I don't mean to belittle the whole topic, but harassment exists everywhere, not just in comics. Maybe it's more stereotypically common in comics because of the mouth-breathers who gravitate toward the medium, but it's everywhere. I don't think giving up superheroes is going to make a difference anymore than giving up, I don't know, driving a car is going to make mechanics less condescending toward women (to use a horrible example that just flashed into my mind). Sure, we need a housecleaning in comics, and we need to gut the superhero ethos, but not because it leads to harassment, but because the comics are bad. The scum who do this to women would do it even if they had never read a superhero comic in their lives - they don't need justification. Your love (obsession?) with Aquaman has always amused me, not because I look down on it (I have a similar love of the X-Men) but because I wonder if anything could drive you from the books that have Aquaman in them. Bad creators drove me from the X-Men, and I've never looked back. I still love the characters, but the comics stink. If this drives you from Aquaman, I'm not necessarily going to say it's a bad thing, but I don't think it's for the right reasons. Comics will still be full of arrested adolescents who think they can treat women this way. At least they're not sports stars, who treat women this way and are revered by the public. That really pisses me off.

Sorry for the rambling. Just my two cents.

I can understand your anger, I honestly can. In trying to be a teacher I've experienced some pretty hurtful things. I talk about it more here. Trust me after awhile of getting questioned like that I was ready to give up.

I'm glad to see your sticking around though. Being an aquafan wouldn't be half as fun without your insight.

Greg, I did stop reading Aquaman during Erik Larsen's run because the book was so bad. I bought the issues and eventually read them. After a few years, the books weren't as completely unreadable as when they came out. Funny how time does that. Anything that can be done, can be undone. I hope Scipio remembers that as "Sword" comes out...

Anyway, yes, I know that sexism happens in other places. I seem to recall reading another woman's rant that compared the treatment of women in the military to the treatment of women comic book creators. And your example of mechanics is also a good one. I can't go into an auto shop without feeling like I'm about to be cheated.

But the abuse that's happened and happening... I don't know how widespread it is. I don't know who is involved, either as a silent bystander or as the scum that participates. Without that knowledge, I don't know if this really compares. But at times, it sure feels like most men in the industry are complicit in the abuse, either by their silence or by their willingness to blame the victim.

This paragraph deleted at request of person who was being harrassed.

It doesn't matter. It's there, it's prevalent, and it's wrong. It needs to end, one way or another.

Well, without a valid pass or anything, I'd like to say that, as a Minor Comics Writer who writes for a female character, I try to give her all I can from an understanding of a human being in an odd situation. And when she gets into dangerous situations it's just, I promise, because she's the main character!

May I link to this in my LJ, please?

Also, yes - harrassment does happen everywhere and we all know that. It's one of the those statements that do tend to be interpreted by many women as dismissive just by it's simple truth. It's in the same ballpark as when you're told "Life's not fair." Of course it's not, of course this happens everywhere. The point that I, personally, want to make is that I still want to address the wrongness of it and my refusal to sweep it to the side with a "it happens, it could be worse"

Yeah, linkage is ok.

I think the statement I'm looking for is: "Just because it happens everywhere doesn't make it acceptable."

excellent post. i hadn't heard about any of this harrassment going on until today and i'm pissed. i'm always blown away when people who grew up in this medium don't show any sense of understanding about the morals the major superhero titles try to instill. i mean, how are there spider-man fans that do this? it's so sad.

That these things are happening is horrible and offensive but you must remember that this isn't the industry. This is a handful of assholes who need to be outed and forced to deal with the consequences of their CRIMINAL behavior. The VAST majority of male creators and executives in this industry are courteous, professional and completely respectful of a woman's right to be a working comics professional without harassment. I think it is dangerous and irresponsible to paint the whole industry as drunken frat boys because that is simply not the reality. These are isolated incidents perpetrated by a few Neanderthalic scumbags. I just want it to be clear that the majority of male comic professionals would neither act like this or turn a blind eye to it and any implication that we would is doing all of us a disservice.

Jacen,

Are you certain of that? My experiences with some aspects of the industry lead me to believe that there is a lot more "turning a blind eye" than one should expect.

But yes... you are right. It's only a few men. It's just that because I don't know who they are, I feel threatened, like they are a shadow I can't avoid.

I'll admit to being mean. I want names. I want the men who do this to be shamed in public. I want them to be despised by everyone. And I don't want to EVER buy anything they make.

I know why they can't be named, but as long as they are simply out there, part of some sick "old boys" network, they taint the entire industry just by existing.

You may protest that it's not fair, that it does all the good men a disservice... but sexual harrassment is not fair, either. If you are concerned that it may taint you, then speak out and make it clear that you don't accept that behavior. Show by your words and your actions that you are not one of the guilty.

Because, you see, pointing out that there is a problem is far less dangerous than saying that anyone who complains about the problem is irresponsible. Isn't trying to silence complaints a form of turning a blind eye?

This all just makes me very sad, and very tired. I hold people to a very high standard, and dammit, they should live up to it. The idea that people who write, or draw, or whatever, Superman or Batman or someone like that, can be so hypocritical - frankly, it is utterly appalling.
They need to be brought out into the open - simply because, as has been said, when they're hidden by secrecy, EVERYONE is a suspect.

Does that make me sound like the HUAC?

Does that make me sound like the HUAC?

No, not really. That's the problem with this crime. It's pervasive, and it's all-too-often hidden. As long as we aren't sure who is doing it, then every person becomes a suspect. It's sickening, disgusting, and it destroys you bit by bit.