Dust, is an X-Men mutant from Afghanistan in the Marvel Universe, and is described by Marvel as having a strong "respect for tradition".
However her latex effect Niqab upset some (American?) Muslim women ..... (why doesn't that surprise me?), even though they are not the primary audience, or even close to being more than a very small minority.
Anyways, Ms Sara Alfageeh felt that making her "clothes cling to her body", was to "sexualise Dust" ... in other words, the opposite of the Niqab's intended effect, which is meant to de-sexualise a women entirely. Mainly, so that Muslim men aren't driven to lustful thoughts about women in the street.
So she designed a new costume for her heroine .... fully face covered, with no body shape. If she wanted to dehumanise and de-sexualise a female character to the point that is never going to sell a comic .... well, total success.
Of course Marvel had already got another Muslim woman superhero called Ms Marvel - a young Muslim woman from Afghanistan inspired by Captain Marvel - now I can see a couple of problems with her as well (hair and face both uncovered in Afghanistan ... what else did you think?). Anyway, this is all tied in to another 'wimmins' movement, whereby women artists redraw sexist female characters from comics.
But Sex Sells .... in any Universe, not just Marvels.
Or so advertisers since 1871 have believed, and Marvel should always remember that women generally, and Muslim women in particular are a very small part of their comic demographic, and even for the film demographics.
Following trends like this, they risk simply throwing the baby out with the bath water ....
 |
| 'Dust' From The Marvel Universe - Ms Alfageeh's Version Of 'Dust' |
However her latex effect Niqab upset some (American?) Muslim women ..... (why doesn't that surprise me?), even though they are not the primary audience, or even close to being more than a very small minority.
Anyways, Ms Sara Alfageeh felt that making her "clothes cling to her body", was to "sexualise Dust" ... in other words, the opposite of the Niqab's intended effect, which is meant to de-sexualise a women entirely. Mainly, so that Muslim men aren't driven to lustful thoughts about women in the street.
So she designed a new costume for her heroine .... fully face covered, with no body shape. If she wanted to dehumanise and de-sexualise a female character to the point that is never going to sell a comic .... well, total success.
 |
| Ms Marvel Has A Couple Of Issues For Muslim Women ... |
Of course Marvel had already got another Muslim woman superhero called Ms Marvel - a young Muslim woman from Afghanistan inspired by Captain Marvel - now I can see a couple of problems with her as well (hair and face both uncovered in Afghanistan ... what else did you think?). Anyway, this is all tied in to another 'wimmins' movement, whereby women artists redraw sexist female characters from comics.
 |
| Sexism Sells .... In Any Universe |
But Sex Sells .... in any Universe, not just Marvels.
 |
| First Use Of Sex In Advertising, Pearl Tobacco Label circa 1871 |
Or so advertisers since 1871 have believed, and Marvel should always remember that women generally, and Muslim women in particular are a very small part of their comic demographic, and even for the film demographics.
Following trends like this, they risk simply throwing the baby out with the bath water ....
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed, or even just thanks if you enjoyed the post. But please make any comment relevant to the post it appears under. Off topic comments will be blocked or removed.
Moderation is on for older posts to stop spamming and comments that are off topic or inappropriate from being posted .... comments are reviewed within 48 hours. I don't block normal comments that are on topic and not inappropriate. Vexatious comments that may cause upset to other commentators, or that are attempting to espouse a particular wider political view, are reviewed before acceptance. But a certain amount of debate around a post topic is accepted, as long as it remains generally on topic and is not an attempt to become sounding board for some other cause.
Final decision on all comments is held by the blog author and is final.
Comments are always monitored for bad or abusive language, and or illegal statements i.e. overtly racist or sexist content. Spam is not tolerated and is removed.
Commentaires ne sont surveillés que pour le mauvais ou abusif langue ou déclarations illégales ie contenu ouvertement raciste ou sexiste. Spam ne est pas toléré et est éliminé.