@Blandy: If you want to blame Chasing Amy, blame people who didn't pay attention to Chasing Amy. Alyssa is not a lesbian, she just thought she was. The movie is very clear about that, and her lesbian friends give her shit for it.
I never got past the logic of a guy watching porn (or reading erotic graphic novels, I dunno) with naked GUYS in it. Watching other men does it for them? Any sex in Batwoman has no danger of "eye slippage".
@Anonymous, I'm not sure how carefully you watched Chasing Amy, but it's pretty clear that the movie isn't about whether Alyssa was a lesbian or not, but that sexuality is a plastic definition fueled not by external judgment but by internal desire, that when we let labels get in the way of honest attraction then we're in for a shitload of heartache and dissatisfaction, and that not everyone's sexual road map is the same. When her cadre of lesbian friends ostracize her for dating a man it's just an example how how sexual prejudice isn't just a straight issue. Lastly, the movie seems to imply that Alyssa is romantically involved with the woman she's sitting at the table with at the con in the final scene of the movie, implying that while she won't allow herself to be defined by the role of lesbian, she's still more romantically comfortable with women than she is with men.
This one seems less weird to me because I (a male) was once in a relationship with someone who had identified as and lived as a lesbian for several years...
So I can tell you from experience that this is not a comic that you want to read. It would be ambiguous, uncomfortable, full of second-guessing, and then the ending would be unsatisfactory for everyone.
I'll admit, I understand his quandary, because Batwoman is extremely hot. However, she's fictional and she's a lesbian. Nobody's scoring with her, and if she gets laid in the comics, it'll look just as good regardless of her sexual orientation. And there are always the cosplayers, if you want to be a real creep about it.
Rigid definitions of sexuality don't really work that well in reality.
In the Kinsey studies, he had to devise a rating system for sexuality from 0 to 6, with 0 being only attracted to the opposite gender, and 6 being only the same gender. Notably, almost nobody was either a 0 or 6, but fell somewhere in between. Also, he found that people's sexuality could shift over time, say starting at a 2, drifting to a 5, and then returning to a 3 over several years or even decades. bi/hetro/homo really just doesn't cut it.
I'm mostly 5, in other words just what that guy is wishing Batwoman is, though I like to call myself bisexual. Except when calling myself lesbian makes something funnier.
The Kinsey scale would be great if more than like one person in a hundred knew what it was. But ultimately, we don't really need any of these labels. At all.
With whom he has had much experience...
ReplyDeleteand a nice case of moobs
ReplyDeleteWere folks this crazy when Renee Montoya came out in Gotham Central?
ReplyDeleteI blame Kevin Smith and Chasing Amy.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of male-privilege. Does EVERYTHING a woman does has to center around the male-gaze? God, does this guy even know what a lesbian IS?
ReplyDeleteI hate it when men fetishize lesbians like this. Lesbians (and bisexuals) are not some strange creatures for you to ogle at! They are people!
I ogle at people.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a bisexuals? Are they girls? Do they look hot doing it with other girls? Can I have pictures of a hot bisexuals, please?
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining him saying this while Batwoman is in the room. And ~~smiling~~.
ReplyDeleteMy head hurts . . . .
ReplyDeleteThe answer to whether or not Batwoman is one of 'those' lesbians depends strongly on whether DC will allow Chuck Austen to write for them...
ReplyDelete"One of those Lesbians..."
ReplyDeleteYou mean Bisexuals? Because I don't remember Lesbians being the type of women to hook up with guys, period...
@Blandy: If you want to blame Chasing Amy, blame people who didn't pay attention to Chasing Amy. Alyssa is not a lesbian, she just thought she was. The movie is very clear about that, and her lesbian friends give her shit for it.
ReplyDeleteYes. Because if she hooks up with guys sometimes, she will definitely pick you.
ReplyDeleteObviously, by "guys" he meant Batman.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't blame her.
I never got past the logic of a guy watching porn (or reading erotic graphic novels, I dunno) with naked GUYS in it. Watching other men does it for them?
ReplyDeleteAny sex in Batwoman has no danger of "eye slippage".
@Anonymous, I'm not sure how carefully you watched Chasing Amy, but it's pretty clear that the movie isn't about whether Alyssa was a lesbian or not, but that sexuality is a plastic definition fueled not by external judgment but by internal desire, that when we let labels get in the way of honest attraction then we're in for a shitload of heartache and dissatisfaction, and that not everyone's sexual road map is the same. When her cadre of lesbian friends ostracize her for dating a man it's just an example how how sexual prejudice isn't just a straight issue. Lastly, the movie seems to imply that Alyssa is romantically involved with the woman she's sitting at the table with at the con in the final scene of the movie, implying that while she won't allow herself to be defined by the role of lesbian, she's still more romantically comfortable with women than she is with men.
ReplyDeleteNo. "Chasing Amy" is a fantasy movie about a comic book artist as attractive as Ben Affleck that has sex with women.
ReplyDeleteThis one seems less weird to me because I (a male) was once in a relationship with someone who had identified as and lived as a lesbian for several years...
ReplyDeleteSo I can tell you from experience that this is not a comic that you want to read. It would be ambiguous, uncomfortable, full of second-guessing, and then the ending would be unsatisfactory for everyone.
I ogle people too. What's wrong with ogling people? People are hot. I don't see why they need to be lesbians, I'll settle for female over 18.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit, I understand his quandary, because Batwoman is extremely hot. However, she's fictional and she's a lesbian. Nobody's scoring with her, and if she gets laid in the comics, it'll look just as good regardless of her sexual orientation. And there are always the cosplayers, if you want to be a real creep about it.
ReplyDeleteRigid definitions of sexuality don't really work that well in reality.
ReplyDeleteIn the Kinsey studies, he had to devise a rating system for sexuality from 0 to 6, with 0 being only attracted to the opposite gender, and 6 being only the same gender. Notably, almost nobody was either a 0 or 6, but fell somewhere in between. Also, he found that people's sexuality could shift over time, say starting at a 2, drifting to a 5, and then returning to a 3 over several years or even decades.
bi/hetro/homo really just doesn't cut it.
I'm mostly 5, in other words just what that guy is wishing Batwoman is, though I like to call myself bisexual. Except when calling myself lesbian makes something funnier.
DeleteThe Kinsey scale would be great if more than like one person in a hundred knew what it was. But ultimately, we don't really need any of these labels. At all.
oh how badly i want to KILL him
ReplyDelete- a lesbian
I could have sworn there was a continuity of Catwoman where Batman was her If It's You It's Okay.
ReplyDelete