Research Agenda #1: Statements of why girls can't read superhero comics
In my day job, I tend to deal with the odd bit of statistical data here and there. Tonight's data analysis was looking at some research I'd conducted with a friend on Equestrian sport. What do horses and comics have in common?
Well, for one thing, sport and comics are often subject to the same gender blinkers. Motivations for sport participation are subject to gendered interpretation, and one noticable thing that stuck out tonight was the gender tinted goggles where "Men are more competitive than women, therefore women are not competitive".
Except that the data quitely clearly showed that women have a competitive streak, and can be competitive. Which got me thinking - a lot of what is said about why super hero comics aren't for girls is based on assumed roles and attitudes. Girls aren't into super hero comics because they're not aggressive / assertive / boys / spandex addicted /
So I have an idea.
Help me generate a list of the character traits that allegeldy make comics okay for boys and bad for girls. Y'know, the usual half assed excuses generated by people wanting to say "No! COMICS NOT FOR GIRL. GIRL NOT SPEECH IN CAPS! GIRL NOT SMRT ENOUGH FOR COMIC!" type of jackassery.
The problem I know I have is that I have that whole power/priviledge position, so essentially, I'm quite blind to materials I'm seeking. As much as I want to see where the gender barrier lies, I'm on the wrong side of the invisible barrier. This is why I'm requesting the help here, and why now, and why I'm needing it as feedback/comments to the blog post. Because I went looking, and damn it, I know it's there, and I'm having trouble seeing it (stupid trees are in the way of me seeing the woods).
Because once I can see it, I can measure it, analyse and dissect it. (Data will also be available for analysis by other GW bloggers. Your eyes and mine together make for shallower gender bugs).
So, peoples of GW, League of Substitute Superheroes, Take Back the Knight and Girls Read Comics, anyone. An assist to highlight what character traits are given gender roles and used as excuses for why you, the female reader, can't read superhero comics.