What is the matter with Mary Jane?

[lederhosen]

I was going to collect things I've said in various comments and post a long rant on the whole MJ-statuette issue, on why I find it far more objectionable than some things (like, say, Xxxenophile) that are actually billed as porn*, on how the vehemence of the reaction is not because the statuette is the worst thing ever but because it comes on the heels of Frank Miller's (far worse) treatment of Vicki Vale & Wonder Woman, not to mention that DC had no shame in publishing the script that showed us Frank's inner thoughts, plus the widespread knowledge that a major comics artist traces his female characters from porn stills and a dozen other provocations. Or the folk who seem to think that calling every female character in comics "strong and independent" at least three times a day makes it come true**. But I'm feeling typed out, so I'm going to keep it brief:

Before defending the target market for this sort of stuff against the fun-hating harridans who are unjustly stereotyping them as sex-crazed adolescents, you might first want to check whether the target market are not already doing a bang-up job of stereotyping themselves as sex-crazed adolescents. I think the best way to get an idea of that target market is to look at the site's comment forum for the figure in question - in particular, the early comments from fans, before it got blogged elsewhere the Fun-Hating Harridans (TM) showed up to say their piece*** .



TOE Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
dang she is HOT!!!!

James Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:23 pm
WOW!!! Hot stuff!!!
Pink G-string!!!

Tetsuoh Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:31 pm
HOT. Definitely: hot! Whit a capital H and so on… Can’t breath… (Vader breathing sound…)

PF Freak Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Perhaps the exclusive version could be topless ;)

Kodi Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Who would hit Mary Jane? hahahaha

johnny red Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 pm
HOT REALLY HOOOOOOT

Anonymous Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 pm
WOW!!!

JD Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:07 am
In the words of BORAT. “WEWAH!WEWAH! THAT’S A NICE!

RookMonk Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:18 am
And once more makes entirely TOO yes…

AnakinSkywalker Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:59 am
HAWT!!! :)

Peter Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:09 am
WOW that’s hot. I’ve got to get this for sure .

Morts56 Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:08 am
Ok, 2 reasons why I am buying this
a) The sculpt looks amazing
b) thats just hot
Looks like what I’ve come to expect from you SS! Can’t wait!

HAPPYBOY Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:19 am
Dang it! Now I can’t get the darned “Thong Song” out of my head. LOL She is most sexy for sure, yum yum. Sign me up for sure on this one, she will look great beside dear Emma. Big thanks to Sideshow and Adam for this amazing lookin Mary Jane, I can’t wait. :D

Darth Kirk Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 am
HA-CHI MAMA!!! I do loves me some Mary Jane!

joe Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:15 am
this is an excellent sculpt, she looks really coy, for a marvel figure, your best yet, i can’t wait.

Jason Schachter Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 am
All I want to know is where is the life-sized version that I was promised? Oh no…did I say that out loud?

Randy Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:29 am
MJ sho’nuff got some nice drawers. Define drawer(s) as you wish. And, Adam, a dead Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru would definitely be classified as inaction figures.

Peter Parker Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Aaah!It’s good to be me!!

Darth Loki Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:51 pm

Adam, you’ve done a great job with your drawings and it great to see them brought to life by SS. I can’t wait to get this on order and get Emma in hand this month. Adam Hughes and Sideshow, a horny teenagers dream come true.

Ghost Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
MJ is so beautiful! I’m in love with this work of art.
I am so going to get this comiquette,it is soooooooo hot,hot,hot.
I love you Mary Jane. Here’s one fine lovely lady that won’t reject me.
I’m excited to get this comiquette & display it.
Thank you ever so much SS & Adam Hughes!!!

Nick Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Oh…. I have to clean up now thanks alot

jose Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:36 pm
This is soooooo hot.Its going to look great next to Emma.

Venom Says:
March 24th, 2007 at 10:57 am
I knew MJ was the type to wear skimpy little g-string panties. I just knew it. Now, back to my drooling.

j3h Says:
March 24th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
HA! and she has a “pearl necklace”…nice touch [If you're not familiar with the term, let's just say that it's a euphemism for a sexual act.]

