Mullet Of Sadness: gailsimone: scienceponies: Dear Gail Simone,What happened to you. You...

Mullet Of Sadness: gailsimone: scienceponies: Dear Gail Simone,What happened to you. You...:

scienceponies:

gailsimone:

gailsimone:

scienceponies:

Dear Gail Simone,

What happened to you. You made Birds of Prey and done a lot for women in the comic media. How dare you make a character to bloody up and threatened to be raped. That is very uncharacteristic of you and I’m worried now you’ll fall into the…

Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn’t take it that way at all. It’s just a question and questions are always fine.

Ya sorry that sounded a little harsh just the image to me was very unsettling on a personal level. I love all you’ve done for not just females in media but around the board. I just question the imagery because the “On your knees and beg" line was something that sent a chill up my spine. Later on I let it digest a little and I see the point. I see how it could be about rape culture and how it is used as a weapon. I don’t know if that was your intended purpose but given earlier work I’m guessing you are aware of feminist issues (especially in media). Let me just say even though that one scene disturbs me I’m actually honored that you listened. I’m a huge fan of Birds of Prey, Secret Six and all of your work. I apologize I sounded like a jerk. I know you didn’t intend on that to be disturbing to some people. You are a great artist and always tell excellent stories. I’m going to pick up # 4 to see where you take the series.

Honestly, no worries, and thank you for keeping an open mind and for this tremendously polite response.

I do get what you’re saying. I have to give this some thought. To me, a bad guy leering and lording his imagined power over a woman he thinks is subjugated…it’s villainy. It shows what kind of awful person they are.

I think that is very different from someone flat-out threatening rape.  There’s something here that is at play that is very difficult to grasp, in that a similar threat made from, say, a Bond villain to James Bond would barely raise an eyebrow, you would have to almost force it to see it sexually. But with women, we make that leap much more intuitively.  Our perception is different because our history is different.

It’s something to be careful about, but for me, the scene is about what he says it’s about, which is the power of a corporation. And the fuel that he needs for an advantage is information, information that she has.

It’s something to be aware of, certainly. In this case.