are pretty low-slung around the groin area.

Counterpoint: River runs around barefoot, in oversized sacks dresses, with weird wet hair. But then, she is SUPPOSEd to be crazy.

Other Joss Whedon practical women include: Buffy, Black Widow (yes, it is skin-tight. But it easily passes the "Sit Test".

One of the worst outfits for a woman to wear when about to fight monsters: This one. She could barely breathe in that corset if she tried to run, the floaty sleeves get in the way of staking any of the vampires, and though the pic doesn't she this well, the heels of her boots are outrageously high and spindly. Plus, I've said it before, but she draws her sword about twenty times in the film and NEVER uses it, so why bother carrying it around?

She looks gorgeous, but where she got all that hair product in smalltownsville, Transylvania, is beyond me, too.
posted by misha at 1:48 PM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

apparently his powers are based around INDUCING PLEASURE. Oh yes. I stay away from the DC/Marvel rack but I would buy the living fuck out of a comic about a SPACE GIGOLO.

Space Gigolo would indeed be an awesome comic, in direct proportion to how simultaneously weird and explicit the creator(s) dared to make it (Phil Foglio and Matt Howarth, among others, have already done impressive work in this cross-genre)[links slightly NSFW], but Starfox's day to be that character have probably already come and gone (phwoar!) thanks to a She-Hulk plotline that had him on trial for rape due to use of his powers.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:56 PM on August 9, 2012

The men are presented as male power fantasies; the women are also presented as male fantasies.

Well, comics are produced and consumed by men/boys, so that's not too surprising. But it's also true that plenty of women have fantasies of using beauty to gain power and attention as well.
posted by zipadee at 2:56 PM on August 9, 2012

Beautiful is not the same as titillating.
posted by Zalzidrax at 5:09 PM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Starfox is what I think of when anyone uses the phrase 'man-whore'.
I haven't read the run of the Avengers in a while where his pleasure powers were used, and I'm afraid to lest he go all rapey.

Like Torchwood. Not to derail, but the fact that Owen used the pleasure device to basically roofie-rape a girl and they never followed up ob that plot point... well, ugh.
posted by Mezentian at 4:05 AM on August 10, 2012

f any of these male superheroes were to wear sensible women's clothes like the new Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) costume, it wouldn't cause the same kind of snickers.

I say this with complete....

WHERE ARE HER BOOBS? NEEDS MORE BOOBS!
Or battle-ready chestetball armour.

At least she has improbable abs.
posted by Mezentian at 6:04 AM on August 10, 2012

XQUZYPHYR:
The reason men wearing women's clothing makes them objects of ridicule in these drawing is that when you see men wearing them, you break the mental/cultural ingraining that makes you ignore that these articles of clothing are ridiculous.

"Ridiculous" is a purely subjective judgment, so removing the mental/cultural ingraining is akin to saying, "If you change your opinion to a completely different opinion...".
posted by IAmBroom at 1:35 PM on August 16, 2012