Hey Assholes: Stop Threatening To Rape Women Because Of Their opinions

[ismnotwasm]

Last night I became aware of this, a review of the cover of Teen Titans #1 from DC Comics (this is an upcoming #1. Yes, they just shit out #1s like I shit out #2s.) by Janelle Asselin. It's a pretty reasonable review; I'm kind of impressed with the absolute depth of the critique.

But not everybody was so impressed! Brett Booth, the artist on The Flash gave some feedback that feels really weird and condescending and sexist:
Brett Booth @Demonpuppy
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I see, the only way I can refute your argument is to not use logic, biology, google and also I can't have a penis. Sounds fair.
8:00 AM - 13 Apr 2014
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but the bad news is that Booth was among the most measured replies the critic received.

You see, I’m also doing a survey about sexual harassment in comics. (If you’d like to take this survey, you can find it here.) And so as soon as the angry fanboys started looking me up after the CBR article, they discovered this survey and started answering my questions and using the open box at the end to write in all sorts of awfulness. I’ve gotten all manner of bullshit within the survey now, but at least the ones with the rape threats or other asshole comments tell me which responses to disregard. If you really want to “get me” and prove that sexual harassment doesn’t exist in comics, I don’t know, maybe it’s better for you to answer honestly about how you haven’t been sexually harassed. Because certainly sending me rape threats proves my point, not yours.


What bums me out is how matter-of-factly Asselin shares this information about rape threats. See, it's something that happens to women who write on the internet all the time.

But they're just words, you say. They're meaningless. Those people won't really rape anybody. Maybe. Maybe not. The threat itself is a violation, an aggressive, ugly and frankly disheartening way of demeaning another human being for the crime of having an opinion. I have received death threats - lots of them, honestly - and many of them I brush off but some are scary. I've contacted the authorities about some in the past, and I will again, and I'm not ashamed of that. I can't even imagine what it feels like to be threatened with rape (although I did have one particular lunatic threaten to rape my whole family).

What the fuck is wrong with you people? How do you get to the point where an opinion about a comic book cover makes you so angry you make a threat to violently assault someone else?

I'm not trying to appropriate someone else's problems here. Heidi MacDonald at Comics Beat put it perfectly:

This is not women’s problem. This is MEN’S PROBLEM. I know most internet trolls are teenaged boys who don’t know any better, but this is MAN’S THING. This is something you men need to figure out and condemn and deal with. There should be MAN RULES about it, like how you’re not supposed to go into the urinal next to another guy, that kind of thing. Belittling, embarrassing, threatening and shaming women should not be some kind of masculine rite of passage. It should be the opposite of being a real man.

http://badassdigest.com/2014/04/15/hey-assholes-stop-threatening-to-rape-women-because-of-their-opinions/

[CrispyQ]

1. I thought her review was spot on.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=52103

ANATOMY OF A BAD COVER: DC'S NEW "TEEN TITANS" #1
Janelle Asselin

The cover of a publishing project is a precious thing. In the book world, each cover is agonized over, sometimes for more than a year, with input from sales, marketing, editorial and others. In magazines, everything from seasonally appropriate coloring to visibility while sitting on a newsstand is discussed. In superhero comics, well, we get covers like this.

The cover to the new "Teen Titans" #1, released earlier this week, is not just a terrible comics cover, it's a prime example of how even the most corporate comic book companies can make basic mistakes regarding the potential audience for a book. It's embarrassing that anyone, in particular a company as large and full of intelligent people as DC Comics (I swear! I used to work there -- many of those people are wonderful), could produce something this non-functional. Covers are important, but their job is also very basic.

more...

Let's start with the elephant in the room: Wonder Girl's rack. Perhaps I'm alone in having an issue with an underaged teen girl being drawn with breasts the size of her head (seriously, line that stuff up, each breast is the same size as her face) popping out of her top. Anatomy-wise, there are other issues -- her thigh is bigger around than her waist, for one -- but let's be real. The worst part of this image, by far, are her breasts. The problem is not that she's a teen girl with large breasts, because those certainly exist. The main problem is that this is not the natural chest of a large-breasted woman. Those are implants. On a teenaged superheroine. Natural breasts don't have that round shape (sorry, boys). If you don't believe me, check out this excellent tutorial from artist Meghan Hetrick.

A secondary problem is that no girl with breasts that large is going to wear a strapless top for anything, much less a career that involves a lot of physical activity. In previous New 52 "Teen Titans" covers and issues, we've seen this same costume, but more often than not, WG's breasts are drawn smaller, or the top is pulled up higher. The way Rocafort has drawn her here, we're one bounce away from a nipslip. On a teenager. In case you forgot that entirely relevant point.

On a teenager. In case you forgot that entirely relevant point





Here's the tutorial on how to draw boobies.

[redqueen]

2. "There should be MAN RULES about it, like how you’re not supposed to go into the urinal next to

another guy, that kind of thing"


Yep

Instead, the rule is to ignore it at best, and if you see women challenging it, the rules are:

1. Gaslight! Deny that it happens as much as they claim, or if they're not specific, deny that it happens that often and that they're being misleading by appearing to claim otherwise.

2. Minimize! Explain to them that it's really not as big of a deal as they are making it out to be. Bonus points if you can refer to a woman you know personally who agrees with you. Super double bonus points if you can find an actual woman to help minimize the problem right along with you!

3. Make it all about you! Act like they're insulting you by even talking about it. Hell, claim they're insulting ALL MEN, even!

4. Derail! Talk about something else. Anything else. Just try to steer the conversation to some side issue and get people involved in it. You can demand to be provided with scientific, peer-reviewed studies proving something someone said in the comments. Or say something really controversial, and watch the energy flow away from discussion about the issue and towards your little side show.

5. Silence! Tell them they're hurting their own cause. Tell them they're driving away voters. Tell them nobody likes them because they're such ornery cranky feminists. Tell them how it's pointless to try to change things because "human nature". Just throw out whatever you think will convince them to STFU about rape/rape culture/sexual harassment/sexual objectification/whatever feminist issue it is they're talking about which makes you uncomfortable because ... well, let's just move on.

And last but not least, 6. If you see someone else doing these things, be sure to stay quiet and not call them out if you disagree - because bros before ***... right?