#reader letters

Oh okay!  Thanks!  Last time I checked (a couple years ago, I think?) I couldn’t, but it’s cool that I can now!  I just got a domain for eschergirls (http://www.eschergirls.com) thanks to a generous donation, and I’m looking into hosting solutions.  Once I get that done, I’ll probably figure out whether to use WordPress or Drupal for the CMS. 

Thank you so much for letting me know that Wordpress supports Tumblr now!  And also thank you to everybody else who let me know too!

Also my Patreon is now approved!  https://www.patreon.com/ami_angelwings

I remember playing Persona 3 and I found out whenever you put certain items of armour on the female characters - like the high-cut armour or the spiked bra - they would complain and call you a pervert. (Some changed the appearance of the characters, but ones like the spiked bra didn't.) Unfortunately, some of these armours had really good stats for that point in the game, so it was just uncomfortable all round.            

Thank you for your kind words.  I appreciate that you find my commentary useful to you. :)  However, I’m uncomfortable with being praised in opposition to other critics and writers who express their views differently than me.  I don’t see the way I write on Escher Girls as being “better” than another way.  I think it’s more accessible to some people, but may not actually be getting through to others.  Sometimes people need to have their biases or assumptions torn down before they’re ready to learn.  Everybody is different, and everybody is different in the way they express themselves.  I think anger can be useful, because without it, people sometimes don’t understand just how important an issue is to a certain group of people, how much it hurts them, or don’t realize how pressing it is.  When you’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for change to happen, and when you're the one who has to deal with the negative impact in the meantime, anger is a natural thing to feel, and a perfectly reasonable thing to express.  Sometimes the people you need to get through to won’t ever realize that you can’t WAIT for them to get to your issue if they don’t see your anger and your frustration.

I just think there’s many different ways to talk about an issue.  The way I do it is just one way, and the beauty of the internet is that Escher Girls is just one of many many many sites that talk about these things, and people can choose which communities or writing or ways to present a topic works for them, and also sample all of them too.  As I said, sometimes you need one way of talking to open you up to others.

I also want to say that I choose to express myself in a specific way on Escher Girls because I see it as a more “general audience” kind of platform.  If you read my personal blog, you might change your mind on what kind of person I am (or you may not).  I allow myself to be much more angry, or emotionally charged in it, and I talk much more from my personal anecdotal experience.  Just as there are many ways for blogs to express themselves, an individual may have many ways they express themselves as well.  Also, there are some people who interpret Escher Girls as a personal attack on an artist, or that think I want government censorship, or that my jokes are “anger”.  And those people would probably disagree with your assessment of my writing.  So even the way I write can be seen as being destructive, or vengeful by some.

Anonymous asked: I think it's awesome that you have outed the prevalent sexism in comics and other media. As far as you are aware, has this changed anything in comics?

People have been talking about, discussing and blogging about the prevalence of sexism in comics and other media for a long time.  I don’t think I’ve “outed” anything.  I see my blog as about collecting examples (and having fun and being funny while doing it) so that there’s an archive and people can make their own decisions about what it means, and use the pictures if they need examples/evidence in their blogs, or just for fun like the Hawkeye Initiative.   I don’t know if I’ve changed anything in comics, but I do get letters telling me that I’ve changed the letter writers’ minds, or I’ve made them think about the subject in a different way, or that having an archive has helped them realize the prevalence.  I also get a lot of letters telling me I’ve helped people with their eating disorders and body image, and allowed them to laugh at images that used to make them feel bad about themselves.  Those ones make me really happy because I know how it feels to struggle with body image, and an eating disorder, and if my blog has helped even a few people out with that, I’m just… really glad to have been part of a healing process.   Even if nothing else, I’ll take that. :)   I think people are all different and learn in different ways.  Some people change their minds on an issue due to blogging or persuasive writing, and others simply by seeing how prevalent something is without being told what conclusions to draw, and some don't find that helpful at all, and I understand that too.  I don’t know if this blog alone has changed anything in "comics", and I don’t know if it can, but it has changed the way individual people think about the portrayal of women in comics, and changed the way individual people see themselves, and that’s already way more than I ever thought I’d do when I started this.   So… :)

I publish every redraw, because it's fan art, and it's amateurs trying to learn and participate in this blog and have fun.  :)  Publishing it doesn't mean I think every redraw looks better than the original or has no issues, but because the redraws are done for fun and submitted for that reason, I let all of them through and people can decide for themselves.  Just because a redraw is on this blog doesn't mean I endorse it as some superior art work, it's just fan art.

I do think a few redraw submissions have a bit of a "the original was crap, I had to make it better!" attitude, that I've seen some people complain about.  I think it's understandable that that can be off-putting, because this isn't about bashing people, it's about having fun.  So, I'd encourage people to submit and approach redraws more with the "I'm having fun" attitude rather than the "I'll show that artist" one. :)

I know some people see the issue as being individual artists, but the point of Escher Girls is about the overall culture and industries.  Artists who have a certain way of drawing women might get selected for jobs over others, or they're encouraged to draw a certain way, or they're told to change things (I think some of the bad boobs and butt poses is because the pose was drawn one way, and then somebody told them to make it sexier).  So, to me, redraws ideally should be fans expressing "this is what I'd like to see as a consumer", and not "that artist is stupid."

