The video game and comic industries have long been derided for their depictions of women, more so than even film and literature. Frankly, with the long history of the scandalous outfits, provocative poses and scenarios created simply for titillation, it’s not hard to see why both mediums would come under fire.
However, the conflict between the opposing sides of feminism is not one that I’m really concerned with at the moment. I already decided that I am all for well-characterized action females who dress modestly.
What I’m more concerned with right now are the illustrators and writers who claim to be against presenting women as simply sex appeal while indulging their own fetishes at the same time.
I only really began contemplating this rather complex issue following some controversy regarding the webcomic “Dresden Codak.” A month ago, its author Aaron Diaz came under fire for his response to several Tumblr posts indirectly and directly accusing him of hypocrisy, namely in his depiction of several of his female characters.
Diaz has been known for his support of stronger female roles. One of his Tumblr posts in fact was a parody of the comic industry’s rather homogenized depiction of women. In it, he presented the hypothetical scenario of “Dresden Codak” being bought out by DC, which resulted in his characters looking like strippers, for lack of a better word.
Needless to say, Diaz didn’t respond all too well to these comments, leading him into scenarios in which he really didn’t help his case.
In particular, an open letter written by a fellow webcomic artist raised a lot of good points regarding the dissonance in Diaz’ critiques and his depiction of his own female characters.
Though not to the exaggerated levels often found in the mainstream comic industry, several female characters in “Dresden Codak,” particularly the protagonist Kimiko Ross, end up in scenarios that play up the fanservice with some fairly flimsy justifications.
Tropes like clothing damage and male gaze are fairly prevalent in several pages of “Dresden Codak.” It’s not an outrageous amount, but many of the instances where it does occur are jarring and somewhat unnecessary.
I really don’t think I need a close-up of Kimiko’s hips during an exposition dump.
I’m not saying that male authors should not be able to indulge occasionally while supporting the creation of stronger characters. People seem to assume that supporting feminism automatically makes a person asexual or homosexual. That is not the case for many advocates of female empowerment.
This doesn’t automatically make everyone who supports female empowerment a hypocrite. Many, in fact, would find the very presence of a strong independent woman to be very attractive. And empowerment doesn’t mean that the female character has to disregard the roles of men or even be physically powerful.
So in several ways, the interests could be mutual.
However, the author should at the very least acknowledge the moments when he isn’t entirely fair with his depiction of the opposite sex and should include such moments sparingly to begin with.
The problem with Diaz is that he never completely admitted to falling into several of the same traps that many comic artists and writers do. While nowhere near as excessive, he still presents artwork that can be described as somewhat indulgent.
During these moments, he is not presenting his characters in an empowering light. Sometimes the fanservice is implemented seemingly at random; other times it comes into play when Kimiko is in a somewhat submissive position.
There are many works out there that have otherwise strong female characters put through brief moments of fanservice. While these instances are eye-rolling, they don’t exactly make the author a hypocrite.
What I’ve concluded is that supporting female empowerment doesn’t mean that a person has to give up attraction all together. If an author lets fanservice slip in from time to time, it is acceptable, if somewhat jarring to some viewers/readers.
However, authors who actively champion the female empowerment should learn to restrain themselves or else they may end up sending the opposite message.
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