Girl BYE!

Anyone with a name that starts with a “Z”, ends with an “i”, and isn’t some kind of Italian pasta, IS SERIOUS

Anyone with a name that starts with a “Z”, ends with an “i”, and isn’t some kind of Italian pasta, IS SERIOUS

This was sent to hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman.

As one of the admins of hellyeah I thought I would answer this from my pov. So this is my opinion and not the view of the whole blog.

He said “queer”. Now I could be wrong but as I understand it , this is an umbrella term for the LGBTQA community…ie anyone not heterosexual or a term adopted by people who don’t want the labels that define their sexuality. 

The writer, Greg Rucka’s rationale is Diana had sexual relationships with women because on Themyscira that was the only option she had but then we know she’s been shown to be attracted to men. So this makes her bi-sexual ie attracted to women and men.

Now he opines that Diana doesn’t see gender. She just loves what she loves. So maybe he should  have used the term pansexual. ie not limited to one gender or maybe in a verse like the DCU…she could be attracted to any type of sentient being regardless of their gender or sexual identity.

How do I feel about it? 

For me it makes no difference if she is bisexual because I will always ship her with Superman/Clark/Kal. In my mind that doesn’t change even if she’s had relationships with people who just happened to be female or male. He is her perfect match in terms of what he has to offer her in terms of emotional and psychological growth. 

But I have questions. I am no expert but i just was wondering and meandering in my mind…thinking…and let us be clear I am not telling anyone how they should feel nor what defines sexuality…hell if I know since the world is so full of variables and different people whose sexuality is influenced by many many factors. Sexuality…are you born a certain way or is it environment? Is it influenced by religion, experiences, genetics, social norms etc? I don’t think you can look at just one thing as being a reason you can label someone.

Rucka said he doesn’t want to label her. But he did in fact do so by saying she was queer. He didn’t explain it clearly either because like yourself many people came away with the impression he meant gay or lesbian. Or  that being bisexual makes you still gay or lesbian.

Now should she be labeled bisexual if all she had was relationships with women?  Is your sexuality even defined if you get involved with one gender by circumstance and not by choice? Many straight women have sex with women ie like in a threesome and this doesn’t make them bi sexual necessarily. It’s just sex/pleasure/recreation. The Amazon’s were immortal and had lives before they came to Paradise so they had a chance for choice. ie some prob had men before etc so when they chose to start up relationships would other women…is it because they prefer women or because they only have women available? 

Or is it because they despise men? And in a homogeneous society would all people, even if all are women. would they all be inclined to have sex with women? Surely you would have the Amazons with different wants and needs. Some would be happy to be with women, others might still prefer men, some might be asexual, some might be celibate for whatever reason…and we are talking about a society that is set in a backdrop of ancient Greece where we have a mixture of Gods and mythic creatures ( satyrs, minotaurs, centaurs, dryads, nymphs, harpies etc) where sex has been involved in tales…so there could be a classification for that perhaps? The rationale you’re stuck on an island with women means you must be gay or bisexual doesn’t necessary ring true any more than all people has to be heterosexual in a hetero-normative society. 

As I understand it this Rebirth Diana is many centuries old. She is not like Perez’s or Azzarello’s Diana ie 18 when she comes out into the world. So the version of Diana I think could shape her sexuality. An older version would more than likely have had relationships over the centuries. But what if Diana was one of those Amazons that wasn’t necessarily attracted to her sisters? The same way a homosexual person in a hetero-normative society finds him or herself not attracted to the gender that is the norm? It is possible. Now Rucka said in Paradise the norm was to be happy and fall in love…but as far as I am concerned…there is no such thing as a perfect world unless it is lazy writing. . It’s just a personal opinion of mine but any group claiming they are a utopia …I am very suspect of that. Nothing is ever perfect.  How can you claim to be Paradise when you omit a whole slice of humanity? Yes, I mean the male gender. Little boys are part of humanity too. Themyscira is just paradise by default, isn’t it? A true paradise would encompass all types of sentient beings, genders, races, orientations, religion…who could live in harmony. Even Eden had a snake. The idea Diana is making some big sacrifice to leave “paradise” to me is a tad weak. The Amazons need to be written with a little more nuance and balanced and balance means they have flaws too. We don’t need them all man hating but we don’t need them all mary sues either. 

Then we have the younger version of Diana. Remember Diana was a child born to her Amazon sisters after her mother prayed for a child. They were all adoptive mothers/aunts to her and helped raised her. So Diana being wooed and sexually involved with women who raised her like their own is a little iffy for me. I would rather that did not happen. Now if she had sisters her own age growing with her that could be different. I could see her exploring some of her own sexuality  but even then again…is it because she has an itch she needs to scratch so she did so with what was there? Because what other choice did she have? So how can we honestly define what Diana’s sexuality really is? 

Then we get to Steve Trevor. If Diana was in relationships with her sisters as Rucka implies one wonder what does she really see in him? Curiosity? Now I agree that she should never leave the island to chase after Steve Trevor. She should in fact leave because she is curious and wants to use her gifts to help the world. But this was done by George Perez. This is not new what Rucka is saying. To avoid Steve being the motivation for Diana, Perez aged him and had Diana leave because she wanted to help the world. She also was not depowered as she is in Rebirth. Perez’s and Azzarello’s Diana is born and gifted as very powerful. I prefer my Diana strong from birth and learning how to temper her powers with training etc.  Steve as he is written in Rebirth, from my pov, is very vanilla.I honestly could never see Perez’s or Azzarello’s Diana falling for this Ken doll version that later grows an Oliver Queen mustache and gets a tattoo to try to make him seem cool.  Rebirth Diana feels a little saccharin and lacking the fire, confidence and Amazon pride that I like in her so maybe she could. Dunno. She is just lost now and doesn’t know who she is. Eye roll. But I digress. I am even more baffled if Diana is “queer” why she would be attracted to Steve.

