1. Written by Guest, on 12-11-2004 16:56
I just wrote up a list of my favorite webcomics of the year for the Webcomics Examiner, and only afterwards did it occur to me that just under half the creators were women. We shall overcome! 
 
-Shaenon

2. Written by Guest, on 16-11-2004 14:16
Kudos for you for creating a space where these kids can talk about this! It's easy to just gloss over these issues or excuse them ("All mainstream comics show girls dressed like that; what're you gonna do."). Getting people talking about them helps to break us out of that bad cycle. 
 
-- Kitty

3. Written by Bob Stevenson, on 16-11-2004 14:34
I think my own experience with gender in the comic world is probably atypical. I've worked largely with women. That includes writers and all but one editor. It's harder to objectify women in your work when they're the ones deciding whether or not to renew your contract. Of course, I was once fired by an editor for portraying a central character as a sexist so maybe I'm not the best champion for the depiction of women in comics. Then again, maybe I learned my lesson. (Nah, the bald chain-smoking sexist still floats in and out of my work.)

4. Written by Guest, on 13-12-2004 13:42
"Will comic readership ever reach fifty-fifty?" Good question. I guess the answer depends a lot on the amount of women contributing to comics. And that number is way too small. But over time, I think more women will enter the 'mainstream' comic and graphic novel and comic strip world, and then you will see even more variety in how stories are told, and how women are drawn.  
 
-- patricia

5. Why?
Written by Guest, on 14-12-2004 03:52
What incentive is there for women to enter the comic world in any numbers? What were the barriers to their entry. Comic artist is cerainly not a power-position that is being protected by some coniving male-dominated society. Instead, I think men create comics in high percentages because men read comics in high percentages. What is the factor that will increase the participation of women in either the creation or consumption of comics? I don't think the numbers show anything close to a significant rise in female readership. 
 
I think part of the answer is in what you mention, the expanding subject matter, but there's the male dominated geek culture as well. 
 
I've been reading Men of Tomorrow, a recently released piece of non-fiction documenting the rise of the golden age of comics. It is clear on one count, that the golden age of comics was created by a very small group of, largely second generation Jewish boys who were hooked by the combination of a fitness craze and the rise of science fiction. Isn't today's state of print comics just a distant echo of those same factors - obsession with the physical: the perfect body and the impossible: the powered hero. Despite the edges of comics bubbling with new genres, the vast majority of clicks and the overwhealming majority of buys are by 16-35 year old males. I just don't see what, "over time" is due to change. The rest of the US public still hasn't shown an interest. I've gotten my wife to read Persepolis and Bone and Castle Waiting, but beyond that... I'd love to get her into Stray Bullets. She'll watch a movie on the same exact genre, but in comic form, it hasn't a prayer. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

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