Existential Romance

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Female Super-Hero Characters and Sex: Creators Explain How Comics Can Do Better
Erika Moen (DAR, Bucko): Now I understand this is not perfect, but I suggest that the artist/writer take the female character they’ve devised and then replace her with a male character, just for a minute. Does her dialogue still sound like something a fleshed out person would say, now that it’s coming out of a male character’s mouth? The way she is standing, does it still look appropriate in the setting when it’s a man? Again, this isn’t a perfect test, because men and women, typically, have different postures and ways of carrying their bodies— but as far as a quick ‘Did I draw a female character or object of lust?’ I think that gender-swapping will help. (Provided, of course, that your characters are sticking to the traditional male/female cisgender binary and are not intentionally playing with/re-defining what their gender roles and identity are in their setting. But that is probably a subject for another day!)
Personally, my eye is very used to seeing women portrayed in sexy poses, so much so that I hardly even notice that they’re “sexy” and as an artist it’s easy to fall into the habit of just drawing pretty ladies being pose-y because you’re so used to seeing women depicted like that. A recent photo series by Rion Sabean called “Men Ups!” actually helped me re-evaluate how I view “sexy lady” pin-up images. When I saw these, my first response was to laugh because these men looked so absurd. The helpless, ineffective and submissive poses they took on looked completely out of place to me, but had they been done by women I wouldn’t have thought they were “helpless, ineffective and submissive” at all, I’d just think they were pretty photos. Which is not to say that I do not still enjoy sexy lady pin ups! Because I totally do. And I still enjoy drawing sexy ladies. It’s just helpful to be aware of the different ways ladies and dudes are depicted so you can use that knowledge to create images that convey exactly what you intend and are appropriate to the interaction you’re drawing in a scene.Having lady characters in sexy, pin-up-y poses is totally appropriate if the scene calls for it; such as a lady trying to seduce another character or flirting. But if your lady is just having A Conversation where sex is not on the horizon, it is just kind of awkward for her to be arching her back and sticking out her butt, you know?Artistically, it’s really, really important to consume more than just modern day superhero comics. Make sure you read indie comics, comics from a variety of decades, old newspaper comics…. Just a big ol’ smorgasboard of different style to see how other artists have tackled depicting their female characters. If you restrict yourself to just superhero comics, you’re just going to recycle the same superhero stylistic tropes that have already been recycled for decades in the superhero genre. You gotta find inspiration and influence outside of that!Read more at ComicsAlliance.

Female Super-Hero Characters and Sex: Creators Explain How Comics Can Do Better

Erika Moen (DAR, Bucko): Now I understand this is not perfect, but I suggest that the artist/writer take the female character they’ve devised and then replace her with a male character, just for a minute. Does her dialogue still sound like something a fleshed out person would say, now that it’s coming out of a male character’s mouth? The way she is standing, does it still look appropriate in the setting when it’s a man? Again, this isn’t a perfect test, because men and women, typically, have different postures and ways of carrying their bodies— but as far as a quick ‘Did I draw a female character or object of lust?’ I think that gender-swapping will help. (Provided, of course, that your characters are sticking to the traditional male/female cisgender binary and are not intentionally playing with/re-defining what their gender roles and identity are in their setting. But that is probably a subject for another day!)

Personally, my eye is very used to seeing women portrayed in sexy poses, so much so that I hardly even notice that they’re “sexy” and as an artist it’s easy to fall into the habit of just drawing pretty ladies being pose-y because you’re so used to seeing women depicted like that. A recent photo series by Rion Sabean called “Men Ups!” actually helped me re-evaluate how I view “sexy lady” pin-up images. When I saw these, my first response was to laugh because these men looked so absurd. The helpless, ineffective and submissive poses they took on looked completely out of place to me, but had they been done by women I wouldn’t have thought they were “helpless, ineffective and submissive” at all, I’d just think they were pretty photos. Which is not to say that I do not still enjoy sexy lady pin ups! Because I totally do. And I still enjoy drawing sexy ladies. It’s just helpful to be aware of the different ways ladies and dudes are depicted so you can use that knowledge to create images that convey exactly what you intend and are appropriate to the interaction you’re drawing in a scene.

Having lady characters in sexy, pin-up-y poses is totally appropriate if the scene calls for it; such as a lady trying to seduce another character or flirting. But if your lady is just having A Conversation where sex is not on the horizon, it is just kind of awkward for her to be arching her back and sticking out her butt, you know?

Artistically, it’s really, really important to consume more than just modern day superhero comics. Make sure you read indie comics, comics from a variety of decades, old newspaper comics…. Just a big ol’ smorgasboard of different style to see how other artists have tackled depicting their female characters. If you restrict yourself to just superhero comics, you’re just going to recycle the same superhero stylistic tropes that have already been recycled for decades in the superhero genre. You gotta find inspiration and influence outside of that!

Read more at ComicsAlliance.