Girls in the Treehouse

Disclaimer: This Post is link heavy and a bit convoluted, apologies in advance.

In relation to my previous post.

The outrage, anger and commentary is still going on and after reading many, lots, more and today's blog posts* on the subject and I can't say if it's good or bad.
I did my part and e-mailed** the relevant people, but I have the feeling they've got a special folder especially for the letters coming from people like me and aforementioned Feminist Fangirls.

I just love, absolutely love how some people completely miss the point of anger that stems from that Mary-Jane (MJ) statue.
I mean, this is very dense if this he can write something like this:

Like it or not, superhero comics are made by and for men. That doesn’t mean that’s all they can ever be, but that’s the way it is now, and until female fans gain enough economic clout to dictate terms, they’re going to remain safely ignorable. Want to change that? Make the fucking comics and build the audience you need to affect change.

Be sure to read the *headdesk" inducing, lengthy, commentary at the bottom.

Can you feel entitlement, the patronizing tone... the absolute, oh I don't "knee-jerk outrage and reactionary herdthink... his words again, talking about the multiple posts that have appeared on the Internet (specifically WFA!) over the past few days about MJ.

I'd like to comment there, but I'm not in the habit commenting in what is obviously a hostile environemnt and I don't do anonymous commenting, so I safely link and quote on my personal LJ... ain't the Internet grand, to be able to safely say what you want, about whatever you want, with no editing what so ever.
After all, whose going to complain... a bunch of fangirls with no economical clout?

I'm inclined to say that this guy (Dirk Deppey is his name) is a little bit intimidated by the amount women commenting about MJ. I'm inclined to say that he's surprised by the fact that, gosh, we give a fuck.
But he like many before him and many that will come after, try to save face, from this obvious example of rampant sexism, but giving the very old excuse of Primitive Male Sexuality.
So the fact that the practically all entertainment industries, from the popular "Sports Illustrated" to the fringe industries of Comic Books... they are catered towards men.
He goes so far as to show that this is a universal male trait, since gay porn is much the same... catered towards the visually oriented, Primitive Male Sexuality.

Unlike this man here, I give most men the benefit of thinking they're people, and not monkeys, because men, like women, are human beings.
Which the makers of the MJ (and others) seem to think are not.
It seems that Marvel and DC are willing to treat their buyers like sex crazed Neanderthals and use female characters as fodder for their money bags.

The poor Boys have to deal with the fact that many, many Girls are entering (or already inside) the Comic Book Club Tree House and are rearranging the furniture, just a little, so that they don't have to sit on the floor or the other boys' laps.

I could go on and on.

Worry not.

I will.

Notes:
*All links are to When Fangirls Attack.
** Link to Written World.

In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.

וכמו כן, צריך לעצור את רצח העם בדרפור.

A Little Perspective

Fandom is fun.
Really, all the writing I've done in my LJ about Buffy, Comic Books and etc, is a little bit of fun.

But let's put things into perspective, fandom is "unreality", it's a mirror, a mirror which, in my opinion is distorted to show a deeper truth into the way people are categorized and pigeonholed and depicted in Real Life.

The plight of the Statue of Mary Jane is not on par with Genital Mutilation in North Africa and the Middle East.

The Rage I feel about female characters in Comic Books and TV, is far less to what I feel about the fact that in Israel, women are still bound and anchored to their husbands when their divorce s denied and that one if four women is sexually assaulted at least once in her life and that one in seven men are sexually assaulted at least once in their lives as well.

The letters I wrote to Marvel and DC, are part of being active in fandom. I feel active as human being when I go to Pride Marches, demonstrating for the people in Darfur and marching to raise awareness about Domestic Violence which is the number one cause of death among women.

There is so much shit in the world and we must do something about it all, not just I've mentioned above, but beyond.
If the amount of women, people in general taking up arms in reaction to MJ did the same about the pervasion of Rape in our culture and in other media, not just in general, but every time someone, man or woman, child or middle aged, teenager or senior citizen, on television or in a movie was raped, and be outraged the shame and guilt would be placed on the perpetrator and not the victim, which is still happening, victim blaming is still an issue sexual assault survivors have to deal with.
If a fraction of the people who came to the Rally that called the Prime-Minister to resign, came to the demonstration for Darfur (which I attended both, they were the same week), we would have received a hell of a lot more news coverage rather than a mention in the papers and barely a glimpse on the evening news.

Basically, people, if you're paying attention, could you be outraged with me?

In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.

וכמו כן, צריך לעצור את רצח העם בדרפור.