No, really. All I want is to give a guy rapey thoughts about me in a Thor costume.

So today, Marvel entertainment is having a big sale on Amazon. Awesome, right? They’ve got toys and action figures and clothes for all.

Except when you click on women’s clothing, this is what you get.

Two suitcases, a pair of heels (for some reason I still don’t get) and five sexy superheros costumes. Five. And only one of them is for a female character (that’d be the last one: sexy lab girl, Gwen).

And the girls section? All costumes. For Black Widow, Spider Girl, and some of the male heroes (which are just boys’ costumes put in the girls’ category). Yeah, skin tight faux-leather catsuits for your five year old. Try sending her to school in that.

When sexism and misogyny in marketing and consumerism are discussed, this is exactly the kind of bullshit which exemplifies targeted anti-woman marketing. I don’t usually get on a gender podium, but this bothers the shit out of me. In an age where Marvel, a multi-billion dollar company who could hire whoever they want, market themselves however they want, who has fostered the development of amazing female characters in its films and comics, chooses to have the only available products on the number one online marketplace be tight-bodiced, short-skirted (likely poorly constructed) costumes of its male superheroes, it is literally screaming: WE DON’T WANT WOMEN IN OUR CLUB UNLESS THEY’RE SEX OBJECTS.

It may seem petty on a surface level, but what companies make commercially available to consumers has a direct effect on how that demographic is perceived. If you don’t make it, if you won’t sell it, we can’t buy it. So you use the excuse that girls don’t buy superhero merchandise unless its this incredibly sexist bullshit. That, in itself, is incredibly sexist bullshit.

Don’t tell me a Gamora or Nebula tee won’t sell when you won’t make one to test that theory.

Don’t tell people a Black Widow movie won’t make money when you won’t try making any female-led superhero film (since Elektra *weeps*), and when your Black Widow actress had a hit film this summer that basically involved her running around and being badass to a terrible hole-filled plot. People still came and it was pretty bad. Imagine if it were really good.

Don’t hide behind suits and corporate hullabaloo when it comes to shilling out merchandise. You want to know what consumers want? Try ASKING THEM. Try LISTENING TO THEM. Try NOT PURPOSELY ALIENATING AT LEAST 50% OF YOUR POTENTIAL BUYERS BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE PENISES.

People doing cooler and better things than I…

It’s been a heck of a week. I wanted to write more and yet every time I sat down to type something interesting, intelligent, creative, spontaneous or whatever, nothing happened. Even my subconscious has become dull again. However, there are some pretty damn awesome people I know writing some pretty damn awesome things. So I will share those I lieu of being able to create anything worthwhile myself:

1. Running to Tahiti Lovely, talented, bright, gorgeous Rebecca ranting about society’s obsession with physical female perfection and our inability as women to reconcile ‘healthy’ with ‘thin.’
2. Luv & Kiwi First L.A. pal Tishy joins in my anti-snobbery campaign against aggravating hoity-toity literature types who refuse to find merit in anything that isn’t nominated for a Pulitzer or hasn’t been around for over 100 years. We don’t share the same love for the same type of books, but gal-pal and I do share an overwhelming love for books and disgust for those who stop taking anything you say seriously once the words, “Yes, I’ve read the entire Twilight series,” leave your lips.
   Also, she directed me to Apartment Therapy which is equal parts awesome, depressing and inspiring.
3. Merry Maudlin Other than adoring the name of her blog, her style is marvelous and her posts always entertaining. This week she made an offhand comment about the developmental issues in Disney characters that not only cracked me up at work but made my little mind ponder the oddness of Disney psychology.
4. Hyperbole and a Half I make no secret of my adoration for Allie and her hysterical drawings and entries. Sometimes I’m afraid she may be stalking me and patterning her development as an adult after my own horrid attempts and colossal failures, but if only my life were able to be painted in such entertaining ways… this most recent entry delves into the psychology of little girls who want to play ‘boy’ games and are more likely to figure out ways to stalk you like a wolf and gnaw you to death than worry about grass stains on their pretty dresses. Yeah, that was me.

Carrying the Banner

Oh yes, I geek out about more than just books and Dracula. See in my world, where snobbery gets shot down by mental snipers whenever it tries to peek out, there exists an unabashed fangirl of most things Disney. We're not just talking masterpieces like Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins and The Lion King. We're talking Oliver & Company, Lizzie McGuire and the cheesiest of the Disney Channel Original Movies (I'm looking at you, Brink). This includes everything in between, some of which I defend ("Phineas & Ferb") and some of which I will just say, "It's an entertaining train wreck." ("Hannah Montana" - thought I must state that a good portion of my amusement with this show stems from the fact that Jason Earles, who plays Hannah/Miley's brother, is older than I am... kudos, buddy.)
The other night I indulged in a Disney geek out of epic proportions - I saw Newsies, in a sold-out theatre, with a featured Q&A by director Kenny Ortega. Whether or not Ortega came to the show didn't factor in until after I already purchased the tickets. We're talking jailbait-era Christian Bale singing and dancing here, people. Nothing could keep me away from experiencing that on the big screen. Add to that the director/choreographer who got Bale to sing and dance, as well as being the choreographer for Dirty Dancing and the director of a certain cheesy Disney franchise which I do indulge in (shooting a snobbery peeker here) and, well, I would have walked from the West Side to Pasadena to see that.
After eighteen years in the vault, I have to say on the big screen Newsies impresses more than I thought it would. It's not great, but it is good. Story-wise it's quite solid and cinematically as a freshman directing endeavor it's ambitious in both scope and content. It's still Disney fluff, but it's good fluff. Fun fluff. Also, find another movie where Bale smiles as much as he does in this film -- It doesn't exist.
The benefit of seeing this screening wasn't just geeking out over Jailbait Bale and enjoying the movie on the big screen for the first time, it was the entertainment value of being in a packed theatre with other people who possess a similar, obvious love for this movie. This screening inspired me with the idea that Newsies should start a Rocky-Horror-style tour where you come dressed as your favorite character, sing along to the movie, dance in the aisles, yell back at the screen -- an elevated version of what occurred at this screening. This really is a movie that could benefit from audience interaction.
If this screening taught me anything, though, it's this: fluff movies that also inspire and instill hope are few and far between, and the lack of good, fun movies with this much hope are a contributing factor in the emerging cynicism of these young whipper-snappers of the late '90s-00s generation. Call it brainwashing, but I am one of the most cynical people I know. However, park me in front of a screen or TV and give me something fun, peppy, and emotionally uplifting and I turn (temporarily) into one of those perky, confident, hopeful, sing-songy heroines whose plucky persistence gets them through even the most troubling times. This lasts for about a day or two before I return to my curmudgeonly self, but while it's occurring life does seem more cheery and hopeful -- and THAT is something I think all of us could use a little more of in our lives.