Comments on: Mainstream media gets interested in return of ‘lesbian Batwoman’

By: François

François — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:49:06 +0000

Well, perhaps it will be a non-story when non-straight superheroes are common–or as common as, say, black super-heroes…which means it won’t happen anytime soon. I’d love to see that.
I mean, should we be happy to have a few panels showing secondary gay characters in one or two comics among dozens being published every month by DC?

By: Allan Cavanagh

Allan Cavanagh — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:49:16 +0000

Superhero in Sexuality Shocker! It depends how it’s played Joe. If the character is a “lesbian” for the titillation of heterosexual male readers then that’s worthy of condemnation. If it’s simply reflecting the range of human experience, well, the more normative cues that appear in various media, the better to chip away at hegemony. The real gauge of that is how the media reacts, and Cheryl makes a good point.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:12:33 +0000

Hi, Cheryl – ah, I thought you’d comment :-)! Yes, I see your point and you are right in that it shouldn’t be ignored, its just the fact it becomes the focus for the media that annoys me rather than what will this character do, what are the writer’s plans for her… Ah well, like you say, perhaps the fact it can be mentioned without anyone (other than a minority of ranting bigots) yelling about it misleading readers is progress of a sort

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:00:43 +0000

It is a phase we are going through. Twenty years ago the tabloids would all be yelling for the comic to be banned. These days I suspect they resort to sniggering. Sure, they are idiots, but to say that it shouldn’t be discussed puts being lesbian right back in the closet, which is exactly the wrong outcome.