Friday, January 29, 2010

This Just In: Gail Simone Hates Wimmen!

According to Simone's twitter account, @GailSimone (#ff guys!!), Wonder Woman's line that she must "do the dishes" when referring to cleaning up Quetzalcoatl's bile off of a subway train and otherwise helping to make right the destruction she and the snake god wrought on a city park is being attacked by a member or members of the twitterati as sexist.

I have to admit, I was definitely taken aback by the line when I read WW this week. Not that I don't think Wonder Woman is inept at dish maintenance, but I definitely think of the princess of Themiscyra as a being above gender roles and, in fact, menial labor. I think the problem might be that I assume women doing dishes is playing into submissive gender roles, instead of just maintaining order. I mean, if no Amazon ever did dishes, their island would smell gross, right?

But logic aside, I think the joke worked because it played into a sense that, while Diana is a big, strong, snake-god slaying woman, at the end of the battle the Man still subjugates her. Oh gosh! When you ask yourself if the joke would have worked for Achilles, how do you answer yourself? And if you say it wouldn't, is gender-based humor always offensive? Or would this count as satire, ironically subverting the system?

What do you think? Is this feminist stuck in the second wave? Do they have a point? Feel free to flame guys! Let's get in on the DRAMA!

3 betches:

Anonymous said...

She just 'castrated' a snake, right? I'd say those two even each other out.

Kuhnsy said...

HAHAHA! Truesay, James! In all the hullabaloo I'd forgotten that Gail Simone gives as good as she gets.

Bitchzarro said...

Gail Simone's going to be at Wonder Con this year. I'm thinking of putting a dismembered barbie doll in a toy refrigerator and asking her to sign it.

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