Sexist apparel and toys for children are sadly nothing new, but it's even sadder that manufacturers continue to produce them. Marvel, the comic book publisher, is now contributing to the boys are strong/girls are weak dichotomy with two t-shirts based on the popular "Avengers" franchise.
The shirt for boys declares, "Be A Hero," while the shirt for girls says, "I Need A Hero." Anyone else sick of the idea that girls are incapable of taking care of themselves and being their own heroes?
This isn't the first time "The Avengers" has gotten flack for sexism. Cartoonist Kevin Bolk made a splash when he re-drew the Avenger's movie poster depicting the bodies of the male characters in the pose Marvel usually reserves for females -- booty out.
To make the t-shirt situation worse, the one for boys costs eight dollars less than the one for girls.
LOOK: The difference between an "Avengers" shirt for boys and for girls
Were they so stupid they thought no one would object to this, do they not give a fuck about what their customers think, or are they banking on all their customers being sexist?
Whatever the reason is, fuck them.
Also, I really want to hear what Joss Whedon thinks of this.
But then, they were in a Joss Whedon film, and whatever faults Joss Whedon has he's not adverse to heroic women. The people in charge of merchandizing in Marvel, on the other hand, seem to feel differently.
Wow, I have to say, I find the "what century are we in again?" complaint boring but this...this makes me feel like asking. How this slips under a manager's nose is just baffling.
But doesn't Marvel portray a variety of strong women, both hero and non-hero? So why the hell does someone want to claim that they're being sexist over a couple of lousy t-shirts? *shakes head sadly*
"Incoming Fire has the right of way."
-Murphy's 18th Law of Combat.
First, even if Marvel were a paragon of equality and feminism in their works, it still wouldn't shield them from criticism for doing something this sexist. And remember, it's never just a couple shirts, or a cartoon, or a joke, or anything, since sexism is so omnipresent that even little things just add on to it. Don't try to look at them all individually and say each one isn't worth much, since they AREN'T individual separate things to the people that have to deal with them.
But that was with us making an assumption about Marvel, and having muscular women punch stuff in your comics is nowhere near a sufficient and great portrayal for women. The mainstream American comics industry is more rife with sexism than any other major entertainment media in the country I can think of, from the art to the stories to the marketing and everything.
DieselJester wrote:But doesn't Marvel portray a variety of strong women, both hero and non-hero? So why the hell does someone want to claim that they're being sexist over a couple of lousy t-shirts? *shakes head sadly*
Because the shirts are sexist?
And its not just the shirts. Stark is right about there being a lot of sexism in comics.
DieselJester wrote:But doesn't Marvel portray a variety of strong women, both hero and non-hero? So why the hell does someone want to claim that they're being sexist over a couple of lousy t-shirts? *shakes head sadly*
Because the shirts are sexist?
And its not just the shirts. Stark is right about there being a lot of sexism in comics.
Really? Hm. I don't read a lot of comics anymore so I'm not sure what the current stories are or how they're being portrayed short of what they put into the movies nowadays. I'm just going off of what I remember reading as a teenager and my impression of Marvel Comics at the time. I always thought of the 'strong' women as not being simply physically strong or having any kind of super powers but mentally strong, emotionally strong, etc... Strong Personalities, in other words.
"Incoming Fire has the right of way."
-Murphy's 18th Law of Combat.
And huge tits. And that whole 'impossibly small waist' period. I mean I thought the thread would be laughing at kids t shirts because the boy one says WORK HARD AND BE BUFF LIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA and the girl one says GET AN EATING DISORDER AND HUGE BREAST IMPLANTS LIKE FEMALE SUPER HEROES.
Well to be fair, almost everyone in comic books has an impossible body. At least the recent movies have extremely difficult to get bodies, as a result of using real people.
Look the joke is they're for men so the laughable sexualisation of women in them don't really impact girls vey much (outside of t shirts). But a woman doesn't have to hear it for it to be sexist against women.
Comics as a role model is a ridiculous idea anyway so it doesn't bother me too much. Like I said, if it was adult women wearing that shirt would anyone care?
Stark wrote:And huge tits. And that whole 'impossibly small waist' period. I mean I thought the thread would be laughing at kids t shirts because the boy one says WORK HARD AND BE BUFF LIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA and the girl one says GET AN EATING DISORDER AND HUGE BREAST IMPLANTS LIKE FEMALE SUPER HEROES.
You forgot having your spine removed so you can do the silly cover poses showing off your tits and ass at the same time, despite this requiring you to twist your torso more than 180 degrees.
Well, Marvel has got the new Captain Marvel comics (which is Ms Marvel, except with a name change plus a less t&a costume), plus Sif is now the star of Journey into Mystery, which are both pretty feminist. And there's a new all-female X-men series starting next month, which may or may not be racist, but judging by the costumes, is at least going to have semi-realistic proportions:
What really sucks though, is that they create stuff like this, but it's almost impossible to find a Ms Marvel t-shirt, even though Carol Danvers is awesome, cause she's basically just like me except blonde and with superpowers.
"I would say that the above post is off-topic, except that I'm not sure what the topic of this thread is, and I don't think anybody else is sure either."
- Darth Wong Free Durian - Last updated 27 Dec
"Why does it look like you are in China or something?" - havokeff
Who died and made you the boss of women's hairstyling decisions?
"I would say that the above post is off-topic, except that I'm not sure what the topic of this thread is, and I don't think anybody else is sure either."
- Darth Wong Free Durian - Last updated 27 Dec
"Why does it look like you are in China or something?" - havokeff
The same guy who told him nobody likes punk/goth/whatever chicks with nose piercings and tattoo sleeves and all that stuff.
Anyway, comics are sexist? Of course they are. But if I've learned anything from Cracked, is that you can't even imply that without making a shitstorm.
I'm not even sure what joke he is trying to make. Does he not like punk girls? Do a lot of comic book woman have mohawks? Does it make me an idiot to think this much about any post ES has ever made?
i can't find anything on a superhero named mohawk.
"Aid, trade, green technology and peace." - Hans Rosling.
"Welcome to SDN, where we can't see the forest because walking into trees repeatedly feels good, bro." - Mr Coffee
Vendetta wrote:You forgot having your spine removed so you can do the silly cover poses showing off your tits and ass at the same time, despite this requiring you to twist your torso more than 180 degrees.
You do not mean more than 180 degrees - that's past the point where the breasts are directly above the buttocks. In actuality, a 60 degree twist would show both, and that's easily achievable for anyone in reasonably good health.
Terralthra wrote:Is that supposed to be Rogue in the green suit with the broken wrist and spine?
Seriously? They might have drawn her hand a little long, but are you under the impression that a person's spine is an immobile rod? Just shifting your weight from one leg to the other will result in your spine bending from side to side.
"Aid, trade, green technology and peace." - Hans Rosling.
"Welcome to SDN, where we can't see the forest because walking into trees repeatedly feels good, bro." - Mr Coffee
Terralthra wrote:Is that supposed to be Rogue in the green suit with the broken wrist and spine?
Seriously? They might have drawn her hand a little long, but are you under the impression that a person's spine is an immobile rod? Just shifting your weight from one leg to the other will result in your spine bending from side to side.
It will result in your spine arching, but not like that image. Seriously, go ask a woman to tilt her hips to the side and put a hand on the up-tilted hip. See what the spine actually does.
