The Mary Sue points out this probably entirely unintentional juxtaposition of Hugh Jackman magazine covers, illustrating beautifully the fact that idealized comic book males are actually male power fantasies, not designed to be beefcake for women the same way that the comic book ladies are cheesecake for men.



Hugh Jackman as marketed to men:

Hugh Jackman as marketed to women:

Women don’t think super-muscley idealized men are actually ideal for them. So how are they idealized exactly, unless they are idealized in the eyes of other men?

Power fantasies for men involve characters that are powerful and self-directing, who can shape their worlds and scatter their enemies before them like little gods. The women in these same works of fiction are sexualized objects, who exist to be ideal fantasies that men have about women. Those uber-entitled folks complaining “but men are unattainable fantasy figures in comics too” any time we complain that women in comics are twisted into impossible positions just so you can glimpse their boobs and butts at the same time, are completely missing the point. The men exist so you can want to BE them, the women exist so you can want to FUCK them.

I’d like to see some idealized asexual or genderqueer folks in comics. That would be an interesting and novel twist.

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