Books | PopWatch

Comics writer Gail Simone skewers sexist critiques of women in comics

Posted March 5 2015 — 2:38 PM EST
Gail Simone (Secret Six, Red Sonja), one of the most well-known and widely respected women writing superhero comics today, has heard just about every argument there is as to why some fans think the way female characters have been treated is totally fine and doesn’t need to change at all—as well as their many gripes with female fandom. On Twitter on Thursday, she decided to demonstrate how absurd those arguments were by applying them all to male characters and fans.

I don't know if I like all these dudes reading comics, suddenly. What if they make all the characters talk about their prostate exams?

Look, Nightwing's ass is prominently displayed because he's an ACROBAT and that's ALL. Thanks a lot, male reader killjoys!

Also, what's with all the replacing iconic characters with dudes? I am not just outraged, I'm TWITTER outraged!

Social media has played a huge role in driving dramatic change in the comic book industry over the past few years. By allowing fans to directly engage with comic book publishers and creators, it has provided a way for everyone to see how wonderfully diverse comics fans are; it has shattered longstanding stereotypes about fandom; it has finally given underrepresented demographics—namely women and minorities—a platform they can use to push for change. 
But as Simon illustrated on Thursday, it also allows fans who dislike such changes to loudly rail against them with tiered arguments that they may not even realize are sexist. You can read all of Simone’s Tweets on the subject—along with some smart additional commentary by her followers—on this Storify compiled by Xavier Glitch. 
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