Aleon

What an interesting article! I really appreciate the thought and effort you put into this piece! The fact that these kinds of characters are evolving and being represented more and more excites me. Although there is still a long ways to go, it’s great to see the public and the industry take notice of why these kinds of characters matter in popular media.

Great article! It was definitely an interesting read! I always find it interesting when one of the reasons that seems important is the male to female ratio in the readership of comics. The argument that readers are mostly male so we should mostly have male protagonists seems to me to be a disservice to those readers. I’m not sure a single comment on your post can be enough for me to explain what I mean by this but, in short, if the medium shows diverse and deeply layered characters, the sex of the character shouldn’t matter BUT because we only see layered and complex characters as males, then right now this DOES matter and it really may always matter. Feminism is about equality and right not, there isn’t any when it comes to how female protagonists are portrayed vs how male protagonists are portrayed. Male readers can indeed relate to female protagonists but this idea that men must only see themselves on the medium they view/read really keeps them blind to women as complex and deeply layered. Of course one doesn’t only consume comics and has their worldview only defined by this medium but I think there is some kind of world view that is shaped in some form by popular media which is why this is so important. Thanks for sharing your article!

I completely agree! I didn’t know Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian caused a lot of controversy. I loved reading that book and thought it was captivating because of how raw it felt! I think that’s what makes it such a great read. If we start banning books then there is the inevitable consequence of having some voices heard over others. I think there may always be some controversial issue brought up in such personal accounts but that’s the point. Let’s discuss the issues. Let’s bring them to the light and explore their implications. Let’s not shut them out of public discourse. Thank you for writing such an intriguing article!