 I can see why Clark/ Superman because they share many differences and similarities.  And I am not talking about the boring flag waving Rebirth version who hid for 10 years but the better versions of Superman we have had. Both share similarities and a kinship with their powersets, their aspirations, goals, sense of feeling different but still able to contrast against each other…ie the way they were brought up and the way they do their heroics. I can see a Diana being attracted to someone like Superman and importantly both allow for mutual growth. The idea Steve is just happy to let Diana take charge and be her mansel and so forth as stated by the Rebirth team..seriously how boring. Do we really think the best love interest for Diana is one who can’t challenge her? What if the situation was reverse? Would we want Diana to just be a damsel? Diana is a feminist icon so surely a good representation of that is her in an equally powerful relationship where she can hold her end with an alpha like herself. If you have to write the love interest weak so she could seem strong…how does that value gender equity? Writing a relationship of equals is not easy so writers just beta one partner so the other can be the star. I find those types of relationships boring as hell ergo why I ship Diana with Clark. Why I prefer power couples as oppose to the cliched civilian/hero troupe. 

Pinpointing someone’s sexuality is difficult. Sometimes it is fluid and should never be labeled because for some people it changes over time. You cannot say a person is x or y. Then saying she was into women but never concretely showing it…some could argue if it was never shown then it never happened. Saying it is just pandering. If I see a woman simply tender with another on a comic panel… why am I to suppose they want to have sex with each other? Women can love each other like sisters and be affectionate even thought they might not be related. 

The aspect of titillation is valid because many times people are just really blase about it and girl on girl action is just seen as hot and nothing too threatening rather than a genuine exploration of mutual love of two people who happen to be women. DC have proven they have no problems with making many of their popular females bi-sexual ( Harley, Ivy, Selina) but one wonders would they ever do that with their popular males? Maybe not.  The idea that Diana has always been bi for decades? Look it’s never been done where it counts.  DC has shown her mainly with two serious male love interests in the past Steve Trevor and Clark Kent, Superman. She has kissed Batman, Aquaman, Tom Tresser, Trevor Barnes…I have not seen her kiss a woman nor professed love for nor dated a woman until Rebirth where it is hinted she might have been a bit of a player. 

Rucka says who she slept with should not affect her heroics…this is true. He said we don’t need to know about her past…but in fact I think this is untrue. The past all builds a picture of our protagonist. We don’t say Superman’s past with Lana is not important. She is because she is a character who has been explored and who contributed to the lore of Superman and shows aspects of Clark in his youth.  If Rebirth Diana was a bit of a player…ie broken hearts…how is she truly seen by her sisters and ex lovers? Are they that bloodless they don’t care nor have negative or positive feelings towards her? It’s kinda unreal to think they all just love her. Real relationships are complex and when we break up they can be messy and sometimes we have not very good feelings towards exes. Wouldn’t it help flesh this older Diana out by showing a little more than lip service?  I just feel if you’re going to bring up stuff like all this…then don’t be lazy and try to say oh yeah she is queer but those things don’t matter..she just going to fall for that Steve Trevor now. But even if she does explore some of that sexuality with Steve…why does she have to be stuck with the first man she sees as the one she needs to stay with forever and forever? I personally just don’t see it happening. I think Steve would be a relationship that Diana would eventually outgrow because as we mature we grow and change. And will DC now commit to a full blown relationship with a female across the board seeing they claiming she is bi sexual? From TV to movies? If they do it then, well maybe then we could say they are serious. 

For me the gold standard for a Diana origin will always be George Perez’s followed by Azzarello. I understand many people don’t like the savage Amazons in the new 52 and maybe we did not need all as man haters….there could have been some enlightened ones too. But my critiques of the Amazons’ isolationist ways still remains regardless of their background.  And there was nothing much wrong with new 52 Diana herself. She was wonderfully written and I genuinely enjoyed her being a demi-goddess and her God family. She was no mary sue and she was a proud and confident Amazons with a genuine journey before her. Her sexuality did not define her. She was humanized too with her relationship with Clark in that we saw her vulnerable and experiencing the same highs and lows that we all do. The people who feel he has to be with Lois only or she has to be with Steve.will never accept SuperWonder and they make excuses that it is sexist etc…when in fact I would say the old troupes they want are waaaaay more sexist. One of the best depictions of new 52 Diana was by Charles Soule when he wrote SMWW.  She was awesome. Very much an alpha female, badass, proud of her heritage, wise, compassionate and enjoyed life.

The standing rock tribe are being silenced about what is going on up there with the Dakota access pipe line.

I beg of you to help me get the topic out. It will affect millions of lives. The pipe will leave into the tribes only source of drinking water. We are trying so hard to get this out on twitter and facebook, but we are being silenced.

Today a security team came into the middle of a peaceful native american protest and numerous people got maced and bitten by the dogs. 

I want you all to take a look at the terror on these young girls faces. Then I want you to take a look at the two aggressive dogs. When did it become OK to use dogs against children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters OUR freakin people!!! The police will only let a dog go if the suspect runs or the suspect is violent and causes a threat to the public of the officer. Do you see a weapon in these young girls hands? Do these girls look dangerous? The answer would be no. No they don’t. The people with the dogs aren’t even police officers! They are security guards. They couldn’t even keep control of their own dogs leading to them being attacked also.