dcwomenkickingass:

Sigh. Breaking my mission to endear the Crimson Fox to the denizens of Tumblr to do what all fangirls and boys most like to do: gripe.

The new Birds of Prey will apparently include Poison Ivy among their ranks, working alongside Black Canary, Katana, and one other (my guess: new character). This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea because Poison Ivy is one of the last great female super-villains, and she IS a villain. She is homicidally insane. She is a mad scientist who lacks any respect for human beings as a species, and so she feels no remorse at killing any of them that harms her preferred kingdom, plantae. (This does not conflict with her genuine relationships with particular humans, like Harley Quinn. It only makes them the exception to the rule, such as how many racists in the 1960s and ‘70s could be fans of the Jackson 5.) Despite how lovely she appears, she is a sick, twisted, evil person; therefore, she is an excellent villain.

She is not, therefore, a hero. Not even an anti-hero. But beginning with Gotham City Sirens (a book I couldn’t stomach due to its awful Guillem March art), her characterization has shifted in that direction. Why? I’m going to be crass here.

Because she’s fuckable.

There’s some kind of horrible, subtle sexism going on with super-villains at both Marvel and DC, and I think it’s even more pernicious than the more talked-about sexiam regarding super-heroines. I’m not just talking about how female villains are inevitably attractive in a way that male villains are almost never (in fact, it’s to a male villain’s benefit to look terrifying), but instead because there seems to be a presumption that female villains can never be really bad. There’s often a level of sympathy with the female villain, a desire to convert her to the side of the angels, merely because she’s visually appealing. Catwoman’s fine; she’s been an altruist long enough that I’m not really including her. I am talking about Harley Quinn, whose homicidal actions are largely ignored by blaming the Joker’s influence (check out the excellent Karl Kesel ongoing for a better examination of Harley without Mr. J!). I am talking about Cheshire, who has assassinated an entire nation but is still deemed worthy of a one-night stand with Speedy. I am talking about Silver Swan, who has to be brainwashed before she becomes a Wonder Woman villain. I am talking about Talia al Ghul, a lethal assassin and criminal mastermind whom Wikipedia refuses to call a villain because “[her criminal acts] were usually committed due to her loyalty to her father rather than for personal gain” (again with the lack of agency!). I am talking about Lady Shiva, who has even spent a year working as a Bird of Prey, for goodness’s sake, despite the laundry list of crimes she has committed.

I am talking about the general dearth of credible female villains in the DCU. I am talking about how there’s no credible female counterpart to Darkseid, or Lex Luthor, or the Joker. (Cheetah, I hear you say. Circe, sure. Queen Bee, maybe. I like them too. But tell me about the last story in which any of them were an existential threat to the world.) About how, when it comes down to it, things haven’t really changed since Stan Lee forced Roy Thomas to turn a female X-Men villain named Banshee into a man because young male readers wouldn’t take a girl villain seriously. Because if she’s a girl, she’s not a threat. No matter what she does, it may not be her fault. Heck, she’s so pretty, she probably has a heart of gold, deep down.

I may think Gail Simone is vastly, vastly overrated as a writer, but this is one thing she gets, totally. Junior is TERRIFYING, almost gratuitously so. Scandal Savage and Jeannette may be interesting protagonists, but they are undeniably vicious, evil people. And what’s more, not one of these three woman is defined by their sexuality–brava.

Now let’s see more of those. And let’s fight the temptation to turn the ones we already have because they’re so popular. Don’t try to make readers like Poison Ivy; make them scared witless of her.