Your link doesn’t support your point, I’m afraid.
It supports the completely non-contraversial fact that female readers don’t read American comics very often. If I’ve given the impression that I’m denying that fact, I apologise for my lack of clarity.
Unfortunately, it makes no claims as to why this is. The only ‘why’ it addresses at all is why there are fewer females in the industry than you’d expect - the statistic you quoted is not the point of the article, it’s a data point leading to a discussion of whether there is discrimination against females in the industry.
I’ll see if I can dig up some actual stats on the matter (I’m not promising anything…my google fu is weak.), but from my experience, a bigger reason for the disparity than the fact that some female comic characters - mostly from companies like Image, or other lesser companies - are sexist stereotypes with their T&A played up for all they’re worth; is the general perception that comics - particularly superhero comics, but all comics save manga - are a boys only club - a perception that a lot of fans and store owners have, and act on, which makes it worse, because a lot of potential female fans who (in general, rightly) dismiss the ‘boys’ club’ and decide to give American comics a try, will walk right into it.
Yes, the other does play a part. I’ve never denied it, and again apologise if I haven’t been clear on that point. But the fact that characters like…well, almost every female character created by Rob Liefeld, for instance, are offensive sexist stereotypes, to play to sexist fanboy fantasies, other characters like, say, Adam Warren’s version of the Dirty Pair, are ‘offensive sexist stereotypes’ for purposes of humour (not at the expense of women, but at the expense of the stereotypes) and parody (although someone casually glancing at a DP could be forgiven for missing this aspect of it) and other characters, such as Starfire, could be mistaken for OSSs by someone who happened to judge the book by it’s cover… This fact doesn’t mean that any other female character who isn’t covered chin to toes is an OSS, nor does it mean an average woman who walks into a GOOD comic store (like the one I go to) and won’t be made to feel unwelcome by a creepy owner and patrons, will perceive them as such. And here, we see again, that the ‘no girls allowed’ attitude of a certain part of the fandom plays a huge role in the problem.
Nor, to address the point Kyle’s made that you believe to be irrelevant, does this make them bad role-models for young female readers who happen to read the books.
A potential female reader who saw, say, Genie on a cover may quite understandably (and correctly) pass it by as sexist crap (or, she may know that other, better portrayed, female characters also suffer from bad costumes and cheesecake covers, and give it a chance. The poor girl would be disappointed, in this case, however, since this IS Liefeld.), but it doesn’t follow that she would feel the same way about Supergirl.
This is true, in the real world.
But in the real world, so would be Batman’s costume. There’s a non-zero chance of any of the outfits in question showing up in either context, but the chances are rather better in a strip club.
The point I’m attempting to make is two-fold.
- In the real world, they’re also far less likely to be found in a strip club than out.
and
- We’re not talking about the real world. We’re talking about a world where ridiculous and impractical costumes, the only real rationality behind which is that they look good, are the norm for both sexes.
A vanishingly small (But non-zero) number of superheroines from the big two, and a slightly larger number from the smaller companies, dress like strippers. A vanishingly small number of male heroes also do.
More wear outfits that could be seen on the streets any time the weather allows. The same, again, applies to a smaller number of male characters.
Still others wear outfits you’d expect to see on a beach. Yes, a few of the boys, too.
A handful wear costumes more suited to fashion show runways than anywhere else at all. I…can’t think of any male characters who fit in this group.
Most characters of both sexes wear outfits that will only exist in superhero comics. Some of those are revealing to differing extents (for both sexes), some aren’t.
A potential female reader, if put off by the fact that what Supergirl or Power Girl, or Black Canary, or Mary Marvel, or whichever superheroine wears is a really odd choice for fighting crime, would more than likely have the same reaction to Superman, or Green Lantern, or Batman, or Green Arrow. Conversely, a female reader who’s not put off by Superman wouldn’t likely have a problem with Supergirl. I’ll grant that some potential female readers will have the disproportionate response against the less extreme female costumes, but they are, in my experience, a minority. The costumes are all silly, and inappropriate for crime fighting. But they’re part of the genre, and most potential female readers accept or reject it for both sexes.
Another point that I’m not sure why I (or another poster) haven’t addressed before. The OP claims to be speaking of female comic characters, period. But this thread has, thus far, been restricted to superheroines - DC especially.
Once you leave the realm of superheroics (which, although a dominant genre, as far as sales go, is way behind in sheer number of titles available), the concept that potential female readers would be put off by the sexist portrayals of the female becomes even weaker - although, granted, it still doesn’t fade to complete ridiculousness.
I’ve never claimed, although I’ll grant I can’t entirely fault the perception that I have, that there are no badly portrayed female characters in comics. There are. And even characters generally portrayed well have occasionally been handled badly. My claim is just that the majority of the characters from the biggest companies don’t fit into that group, and Ystin isn’t better, in that respect, than most.
Ystin has the potential to be handled badly, just like Power Girl. Just like Power Girl can be portrayed as a bimbo good for nothing but her tits, Ystin can be used in a way that supports the idea that a woman cannot be strong without becoming a man in all but anatomy. Hell, even Genie has the potential to be handled WELL with the right creative team behind her. (I’m not holding my breath, mind, and said team will most likely give her a new costume, but the potential exists.)
And, now that the frustration has been alleviated, I apologise for the rather high levels of sarcasm in some of my earlier posts - although the points I was trying to make still stand, and thank you for taking my advice to heart, even if I wasn’t giving it in the most tactful way.
