By the way, I’m a guy.

Your most recent comment came off sounding a bit awkward. Yes, I am Muslim and Pakistani, but I am also an American like you. I grew up in the United States, this is where I live, and this is my home. Many of my best friends are White non-Muslims since I grew up in a predominately White non-Muslim area.

To be honest, I didn’t think too much about my ethnic or religious identity when I wrote this piece. Sure, on a spiritual level, I believe we should respect all human beings, but I don’t think it’s fair to judge my post based upon my ethnicity and/or religion. When a White male feminist (director of “Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture”) discusses this very same issue, are you going to look at his ethnic background or religion? I wouldn’t want stereotypical perceptions of Islam make someone view my post in a negative light — as if I’m saying women *should* “cover up” (or whatever stereotype one may have about Muslim men).

Since I grew up here, I have many friends who are White non-Muslim women too. In fact, I made a presentation on the media’s influence on gender roles with a White non-Muslim female friend. She, and other female friends of mine, would disagree with what you’re saying here. You don’t need to split us into a dichotomy by saying “to many of us” or “our women believe sex is even empowering.” That’s generalizing about all Western White non-Muslims (both men and women).

I was in Pakistan in early 2004 and I saw women wearing tank tops and jeans. Most women don’t wear headscarfs of the burqah. There are nightclubs in Pakistan, people celebrate Valentine’s Day, there are concerts, you’ll see people dating, it’s very different than what you hear on the news (because on the news, you hear about only one portion of Pakistan; it’s like reporting only the bad parts of cities in the United States).

Have you seen South Asian or Middle-Eastern music videos? They’re just as scantily clad and sexy (if not more) as American music videos. Sex doesn’t only sell in the Western non-Muslim world. I wrote a piece on comic books in the Muslim world too (it’s on my blog) and they’re drawn in the same manner as Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Elektra, and so on.

Anyway, my point is I am not just Pakistani and Muslim. I am a Pakistani-American Muslim Although multicultural awareness is important to understand (especially when it comes to feminism), I admit that I wasn’t thinking so much about my ethnicity and religion while writing this. I was more concerned with how comic books are another factor that shape society’s perception of women in general.

I understand what you’re saying about how men are pressured to be certain ways in society, this is true. There are socialized gender roles that are assigned to us right when we’re born. Boys are given blue colored clothing, girls get pink. Boys play with action figures, girls play with dolls. Boys are adventurous, girls stay at home and play house. You get the idea.

This is all socialized. I know a lot of girls who read comic books, but they end up telling me that they’re sick of how the women are drawn with huge boobs and impossibly perfect figures. Scroll up and read comment # 22. Read what she wrote. It’s really sad that we ignore and don’t listen to those voices. There is nothing innate about women that turn them off to comic books. It’s how comic books are targeted towards hetereosexual males like you and me. Let’s be honest, we straight guys notice the way the girls are depicted. Recently, I had my guy friends come over (both Muslim and Christian) and we played Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe on Playstation 3. What did my guy friends say when they scrolled over the female characters? “Whoa, she’s got big boobs” and a whole bunch of other objectifying comments. It’s OBVIOUS that it’s all targeted towards us heterosexual males.

Before I opened my mind up to feminism, I thought the same way you did. I would argue that there is sexism against men too. I had a very negative perception of feminism, but then I LISTENED and threw my prejudices out. I gave it a shot and learned so much (mostly from my Muslim feminist friends). Yes, we have our own problems as men, but let’s not forget about our privileges. Women are still discriminated in the workplace, A LOT more than men are, and the statistics show that. Women suffer A LOT MORE than men do from eating disorders. Women are degraded into “sluts” and “whores,” if they have multiple sex partners, while men are called “players” and “pimps” which have positive connotations thanks to pop culture. That’s a sexual double standard right there. Society is harsher towards women.

Why are homosexual men hated more than homosexual women? Because society expects men to be very masculine, tough, manly, strong, and unemotional. If a guy is too emotional, feminine, and weak, what is he called? “Gay,” “sissy,” “wimp,” “p***y.” Why? Because since society is male-dominated, it has a very hostile attitude towards men who act FEMININE and “girly.” But it’s okay for girls to be Lesbians, right? Why? Because many straight guys find it “hot.” It caters to the heterosexual male gaze that is so prevalent in our society.

