I want some Valkyries

[I hesitate to tag this 'meta' because it's more of a rambly rant than anything else... maybe I should create a 'rant' tag? Anyway. I know it's all been said before, but I guess I woke up annoyed. *g*]

I get excited by projects like Models INC and Marvel Divas because I like girly confections like Janes In Love and Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane, just as much as I love a good punch-up. Both of those projects suffered horribly from bad marketing, and a strange lack of spark. They weren't the best vanguards for Marvel's push into 'girl' territory - really, Westernized shoujo stories - but hopefully there are more and better projects coming down the pike, because 'girl comics' is still an area that Western comics publishers have neglected. I think there's room in the market for romance comics, female friendship comics, and adventure and superhero comics with female protagonists. I want all of this stuff, and lots of it.

However, when it comes to superhero comics, what I want are some more Valkyries. I appreciate all sorts of female characters. I like smart girls, crafty girls, hopeless romantics, emotional wrecks, political dynamos, femme fatales, and ass kickers. I love them all - provided they're well written. But when it comes to superheros - to superheroines - I like my girls fierce. Righteous (or self-righteous), powerful and determined - I want me some heroes who are on fire.

I'm tired of heroines who have a tortured relationship to their sexuality, or the endless parade of heroines who are motivated by their having survived a sexual assault. I'm tired of damn near every female villain ~using their sexuality as a weapon~. I'm tired of the Madonna/whore complex, and I'm tired of female sexuality being a space of exploitation and fear. ( Read more... )