On Art vs. Representation in Comics…

jasonlatour:

The last few days have stirred up a lot of thoughts in the comics community about representation vs. the rights of artists. To which I posted this:

“If a woman tells me I’ve presented women as a male fantasy, before indignant rebuttal I should A. Listen. B. Trust she knows her reality.

Doesn’t mean getting something “wrong” or presenting your POV makes you a monster. Critique should be a discourse, not an indictment.

But I also think how you handle people’s critique of your art says a lot more about you than your work.”

And since then I’ve had a conversation or two that I believe make those thoughts worth expounding upon. So…

First and foremost context always matters. Different stories lean towards different audiences. Even within genres. Some stories subvert the presentation of their characters. But for the sake of what I’m about to say, yes we are talking about superheroes. If you get really, really bored … you can find what I’ve written about that in the past: HERE

And so it’s clear: my take on depictions of women in comics art has so little to do with critiquing any specific instance or piece of art and far more to do with the responses I see to it from the community of artists who make the work.

So look, when you determine the race or gender of a character, specifically a superhero, then those people and those who care for them become an inherent part of the audience you’re asking to support the book. That character is out front and center, their name is on the cover. It’s basically both the story you’re promising and what you’re selling. So, everything about the presentation of the story has to at least consider this.

With characters that are women, sexuality always seems to be front and center. But the debate over what is lewd or overly sexual is often times drowning out what seems to be a bigger discussion and that is one of communication.

Far more than men, art depicting women in comics is treated basically as a stamp that you can just change the clothes on, regardless of age, race or character. And if the audience that is intended to identify most with a character (which can extend to people who know and care about women or their rights as well) does not think this depiction communicates anything other than point of view of the man or woman drawing it…then it’s at least on that level objectively not working.

There are far more ways to objectify a woman, or anyone for that matter than to treat them as a sexual object. A comic featuring a young woman as the LEAD of the comic at least on some level promises that people reading it should want to BE her, not just possess or mold her. It’s no different than Tony Stark or Batman. It’s just that those characters play to the ideals lots of the world conditions us to accept as attractive in men.

So what’s at stake here? For people who want to feel good about reading a book about a young woman as a superhero?It’s potentially an in or out proposition. Why would you want to read a comic that makes you feel egregiously misrepresented?

For the artists making the work, far, far less is at stake and we all know it. In fact, the instances where a single cover or story are pulled after being found inappropriate are very rare, and when they’re done they almost never ruin the careers of those artists. What hurts those artists is almost always a lack of self-awareness and an almost tragic misunderstanding of how commercial art works on a macro scale.

What is most at risk for the artist is probably Ego. At least the egos of artists who think it’s their right to solely express whatever they want in the art they’re paid to make and are presenting to an audience for consumption.

And truthfully that is a stance I’m not wholly at odds with. I do that myself sometimes. The phrase “MOTHER FUCKER” was crafted to describe my ego. I mean, just look at this post. At the end of the day I am very pro-self expression, and pro that self-expression challenging other people’s POV. But I acknowledge, that expecting that the audience is going to just accept whatever I do does have potential consequences. One of those is that the folks you’re selling to may not agree with or want to buy your work.  

So, artists. The choices at hand are really this simple: continue to do what you do, and enjoy it for yourself and maybe even risk alienating that audience. It doesn’t make you a bad artist or person. But it is a choice you have to own.

OR the alternative is to listen to the people you’re trying to sell to. Consider where they’re coming from and THEN make a decision about how to proceed.

OR do both. It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. So long as you’re at least attempting to be AWARE of what you’re doing.

In the end, No one is infallible. And there is a big difference between something being found inappropriate and a witch hunt. You’re annoyed that work is rescinded or not being printed? Fine. But many of these artists in these instances are very successful and have been for decades. They will continue to work and have an audience. As they should. There’s plenty of room for everyone, just maybe not in these kinds of comics anymore. Again, that’s up to the audience. Accept that or don’t. But you better make peace with the fact that it’s okay not to rule the whole world.

Because no one ever will.

-Jason Latour

(via jasonlatour-deactivated20181230)