Women in Comics

The plight of women in the comic industry directly reflects that of the working woman in modern society, and her history of neglect and often mistreatment. As women began inundating themselves into the comic world there was a perception that the only stories that could be told by a female voice were that of a domestic variety. Often the comics women were asked to write were stories about a homemaker or children, having many of the most famous female illustrators of the early comics era drawing primarily children and cherubs with butterfly wings.  The misconception that these are the only stories women will relate to were a direct influence on what comics women were allowed to create, perpetuating the idea of the house wife and further derailing the desire to work for the modern women. While our society has progressed much farther than these ideas the fact still remains that many women are kept at a distance from the comic world, and while there are more female super heroes and artists they are often met with opposition or even violence. While the new Iron Man is a young black woman and the new Thor (wielder of Mjolnir) is a woman with cancer both characters were met with backlash from the comic community for the mere fact that they were women. Often the male audience neglects the very real fact that women comprise at least of not more than 50% of the current comic reading population, and we want stories that we can relate to, and not just "domestic" tales. The comics industry is and has always been a boys club, but as more and more women join the workforce they cannot be simply over looked and cast aside, if the comic industry cannot continue to accurately reflect the times as they are, many of the popular story arches and characters will be replaced with new ones, ones who had the chance to have a feminine voice and assistance. Comics have always been one step ahead of society, developing and shaping the world as we see it, as the comics artists reflected it, hopefully they continue to do so. As in the Diary of a Dominatrix I believe a woman's reality often differs from a mans fantasy.