I don’t believe comic books *actively* enslave women and I don’t believe we can say video games *cause* violence. However, there are plenty of psychological research studies that have found strong *correlations* between violent behavior and video games. There are studies that reveal exposure to stereotypical images of gender and sexual content in music videos increase older adolescents’ acceptance of non-marital sexual behavior and interpersonal violence. We cannot say they *cause* it, but we cannot ignore the *influence* media has on shaping our thoughts, views, ideas, and perceptions of one another.

I believe we need to see more three-dimensional female characters in comic books, film, television, etc. When women suffer from eating disorders as a result of poor body image, it’s not “fantasy” anymore. The media should be encouraging women to appreciate themselves for who they are rather than throwing out all these images that tell women how they *should* be in order to feel accepted and beautiful.

The only thing I can say is comic books come from America. As you likely know we use “sex” to sell everything and our cultural differences are apparent.

Being American to me “scantily clad women” are not that shocking but if I was born in Pakistan I know I would feel differently.

To many of us comic books are “fantasy fulfillment” thus we like the fact fictional women are sexy. Many of our women believe “sex” is even empowering however when taken too far this can be bad especially when a society believes appearance is everything.

Like you I’d want to see different body types used more often and writers adding more depth behind certain women heroines + villians. Couldn’t hurt right?

Oh and you are right about Miller’s 300. It was a pretty bad movie and seemed to breed its’ own kind of “elitism” and “bigotry”. I liked some of his work such as Dark Knight returns but sometimes he hits the ball alittle too far into left field even for my tastes.

You are trying to argue about a bacon sandwich yet only talking about the bread and not the bacon.

Sure women feel bad sometimes if they see they cannot live up to looking like their fantasy counterparts. But many guys feel just as pressured when they do not look Bishonen (pretty boy) or realize no matter how much time they spend in the gym they’re not going to be built like modern day super heroes UNLESS they take steroids atop all that.

How are men objectified? Take your pick. In wrestling they are paid to get hurt for our entertainment. Sure, sometimes it’s fake, but mistakes happen and wrestlers still get bashed up bad during more extreme cage matches. In porn a guy’s torso and phallus are seen more than his face making him nothing more than a piece of furniture used for pleasure. His identity is often of far less importance than that of his female partner. Besides all that women who are strippers or porn starlets make that choice. They are not forced into it.

Super heroes are often good looking or rich. You are going to say “But that’s empowering!” however those are actually expectations society pushes onto us. We are expected to this very day to often be the “great providers”. Tell me have you EVER been on a date in which the woman you were with picked up the tab? Yes it may happen but is it a common courtesy? Wouldn’t it be better if both people paid an equal amount down the middle? Certainly not all females expect us to be a fountain of money but sadly there are many that STILL have that mentality.

Most females in comic books dress in kinky clothing but they are also very powerful (like their male counter parts) and sometimes as wealthy (Emma Frost is kind of like Marvel’s equivalent of Paris Hilton).

I admit like you I want to see more emphasis on different types of females. My how to draw books always disappointed me in that they didn’t show me the anatomy for bigger voloptous girls.(My first GF was socially considered on the “Big side” but she was extremely attractive all the same.) However, they did not teach me much on drawing non bishonen and non muscle bound male characters either.

I actually admire you for your points but I think you are attacking the wrong issue. If you truly want equality for woman perhaps you should crusade against how certain females are treated in other countries in which they have far less civil rights than their sisters in more tolerable parts of the world.

I’m not saying comic books do not need a bit of growth and change but at least graphic novels do not directly rape or enslave women. A fantasy is harmless for most of us but you always have wackos out there that take anything too far. Yet should we all suffer because of those few crazies? I think not. Besides though it is tempting to blame our actions on videogames, music, dungeons and dragons, or even comic books in the end it is always OUR CHOICE. The divine (Aka God if you are Christain) gave us free will in most scenarios and chances are the truly disturbed would have done the same atrocities even if they had not listened to Marilyn Mason’s newest cd.

Do not take back anything you said. I do agree with much of it, however I find it odd you believe men are not challenged or objectified as badly as women in different areas. Regardless the gender being human has always been a hard road to walk.

