DC INVENTS NEW WAYS TO ISOLATE FEMALE FANS

AMBER LOVE 28-SEP-2014 I have said it repeatedly: I am a Wonder Woman and DC fan – or rather was. I had to stop buying their products because they are a company that has stated and proven that I am not their demographic. Where there once was a time that I was a little girl running around in my Wonder Woman bathing suit and playing Superfriends with my cousin Joey, those heartfelt connections to contemporary DC brands no longer exist. I’ve searched the fabric store for female heroes on licensed fabric to no avail. Occasionally there will be one, usually with Batgirl, Wonder Woman and Supergirl on it together (and sometimes that in pink). Wonder Woman, as you know, is only appearing on the big screen in the Superman/Batman film, Dawn of Justice and only time will tell if the solo movies Gal Gadot signed on for will ever get made. There is almost no Wonder Woman out there anywhere for today’s little girls to admire.

Months ago, there was a controversy over a t-shirt that compared fangirls to coffee. The shirt was being sold by a vendor who paid for booth space at a comic convention. People’s reactions ranged from the basic “it’s not funny, don’t buy it” to “the vendor should not be welcome at conventions.” I fell into the former category. I wouldn’t think it was funny and I certainly wouldn’t have spent my money on a shirt that degraded fangirls. But back during that controversy, I confessed that I owned and wore a shirt mocking fan “boys.” It’s a bit of angry style feminism and I admit it’s not particularly fair. Yet I thought the shirt was cute and I looked good in it.

This weekend, the fanbase was buzzing and arguing over the Superman and Wonder Woman shirt reading: “SCORE! SUPERMAN DOES IT AGAIN!” as he embraces the Amazon Princess. Guys are questioning why this is a bad message.

BECAUSE IT REDUCES THE STRONGEST WOMAN OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE TO A BED POST NOTCH! 

How can you not see that clear message that the caption is all about Superman getting laid? I poked around a bit and saw that the image is a Jim Lee cover from JUSTICE LEAGUE #12. The image was altered to remove any equality that Wonder Woman had in it originally. She’s supposed to have her golden lasso around Superman showing they are equally and consensually into each other! They removed it. Wonder Woman is nothing more than a trophy for Batman and Superman to vie over. I hate this imagery of Superman. He comes off like a frat boy who should have a solo cup in one hand and be fist bumping Batman with the other.

The image with the lasso is on other shirts lacking the tasteless caption. I took this image below from an Amazon listing:

DC is a market leader all right. They are the leader in how to isolate and degrade anything that could possibly be appealing to female fans. I had 10 minutes this morning where I was excited for the launch of the new comic series, GOTHAM ACADEMY, but after stewing on this t-shirt debacle, I can’t give them any of my money in any capacity until they get their act together. I’ll watch GOTHAM because it’s part of my Comcast package but I’m certainly not going to do so if I have to pay DC/WB exclusively for the privilege.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.