Doe Says:
March 26th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
All of Adam’s female drawings are that way - a lot of ” T & A ” . Is MJ really that naughty or just drawn that way? I guess from the comments, the fan boys have already made up their minds! [To give Hughes his due, I think his concept art is not as awful as what the sculptor came up with.]

# Eki Ibaro Says:
March 26th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
The juicy body looks so Adam Hughes, but the face seems like a Frank Quitely one. I Hope this could be perfected.

Lance Says:
March 27th, 2007 at 1:47 am
I love the little teasing action with the exposed pink g-string. But please, get rid on that little “cleft” in her chin!

Garrett Says:
March 27th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Who cares if MJ isn’t a superhero!? She is gorgeous,this comiquette is gorgeous! Bring on Ms.Betty Banner!
I had a change of heart. I want this comiquette baaaaaad!
Pass on this hot mama?! No way Bubba!

Dbeurer Says:
March 27th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Ha ha… nice “PEARL NECKLACE”. Thats just NAUGHTY!

Quetzal bird Says:
March 28th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Yes! Another purchase in the pipline. Keep the hotties coming, G-string action is always a bonus!


I submit that if your aim is to portray a character as "strong and independent", responses like that might be a clue that you're not doing a very good job of it.

*Short version: Sex as part of the human condition = important and largely positive topic. Focusing for a while on that one particular aspect = sometimes worth doing. Stripping out everything from the subject except the bits that push somebody else's sex buttons = unhealthy and, for me at least, paradoxically unsexy. About 95% of porn (images, at least) fall into the latter category.

**It is nice to see that they've realised strength and independence are attractive qualities, but it would be nicer if they showed a bit more grasp of what these traits actually look like. Hint: 'strength' does not here mean 'muscular chest that emphasises the boobs' and 'independence' does not mean 'has a day job and sasses the hero'.

***Most of which was removed by moderators anyway. Unlike the stuff I quoted.

Comments

[clockwork-hands.livejournal.com]

Have you read my forum? I am in a current bout of face-stabbing already.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Is that This one, or something else?

[silverblue.livejournal.com]

I keep. Having this argument and getting 'But men are portrayed like sex objects too!'

As if that makes it okay if everyone's being dicked around...

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Yep, and the "if you don't like it, don't buy it" thing. Which should really be "if you don't like it, don't buy it or hang around in a fandom full of guys who look to things like this to figure out what to expect of women or try to get a job in an industry that will want you to write your characters like that or..."

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

The other thing I meant to mention above is that I think porn's less of a problem when people understand that it is porn, because it makes it a lot easier to partition off 'enjoyable fiction' from 'acceptable IRL'.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

Nicely put. I wonder if that's why Sideshow censored all the critical comments from their website: maybe they wanted to create the impression of a circle-jerk, rather than let the real world intrude.

[clockwork-hands.livejournal.com]

That's the one.

I've been keeping up with the WFA links just out of entertainment. I should post the Bingo card I found...have you seen it?

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Nope, do share!

[clockwork-hands.livejournal.com]

Here be the bingo card...

http://girl-wonder.org/girlsreadcomics/index.php?entry=entry070415-071159

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

I like, especially the links in each entry...

[cavalaxis]

What amazed me the most is the intelligent folk who should know better who are defending this as "light-hearted" and "fun".

Fun for who? Your inner thirteen year old who still wanks into a sock?

[manna]

Wow. Now I'm a depressed fun hating harridan. I'm pinning my hopes for the future of civilization on the theory that everyone in that thread was not yet old enough to vote.

Please don't burst my happy bubble by telling me the truth.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

FWLIW, 'fun hating harridan' is not an actual quote, just my reading of what some of the responses were implying.

[manna]

Actually, I'd guessed that, based primarily on the fact that 'harridan' seemed out of their vocabulary league.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

*shudders*