No review this week. Sort of. (sensitive topic ahead - keep the kids away)
Well, I started out reviewing Defenders #3, when I realized something.
Without giving a whole lot away, Umar RAPES the Hulk. This is played for laughs. Umar is, in this comic, forever searching for sexual satisfaction, but she can't get it. She uses her magic to force him to have intercourse with her (none of this is shown on panel, but it is heavily implied). That's rape, pure and simple.
Why is this funny?
In The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, there is a scene where Mat (a notorious womanizer) is tied to a bedpost against his will and forced to make love to a woman at knifepoint. When he complains about this, the other female characters just titter and laugh. The narrative itself treats this as one grad joke. Yet Mat is forced to have sex with a knife at his throat.
Why is male rape considered comic gold?
Of course, we have feminist theorists arguing that given the current patriarchal male hegemony, all heterosexual sex is rape, and we have Susan Brownmiller arguing rape is a conspiracy whereby all men keep all women in a state of fear. Given that, it seems "rape" is something men do to women.
I don't agree - it's an odd double standard, but one that apparently helps a certain liberal cause. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?
(I hope this doesn't cause me to get bizarre spam).
Without giving a whole lot away, Umar RAPES the Hulk. This is played for laughs. Umar is, in this comic, forever searching for sexual satisfaction, but she can't get it. She uses her magic to force him to have intercourse with her (none of this is shown on panel, but it is heavily implied). That's rape, pure and simple.
Why is this funny?
In The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, there is a scene where Mat (a notorious womanizer) is tied to a bedpost against his will and forced to make love to a woman at knifepoint. When he complains about this, the other female characters just titter and laugh. The narrative itself treats this as one grad joke. Yet Mat is forced to have sex with a knife at his throat.
Why is male rape considered comic gold?
Of course, we have feminist theorists arguing that given the current patriarchal male hegemony, all heterosexual sex is rape, and we have Susan Brownmiller arguing rape is a conspiracy whereby all men keep all women in a state of fear. Given that, it seems "rape" is something men do to women.
I don't agree - it's an odd double standard, but one that apparently helps a certain liberal cause. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?
(I hope this doesn't cause me to get bizarre spam).
posted by John Phelan at
6:15 PM
4 Comments:
Actually I'd have to disagree about Mat in the Wheel of Time series. It was very strange, and I thought it was presented in a way that the reader feels bad for Mat. It made him more likeable because he showed that he did have morals and a limit. When the tables are later turned and he's again chased after, he stops being the macho guy and reluctantly takes the feminine position. I don't think Robert Jordan treated it as a simple joke at all.
By
MrTractor, at 3:02 PM
I think that its a stereotype that leads to ills in society. 14 yr old boys get raped by teachers and reporters act like its some fantasy instead of a real crime. It speaks to the over sexed culture we live in. For example, in "Swordfish" Jackman is forced to hack the DOD while a woman performs oral sex on him against his will. Male hacker=okay. Female hacker=rape. I thought comic and Hollywood were the enlightment libs?
btw the got some spam above.
By
genie junkie, at 4:48 PM
Spam is now gone.
In Jordan's Wheel of Time, I base my observation by the reaction of the other characters. Nynaeve, IIRC, found Matt's rape quite funny. And despite the fact is was a rape, the narrative never refers to it as such.
Haven't seen Swordfish, so can't comment on that. Some have argued the Hulk wasn't raped because his face looked "please" after the "encounter." Actually, his face looked unconscious - and even if the Hulk "enjoyed" it, it was obvious from the comic that Umar was going to "get some" whether the Hulk wanted to comply or not.
That line of argument falls too close to the "if you're going to be raped, you might as well sit back and enjoy it" argument, which I find somewhat reprehensible.
(On a tangent - anyone find the Liberal claim that the USA's foreign policy is responsible for 9/11 dangerously close to the "she was wearing a short skirt" argument? I hate "blame the victim" rhetoric, but I guess it's okay to use if you're a liberal, since they always have the moral high ground).
By
John Phelan, at 4:57 PM
Excellent commentary, though i find the Wheel of time reference odd, having not yet read that scene. Doesn't seem like the writer though. Strange. Still, if your right, i'll have to list my opinion of it.
By
Anonymous, at 9:48 AM
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