| This is an archived forum, so it is here for read-only purposes only. We are not accepting new members and members cannot post any longer. Members can, however, access their old private messages. Strawberry Fields was open from 2006 until 2011. There is a Strawberry Fields Beatles Forum on Facebook. If you are registered with Facebook, join us at the group there! |
| "Holy Sappho, Batman! Batwoman Is a Dyke!" | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 4 2006, 03:18 AM (349 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Jun 4 2006, 03:18 AM Post #1 |
|
Deleted User
|
The title is not a slur by the way, taken from article below. Any opinions on the news that Batwoman is coming out? A Batman Family Outing By Joal Ryan Fri Jun 2, 10:36 PM ET Gay superheroes are about as new as Batman and Robin codpiece jokes, which is to say, not very. One Website counts nearly 200 gay, lesbian and transsexual comic characters, dating back some 30 years. If not groundbreaking then, this week's disclosure that Batwoman, a seldom-seen member of the extended Batman family, was coming out was considered significant. "When it comes to big publishers, gay and lesbian characters have been relegated to supporting roles, or members of a team," Joe Palmer, editor of GayLeague.com, a Website for gay comic fans, said in an email. Indeed, Palmer's site makes comprehensive note of the likes of Flatman, Nick Bearclaw and Fighting Yank & Ms. Masque. All are identified as "out" gay and/or lesbian characters. None are household names. And none bear any relation to Batman, star of TV, film and toy lines. And that's why Batwoman is different. DC Comics, home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other super friends, says the reborn caped crusader will be a prominent, recurring character in the pages of the new weekly comic-book series, 52. Her first appearance is slated for Issue No. 11, due out Jul. 19. She'll be the redhead in the big red boots who is revealed to have had a romantic past with Renee Montoya, formerly of Gotham City's finest. The new Batwoman, like her predecessor, will answer in her off-hours to Kathy, or Kate, Kane. It does not appear that she, like her predecessor, will accessorize with a utility purse. Said Palmer, during a subsequent phone interview: "There's not a lot of chance that people won't notice her." Batwoman moved into the spotlight, sort of, last Sunday. Her new direction as a "wealthy, buxom lipstick lesbian" was noted in the 15th paragraph of a larger New York Times article about diversity in comics. From that one mention, dozens of news stories, and this blog headline from the Southern Voice, an Atlanta-based gay-and-lesbian newspaper, followed: "Holy Sappho, Batman! Batwoman Is a Dyke!" "Go figure," joked Alonso Duralde, arts and entertainment editor of The Advocate, the gay-and-lesbian newsmagazine, "you can just never tell sometimes." The joke is that Batwoman was introduced in 1956, some comic-book buffs suggest, to set Batman straight. "She was definitely a creation of the McCarthy era," Duralde said. More specifically, it has been argued, Batwoman was a product of the Dr. Fredric Wertham era, Wertham being the anti-comic-book-crusading psychologist who stated in his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent, that Batman and Robin were more than coworkers. To the rescue, Batwoman zoomed in on her Batwoman bike in Detective Comics Issue No. 233. "The irony lies in the fact that the original version of Batwoman was purposely created as a female love interest for Batman," Palmer said. But sparks didn't fly between Batman and Batwoman. In the 1960s TV show and 1992's Batman Returns, Batman flirted with Catwoman; Batwoman danced with obscurity--the character was killed off in the comics in 1979. Owing to her low profile, Batwoman's sexuality has not been as hotly debated in the real world as Batman's. Or Wonder Woman's. Or even Superman's. That's the Man of Steel (the Brandon Routh/Superman Returns model), not Batwoman, on the latest cover of The Advocate, with the headline, "How Gay Is Superman?" (For the record, Duralde, who wrote the cover story, doesn't think Superman "has ever been remotely gay-ish--I think he's a square." And his article isn't really about how gay Superman Returns is, but why superheroes appeal to gay and lesbian audiences.) That a Batwoman, and not a Batman, or a Superman, would be drafted for a diversity program seems the way comic world works. "It's not uncommon for a comics publisher to take a character that hasn't been getting much attention and modernize him or her in some ostensibly shocking way," Michael Dean, news editor of The Comics Journal, said in an email. Even a down-on-his-buzz Superman was killed and reborn in the 1990s. But to make the Last Son of Krypton gay would be to mess too much with continuity, Duralde said: "There would some 'splain' to do with Superman." Still, Batwoman's reinvention does have some comic fans uncomfortable, and not necessarily because of her sexual reorientation. "...They should not alter her history," a recent post on the DC Comics message board read. "It mocks the character and who she stands for." In the case of at least online petition, however, the new Batwoman's dating preferences seem very much the issue: "DC, YOU'RE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE!!!!! HOW MANY LESBIANS DO YOU REALLY THINK WILL PURCHASE OVER STRAIGHT PEOPLE??? STRAIGHT OUT WAY [sic] LESBIANS!!!" The appeal, on petitionspot.com, had eight names attached to it as of Friday. To Palmer, the Batwoman storyline will be especially powerful if, as suggested by DC, the character's alter ego, Kate Kane, isn't out to Gotham City society. "The decision to come out, and to whom, can be a long and painful process," Palmer said. "I think a semi-closeted Kate is ripe with possibilities for good storytelling." Copyright © 2006 E! Online, Inc. |
|
|
| maccagirl1428 | Jun 4 2006, 09:33 PM Post #2 |
|
Unregistered
|
Uhm i really dont know what to say to that. I guess more power to batchick
|
|
|
| « Previous Topic · Things We Said Today · Next Topic » |






2:00 PM Jul 11