Batwoman Comes Out

[cleo]

I'm new to visiting this board but I really would love your thoughts on something I heard on PBS yesterday. Seems DC Comics is going to bring Bat Woman 'out' and announce she is a lesbian.

Now, before there are any misunderstandings, I just want to clarify my intent. It isn't the idea of her 'being a lesbian' that causes me to wonder, it's the idea of ANY comic book super hero's s*xual orientation being made the focus that baffles me. These are primarily children's comic books. I would not want my young children to be reading about Clark Kent's wildest fantasies with Lois Lane, either.

I'm wondering if this is something the gay community feels is long overdue, or if it seems a bit pointless. Please take my question with the sincere curiousity behind it. I really am quite interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[MrVisible]

Dear Cleo,

Good question.

First of all, it's been a very long time since comic books were just for kids. There are maturity ratings on the comics these days, and some of the mature stuff is really mature. It's an art form like any other, and can be simplified for kids or made as adult and complex as any other art form. There have been extraordinary works done in this medium, like Alan Moore's Watchmen and From Hell to Chris Claremont's X-men sequence. It's a medium that's coming into its own.

Secondly, I don't feel this is long overdue. This is, in fact, a continuation of a trend that's been around a while. There are quite a few characters whose orientation has been well established.

Being gay isn't about anyone's 'wildest fantasies.' It's about who you love. Who attracts you, who you long for, who you want to be with. It's about how society sees you, and how that affects how you see yourself. But mostly, it's about who you love.

You can see how this would, in and of itself, make a character a bit more three-dimensional, and add a bit of complexity to their interactions and their origins. In real life, gay people tend to be pretty complex, simply by virtue of the complications involved in being gay and interacting with society. They're interesting characters.

In the words of Dan DiDio, executive editor at DC:

"This is not just about having a gay character," DiDio said. "We're trying for overall diversity in the DC universe. We have strong African-American, Hispanic and Asian characters. We're trying to get a better cross-section of our readership and the world."

As to whether it's pointless... I remember Alpha Flight. I was a teenager when Northstar, a member of the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight (kind of an X-men spinoff) came out of the closet. I read that comic faithfully for a good long time, and even got all the back issues. I was struggling with coming to terms with my orientation back then, and seeing this hero... flawed, complicated, volatile, but still a hero... seeing him deal with coming out made my journey much, much easier.

We need role models. Everybody does. There are gay kids out there, young people struggling with their identities, and they deserve to have people to look up to, to emulate, to talk about. People their peers respect, who happen to be gay.

Heroes.

 

[bubie2.5]

Now, before there are any misunderstandings, I just want to clarify my intent. It isn't the idea of her 'being a lesbian' that causes me to wonder, it's the idea of ANY comic book super hero's s*xual orientation being made the focus that baffles me. These are primarily children's comic books. I would not want my young children to be reading about Clark Kent's wildest fantasies with Lois Lane, either.

So, just because someone's gay their only thing worth mentioning about him/she are his/her sexual fantasies?
Batman is a well known womanizer, but you don't get to read anything XXX about it in his comic books, so why do you thing it's going to be any different with a gay or lesbian character?

 

[cleo]

I didn't in any way mean to insinuate Clark Kent's 'wildest fantasies' were the same as Batwoman being a lesbian. I only used that reference to say I don't think details of a sexual nature IN GENERAL are necessary in comic books. I certainly understand the difference between sexual orientation and sexual fantasies.

Sorry for the confusion. I knew I'd say something that would be taken the wrong way. Please forgive my choice of words. No offense of any kind was intended in any part of my question and I am definitely not ignorant when it comes to what it means to be gay.

I'm sorry that one phrase was singled out, since it was not intended in the way it was taken and it really has relatively little to do with the question. I think the question has been answered. Thanks.

 

[Viki]

I didn't in any way mean to insinuate Clark Kent's 'wildest fantasies' were the same as Batwoman being a lesbian. I only used that reference to say I don't think details of a sexual nature IN GENERAL are necessary in comic books. I certainly understand the difference between sexual orientation and sexual fantasies.

Sorry for the confusion. I knew I'd say something that would be taken the wrong way. Please forgive my choice of words. No offense of any kind was intended in any part of my question and I am definitely not ignorant when it comes to what it means to be gay.

I'm sorry that one phrase was singled out, since it was not intended in the way it was taken and it really has relatively little to do with the question. I think the question has been answered. Thanks.

Hey, Cleo, you were right to ask a question. Please don't feel we want to deny you that. At least, I don't.

I love honest questions and I thought yours was a good one. I also really liked the answer above which took mate/partnership issues out of the world of fantasty and put them firmly in the category of real-life, everyday, up and down relationships, because that sure is where I live.

It's also true that comics are for many different audiences, but even when they have a child/adolesecent/teen fan base I think having a character with a different orientation is terrific - not only for the gay and lesbian teens out there, but for kids like mine who live in a largely heterosexual world and come home to lesbian parents at night. It is sooooo liberating for my KIDS to see stuff like this.

 

[wallyb]

Not sure how Dc Comics plans on handling this topic -
but I was talking about this with a straight adult male friend of mine who also is deep in the comics scene and he just think it'll make Bat Woman seem "Hotter" - the whole "girl on girl" thing.

 

[Empare]

I've got to comment on this one. Let me see...A 5'10 red head lesbian superhero. How awesome is that! I have been a big fan of mature comics for a while now and I am always excited about something new and promising to read about. Go DC comics!