When I first started this blog I never expected to get the number of redraws I have.  I never expected to get any at all.  And it's a hard thing for me because of my personality.  I feel bad for people who submit and might get a lot of people saying "this is crap", but I decided at the beginning that rather than be the arbiter of what's a good redraw or not, I would allow everybody else to give praise or constructive criticism.

I understand the tricky position I put myself in by allowing all the redraws, because there's criticisms and assumptions that the redraws represent me.  I don't choose the redraws I put up, so there's no editorial decision by me to put up ones that redraw women one way, or dress women another, or anything.  However, I do choose to allow them all, so if people don't like some of them, I understand that.  But, my policy isn't to exclude anybody who wants to participate.  And as many redrawers say, it's also a chance for them to learn, and they're open for the opportunity.

Sorry for the long answer.  I thought I'd take the opportunity to clear the air about the redraws because there's often a lot of misconceptions about them, and I know some people don't like them, while others really love them.  For somebody like me, it's hard to know how to balance the two.

You really should make a badge for those who have completed reading all of this blog (as suggested in post/32228869209/xav-submitted-i-made-it-so-i-finally-toured). I know I'd wear mine with pride.

Silly question time: at what point is it usually considered (assuming the anatomy is correct) the artist sexualizing a character rather than the character wanting to be sexy of their own in universe will? Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to defend artists who put every female character in skimpy outfits for combat. But rather pointing out the fact that there are women who are empowered by their sexuality. Is it possible to write/draw such a character without being exploitative?

First off, I appreciate that you're looking for an answer to help you in future creations. :)   I'm obviously not in a position to give you some definitive, objective answer.  I don't really think there is one for something like this, but I'll give you my thoughts on the subject since you asked.  :)

There’s nothing wrong with creating a female character that likes to be sexy, but it’s important to keep in mind that that’s also often used as an excuse just to depict female characters in sexualized ways that are irrelevant to the plot (oh that’s just how SHE wants to act in battle).  They aren’t real, so the onus still falls on the writer.  Because we live in a society where the dominant imagery of women is sexualized for hetero male consumption, that can affect how people view your character.

It doesn’t mean you can’t create a female character that likes being sexy during battle, just like our society having racial stereotypes doesn’t mean you can never create a black criminal character, or a non-sexual East Asian male character.  But nothing happens in a vacuum, and you may want to think about how you might be contributing to the overall culture. (Or how the overall culture is contributing to your own creative thought process)

Thinking doesn’t mean “don’t do it”, it just means thinking.  It also doesn't mean there's a right or wrong thing to do.  But you should keep in mind how it might come off to your readers because of dominant stereotypes and imagery in society, and the lens in which you, the creator, depict your character through.

However, simply because a character is sexy doesn’t mean she can’t also be a person, and be complex.  Even women who would like to pose sexily in battle, have other things going on in their heads, and aren’t “on” all the time.  Just like any character you create, think about them as a person, what they want, who they are, beyond just “this is the black character, this is the sexy female character, etc”.

For example, one thing I sometimes see in fiction, is “oh this character’s a stripper, so of course she’ll be sexual”.  Except that that’s just her job.  Simply because a woman is sexual as part of her job doesn’t mean she’s sexual at home in pajamas, on the street buying groceries, or out in costume fighting crime.  She’s a person, just like a woman working at McDonald’s isn’t acting like she’s at work when she’s not.  She MIGHT be sexual, but she might not, and she might have lots of other things going on too.

Depictions of Starfire pre-reboot are a good example.  She was sexual, and wore few clothes, but she also was caring, and compassionate, and intelligent, and heroic.  And more importantly, we got these qualities from how she was portrayed (in art and in writing), not simply because we were told she has them. It’s not about “no sexy” vs “sexy”, it’s about complexity, context, and fleshing your characters out.  There is no “line” or “point” I can give you where things go from exploitative to empowering.  My best advice is to not write characters worrying about that, but to write characters.  Flesh them out.  And flesh out the scenes they’re in.  What’s she doing?  Why’s she doing it?  Is she posing because of what she’s doing, or is she posing because it’d make a great pin up, and if so, is that hurting or furthering the story you’re telling?  You can do sexy in many many ways without it being jarring in context.  The recent redraw of the Jade Warriors picture is a great example.  It’s sexy, but pulled us into the scene, rather than pulling us out of it.

Ultimately, it's fiction, and “well it’s just what she WANTS to do” can be used to justify anything after the fact. (Just like “well they just WANT to do this” can be used to justify any plot hole in writing.) So don’t worry about that, worry about what YOU want to do, and what you want the readers to get out of your creation. :)   For example, do you want them to feel empowered too? If so, then their feedback is important.