bob-artist: I decided to whip this up
bob-artist submitted:
I decided to whip this up after browsing through your blog today… I wanted to see what it would look like if the two characters with such ridiculous poses and outfits were male. Just as I suspected, drawing this made me feel *dirty.* I love tasteful male nudes, but drawing this felt very uncomfortable and sexist. I wonder if/how these male artists can draw females like this and not feel anything out of the ordinary.
I decided not to take a humorous approach because it seems the man who drew the original cover took it very seriously. But male or female, I think the end result is ridiculous enough to warrant a laugh.
If men had to look at lovingly rendered sexualized portrayals of their bodies at every turn, I figure they’d probably feel as uncomfortable as I do upon entering a comic shop.
This is brilliant. Both the drawing and your commentary. I don’t think there’s much more I can add, except maybe this: if men WERE drawn like that, I know I wouldn’t feel more inclined to buy those comics, especially if I wasn’t interested in the comic or heroes in the first place. If women WEREN’T drawn like that, I doubt male readership would drop noticeably at all (if anything it might increase because any men who leave would be replaced by men who like non-porny, heroic art).