You seem to be missing the point. Men being objectified in a different way doesn’t mean that their equally objectified as women. If comic books play into the “fantasies” of “many young women” as you claim, then why are the majority of comic book readers heterosexual males? Like I said before, women are conditioned by these pattern of images (which can be seen in all forms of media) and taught that their empowerment comes through their appearance and how they use their body for sex. When that happens, society no longer treats women as human beings, but rather as sex objects.

You talk about Elektra and Mrs. Marvel, but don’t seem to realize that films about female superheroes have flopped big time. Remember “Elektra” and “Catwoman”? Compare their box office numbers with the box office success of films like “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” and “Spider-man” — comic book films that have male protagonists. Why hasn’t there been a “Wonder Woman” movie yet? And if there is one, how successful will it be? “Elektra” and “Catwoman” had to rely on the sexualization of the respective actresses, Jennifer Garner and Halle Berry. The films about Batman, Iron Man, and Spider-man didn’t have to sexualize their male protagonists in order to sell the movie.

Of course there are women who read comic books, but it doesn’t mean sexism is non-existent. Like I mentioned before, you don’t see men in sexual or pornographic poses. They’re only objectified in the sense of their muscles and good looks. The female characters, on the other hand, look like they’re in a Victoria’s Secret catalog. I’m sure when you go into the comic book shop, you notice that on the cover images of comic books.

You’re male privilege is showing when you ignored the statistics I presented. You seem to speaking about attractiveness and fan boy/fan girl stuff, which is not what this post is about. This post is about how sexualized and misogynistic images of women in comic books perpetuate the sexism in our society. When you say “objectify me,” you ignore the issue of people struggling with their body image. You also ignore how society tends to mistreat women if they don’t look a certain or behave a certain way.

Your comment about feminism speaks volumes because it shows you perceive feminism in a negative light. It’s an example of how our society has conditioned us to think that feminists are not how women should be. You’d be surprised to learn that feminism is about equality for BOTH men and women — that’s all it means. The reality that you need to understand is that we *do* live in a misogynistic world and in order to understand the struggles of women, you need to be aware of your male privileges.

I didn’t share my published post with you to validate my points, I simply shared the link so that you could read the other comments that people shared.

And by the way, I am a heterosexual male.

Many young girls are just as shallow. They want their forever young pretty boy vampire hero cliches or their muscular athletic jock cliches. If you do not believe me look at the movie “Twilight” or the fact Orlando Bloom (Legolas) was the 1# rated male character in the Lord of the Rings movie based entirely on his looks. (Though he was in fact a good actor too.)

I will level with you in comic books and other entertainment media females are almost always portrayed as beautiful. That said most of them kick just as much butt as their male counter parts. Elektra was Dare Devil’s equal, Mrs. Marvel could knock out even Super Man, and Storm of the X-men was the team leader at certain points + her power over the weather makes her very formible. Lastly look at the epicness of Jean Grey as “The Dark Pheonix”. It took the Shiar Empire working with the X-men to stop her and many of the more powerful characters died in that fight.

Yes, there are ugly guy heroes like The Hulk (Though David Banner still looks well built and handsome when not embodied as his mean green alter ego) or an even better example would be Spawn. (At least after he gets burnt up. Before that he was a special forces mercenary with the body of a Chip N Dale Dancer) However those portrayals are still rarer than the heroes that look like Cyclops, Captain America, Super Man, The Flash, or Spider man.

The genders also vary in what they find appealing so of course nice breasts are put on female characters whereas guy characters (Even The Hulk) have well defined muscles and six pac stomachs.

Alot of girl geeks like Bishonen(men with female features) and Yaio (romantic stories about Bishonens in gay relationships) which likewise raise the bar on lofty expectations for men to live up to. Most of us cannot pull off being Bishi anime influenced bad boys like Sephiroth. Atop that you cannot slam men for lesbian fantasies when many women have guy on guy fantasies.

It’s great you got published but that does not make you any more right or wrong. I recently read a “published article” of an IGN writer trashing Sheva Alomar from Resident Evil 5 for being a crappy heroine. He did not even bring up valid points but yet he made front page.

