Re: #31 - Chat: The Avengers
So…the serialization of men is OK because it's POSITIVE? K.
What a charmed life you must lead. Never having anyone hold you up to a gold standard the media shoves down our throats, that no living man can even hope to match. And of course we all know that it's impossible for something like that to drive a man to have low esteem, or even gods forbid an eating disorder. Because they're stereotyped as being strong and in control, so it's impossible for a man to be weak, right? That's how this works, right? Just like all women are sexual objects only here to stared at and used?
Both of you are failing to understand the difference between idealization and sexualization. I'm not arguing that comic book men (and sure, men in the media in general, but especially in comic books) aren't idealized portrayals that skew the idea of what a man is "supposed" to look like.
But these idealized men are not, then, on top of that, reduced to shaking their money makers in every pose and panel as though that's all they exist to do. If they were, it would look more like the image on the right of the "If the Avengers posed like Black Widow" image. Which is the point that everyone seems intent on missing.
You can sit there and be snarky and dismissive all you want
Pretty sure you're the one who responded to two links I gave to help illuminate this issue with nothing more substantial than "My god...I'm gonna walk away from this." That would be snarky and dismissive. I'm actually making an argument here and providing further clarification.
And yes, by the guys of the Avengers being these unattainable perfections of what man should be, they are being sexualized.
No. You don't get to invent alternate definitions of words just to make your argument work. Idealization is not sexualization.
Both are sexist portrayals. But they are not equally sexist. The image is exaggerating the point, but it could work the other way -- what if Black Widow simply posed like the other Avengers? She still has breasts and is wearing skin-tight suits. Why can't she pose like the guys? Why must she be "presenting"?
EDIT: Let me try to be concise. If the men posed like the woman, they'd look ridiculous. Because she's posed ridiculously. If the woman posed like the men, she wouldn't look ridiculous. Because they are not posed ridiculously.
Last edited by Dorkman (2012-05-13 18:15:11)