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DC Comics- Shirt Tales

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Just when you think that DC can't get any worse, they manage to find new ways to deprave themselves: www.vox.com/2014/10/1/6879859/…

It's continues to amaze how out of touch DC Comics is with the very customers they are trying to sell their material to.  It seems for every positive step it takes forward (Such as Batgirl's new costume and direction) it takes two steps back.

It's actually impressive how dismissive that DC Comics is of a large- and growing- portion of it's audience- the female readers.  Just looking at the comic conventions that are sprouting up across the landscape, you see a large portion of female fans.  Not just the ones in costume, but just walking the floor, looking for merchandise and sitting in as part of panels.  Sure, it's not a 1 to 1 ratio with male fans, but it's getting pretty damn close.

But DC still seems out of touch with this portion of the fanbase.  First by outright ignoring, given the Nu52's attempt at over sexualizing their female leads to appeal to "adolescent" males.  Then by making inane assumptions about this portion of the fans.  Such as hooking up Superman and Wonder Woman, under the auspices that it will appeal to female fans of the "Twilight" series because "Kissing = Girls" right? 

And, at the end of the day, this isn't really empowerment.  This is male fantasy empowerment.  It's sexualizing women under the auspices of doing them some sort of favor.  Like saying being a stripper empowers women.  Wonder Woman hooking up with Superman isn't some "great" romance.  Instead, it's treated as if- as the one T-Shirt emphasizes- Superman "scoring" with a "hot babe."  This isn't a relationship that is done because it's an interesting and compelling turn for both characters.  It's going back to the notion that it's awesome that Superman is snogging with Wonder Woman, since that has been fan wank material for the Man of Steel for decades. 

And the Batman shirt somehow even manages to be even worse.  "Training to be Batman's Wife" basically highlights the real problem that this company has- they cannot regard females as anything other than extensions of a man.  That they think women would prefer to be Batman's wife, rather than a superhero themselves. 

Both of these shirts essentially state that women are meant solely to support a man, in one form or another.  Now, yes, you can say that these shirts were meant to be cheeky and funny.  And you can say that other shirt designs do this as well.  But the shirts highlight a larger issue with the company, that KEEPS making these types of sexist and troubling decisions.  That continually has to backtrack and apologize for offending large portions of the fanbase.  It's just a sign of a company that just doesn't get it.  As for other companies doing something similar, the way I look at it is just because someone else does something stupid doesn't condone another person for doing something equally stupid. 

Instead of degrading and sexualizing women, perhaps DC can try putting out shirts that celebrate their female heroes.  How strong and capable they can be, and not just in relation to the man they are in a relationship with.  Lots of people would like to imagine themselves to be a superhero.  It's not something that ends if you don't have a "Y" chromosone.    
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Eon101's avatar
They've been doing that kind of crap for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time. Seriously, did you see what they did to Lois Lane back in the silver age?