In closing I would encourage you to be “an equalist” instead of a “feminist”. Defend not just the rights of women but those of men too. Not to mention sometimes it’s gratifying and even healthy to be seen as a sex object. Yes, it can be taken too far, but who does not want to be percieved as desirable? By all means “objectify me!” I would love for females to percieve me as a piece of hunky man meat every once in awhile. I will even wear revealing skimpy under wear and a ball gag on a date if it spices things up and makes me feel good as well as the woman sexing me up!

Thanks for your comment. I think it’s really important to understand that this supposed “objectification of men” is NOT the same as objectification of women. There is an immense difference between how men and women are sexualized in comic books (and all forms of media). When muscles and “perfect” physical features are enhanced for male characters, it displays and symbolizes their power and strength. Women, on the other hand, are drawn with large breasts and voluptuous bodies for sex. It’s less about superpowers. Just look at the images I posted in this blog entry and you’ll see how suggestive the poses are, some of them pornographic. Completely different than how men are depicted.

The reason why you probably don’t understand this “rant” is because you make the mistake of thinking that sexism against men is *equal* to sexism against women. This whole notion of “reverse sexism” is incredibly flawed because it overlooks many of the challenges that women face in society as a result of misogyny and sexism — challenges that men don’t have to worry about. It’s feminism 101.

When women are objectified and sexualized in the media, they are being taught that their empowerment comes through their physical appearance and how they use their body (and of course, they’re using their bodies for sex). There is NO WAY a woman can look like these images because they’re drawn so out of proportion. According to a couple of researchers: “…a young woman between the ages of 18-34 has a 7% chance of being as slim as a catwalk model and a 1% chance of being as thin as a supermodel.”

Even images of women in popular magazines, posters, and billboards, are altered in order to make her look more “sexy” or “beautiful.” Making these alterations says a lot about what certain body types that our society values. Look at Maxim magazine, it’s about *getting* sex, while Cosmopolitan magazine is about *giving* sex.

Psychological studies have also shown that women had lower self-evaluations when they were shown slides of thin models. People who were shown images of average and oversized models on the other hand had better self-evaluations. According to one source: 75% of “normal” weight women think they are overweight and 90% of women overestimate their body size. And what mental disorder has the highest mortality rate in the United States? Eating disorders. And who does it affect more? Women. To ignore these facts is a simple matter of male privilege.

Men are not expected or pressured to look like Superman or Batman or even Wolverine. A male superhero can be ugly (see Hulk) and still be admired. If you look at the film industry, you have many male actors who don’t have to rely on their physical features to play big roles in movies. Sean Connery still made action movies when he passed the age of 60. You couldn’t see a woman do that. After she passes a certain age, her roles get limited to moms, step-moms, grandmoms, aunts, mother-in-laws, and so on.

We don’t forget that men are portrayed unrealistically. We just point out how objectification of women degrades them into sex objects and reinforces the stereotype that women have to look a certain way in order to be accepted in society and/or wanted by a man. Don’t forget that these images cater to heterosexual male readers (who represent the MAJORITY of comic book readers).

This particular post of mine was also published on “Fantasy Magazine” and someone left a really brilliant comment that addresses this issue of male characters being objectified. I suggest you check it out:

http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=875#comment-9711

The truth is both genders objectify each other. It is true women are put in revealing clothing but men are taught if they are not finacially successful or do not have a nice car they are not going to be able to earn the affections of an attractive girl friend.

Now days the most attractive fictional male characters are either Gothic pretty boys(Sephiroth,Dante) or buffed out mercenaries(Chris Redfield, Nick Fury). Granted I threw in some video game examples but you get my point.

However all this is supposed to be “fantasy” to begin with. Comic books have never clung to realism so arguing they should be more “realistic” kind of defeats the point. (Which is pleasant escapism)

Bottom line human beings are sexual creatures so at times those desires are going to come out through what writers and artists create. That is why White Queen is dressed like a Dominatrix and Wolverine is portrayed as the bad-boy loner rebel with perfect pecs and enough sexual magnetism to sell his own male cologne.

I know you mean well in this article but every time I hear this rant it seems as if people forget men are portrayed just as unrealistically in comic books as women. But if you really want to see Super Man flying around in nothing but underwear I think that is fair so long as we can still have our Cat woman, Elektra, and Wonder woman eye candy unchanged.

What is your opinion about Modesty Blaise?