Not everyone sees eye-to-eye. You might love something that’s reviled by most others. When we at PoP! feel like that, we make an argument In Defense Of…

Writer’s note: this article deals with events depicted in the final pages of Catwoman #1 (and to a lesser extent, Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 and Birds of Prey #1), however, I will not be posting spoiler pictures in this article out of respect for the comic creators.

I want to make it known that the prevailing views of the Catwoman #1 controversy are not shared by all women who read and love comics. I feel the need to speak out, realizing that I will be possibly incurring the wrath of many highly vocal women in the comic community, but I don’t feel that they speak for me, and I do not share their views.

I wrote an article back in June titled “Goodbye Sirens, Hello Sluts”. I’ll admit that I was wrong on a lot of things. While Harley Quinn has changed a lot, I still enjoy the new character she’s become. Also, at the time, it seemed as though writer Judd Winick had given Catwoman and Batman’s relationship the axe, and I was upset over that.

Imagine my surprise and fangirl glee at the two of them hooking up at the end of Catwoman #1. Then imagine how disappointed I was at seeing other women respond with bile and hatred at a female comic book character having sex with a male comic book character.

Yes, Catwoman #1 is a book about a woman who uses her sex appeal to her advantage. That is a big part of what makes Selina Kyle a great character. Her relationship with Batman, sexual and otherwise, has always been a defining characteristic of the Catwoman character. However, writer Judd Winick is getting a lot of hate from people who didn’t like how Catwoman chose to be sexy, from running around in her bra (which we saw twice in Batwoman #1 last week), to seducing a man with whom she has had an ongoing relationship.

One article that I take offense to is Laura Hudson’s The Big Sexy Problem with Superheroines and Their ‘Liberated Sexuality’.

I would like to say first and in the strongest possible terms that I absolutely support the right of women to embrace and act upon their sexual desires in whatever way seems right to them, within consensual boundaries. My sense of justice is inflamed by the double standard that tells us that every person a man sleeps with makes them more of a stud, and every person a woman sleeps with makes them a little less valuable and less respectable.

Is that what’s happening here? Is Catwoman horribly devalued in the eyes of comic readers because she initiates sex with a man? What about Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws #1, who even says, “I am free to do what I want when I want”?

In my experience, it has always been women who have devalued other women based upon the number of people they’ve slept with. Surprisingly enough, men don’t care. Well, that’s a bit of a generalization, since there are some jerks out there who will give you a hard time no matter what, but for the most part, women are the ones who make other women feel bad over their sexual encounters.

That is what’s happening here. Catwoman and Starfire are being labled as “sluts” because they’re women who go after what they want. Sex is only okay if it’s a feminist-approved “certain type of sex”. It doesn’t seem as though we’re “supporting the right of women to embrace and act upon their sexual desires” at all.

One of the explanations that I’m hearing, from women who evidently know much more than I do about being a woman, is that these sexual encounters are being initiated by “men with tits” or “chicks with dicks”, basically, female characters written to act like men. I take offense to the thought that all women are cupcake-baking, scrapbooking, subservient, gentle creatures. I love “guy things”. I don’t play coy games. I identify with these characters because they’re not afraid to break traditional gender roles. To call them “chicks with dicks” is disgusting, deplorable, and closed-minded.

Basically, what these women are telling me is that I’m less of a woman because I see aspects of myself in characters like these. They could never be further from the truth.

What really baffles me are some of the themes that aren’t being discussed in the DC New 52. This week, Birds of Prey #1 was released. In it, Black Canary is forcibly kissed by one of the bad guys. We’re totally fine with that? It’s just a kiss, sure, but she didn’t want it. She didn’t ask for it. That man forced her to kiss him to demean her. And yet, we’re up in arms over sex between two consenting adults. The fact that women are choosing the Catwoman battle over Birds of Prey shows just how screwed up their whole argument is.

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that male writers, artists, or CEOs are the problem here. The problem is women who believe that a one-size-fits-all approach to female sexuality is how we should all be portrayed in the media, reality be damned. It’s the fact that the vocal minority of female comic fans feel the need to “dissect and inform the ignorant masses” every time something doesn’t fit into their preconceived notions of what twenty-first century femininity should be.

I’m shocked at how women want more female characters in their mainstream comics, and yet when we get what we asked for, there’s a huge, angry outcry. How are the creators over at DC Comics supposed to react to this? Women are holding back women in comics.

I understand that there are people out there, male and female alike, that were genuinely unimpressed by Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws, and I can respect that. What I can’t respect is using these books as an excuse to further feminist agendas in ways that appear to speak for all female comic book fans. It’s not the truth. That is not how we all feel.

Thank you for hearing me out. It may not be what you want to hear, but I don’t think that I’m the only female comic fan who feels this way, and our side deserves to be heard as well.

Filed Under: Columns • In Defense Of...