Fernacular examines what would happen if male Superhero costumes objectified the male form in the same way that funnybooks have done for Superheroines since the genre began.
I watched an episode of the Canadian IFC series, “Ink – Alter Egos Exposed”, which dealt with this issue and it really set me to thinking about why so many of the shows, movies and genre entertainments that I enjoy insist on depicting heroines in costumes which are so utterly impractical for the kinds of action that they’re engaged in.
There’s a fine line between celebrating female strength and a visit to the cheesecake factory and it’s one that comics seem to struggle with more than any other part of the Geek-o-Sphere. Why is it that mainstream comics want to view heroines almost exclusively through the male gaze – we have female artists, writers and editors at the big two, but we still end up with stuff like the recent Starfire controversy which ends up turning off a large section of a niche audience, with legitimate objections to this redrawing of a popular character being dismissed with a kind of patronising pat on the head
I think the awesome webcomic ‘Shortpacked!’ summed up DC’s dunder-headed, retrogressive gender politics brilliantly.
Fluffrick 
Good Stuff. Some artist have been bringing this to light with comical depictions like these.
On another note: I put you down for one of my choices for my 7 x 7 Award. One of my fans chose me and I’m accepting it by choosing 7 blogs that I like. You can check out the post I did about it here http://geeksoulbrother.com/2012/03/02/lets-hear-it-for-the-7-x-7-award/
If your into this sort of thing I put the instructions on the post. Keep up the good work Rick.
Cheers, GSB – that’s an awesome thing for you to do. I’m going to check out your post and put something together today.