anyway the wind blows

However, Damian consistently disrespects and looks down on female characters during that era using gendered language that he just…doesn’t use for male characters he dislikes (Tim, for example). When he’s attacking or being rude to men he’s not referring to their bodies or calling them gendered insults like he does with various female characters. Most of these remarks are geared towards Steph (who to her credit, appears to also be one of the main reasons that he stops making these kinds of comments by the time the New 52 happens), but not all of them.

There is, of course, the infamous ‘Fatgirl’ panel from World’s Finest #4:

And Nicieza chose to have this moment happen in RR #12:

Which largely seems to tie into the multiple instances he’s rude in a pretty gendered way to Steph earlier on in her Batgirl run:

As well as how he treats women like Donna Troy in JLA #41 and Selina Kyle in Gotham City Sirens #7:

Like I said, Damian visibly gets better about it throughout the Reborn era and his various guest appearances in the Batgirl book (whether that’s because of Dick’s influence, un-learning toxic thought patterns, or because he’s growing to respect Stephanie in particular, I’m not sure), but it is a consistent and notable aspect of his characterization in those early years.

Unlike Tim, whose sexism (which absolutely does exist!) seems more like a combination of ‘Written in the 90s’ Syndrome combined with “Written by Chuck Dixon and Bill Willingham” Disease, post-Crisis!Damian’s sexism seems more like an intentional character flaw than an unintentional byproduct of the times or writer’s POV on women, and it’s clearly intended to say something about the environment he was raised in. Regardless, Damian is 10 years old and immature during the majority of these instances, and it’s obviously something he unlearned and grew out of.