Cookie baking bitch - Women in Refrigerators: 13 years later

January 28, 2012

Women in Refrigerators: 13 years later - Part Two

(Trigger warning: this post contains discussion of rape, sexual assault, sexual violence against women) ALSO - updated thanks to northstarfan and arseniclace

One of the questions the Carnival asked of comic focused bloggers was ‘why is this the Women in Refrigerators list still relevant today?’ And it is still relevant because women are still being written in a way that makes it a very hostile environment for women to want to read superhero comics.

Female characters are drawn in a way that emphasizes them as a heterosexual male fantasy or object of desire.
Women in comics are called degrading names (ie. Catwoman and Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City - a video game created in the spirit of the comics; Catwoman being called a ‘bitch’, ‘gutter slut’, etc. in Paul Dini’s Heart of Hush series; a ‘tramp’ by Damian Wayne in Streets of Gotham).
They are put into limbo or fans are informed that they weren’t really the hero everyone thought were (Donna Troy, Cassandra Cain, Mia Dearden, Grace Choi, Renee Montoya to name a few; Stephanie Brown is constantly denied the status of Robin by the heads of DC).
They are drawn in a one-size fits all manner (Amanda Waller - women of size are not allowed in this world).
They are maimed, killed, depowered, and assaulted. And when they are killed, it is often in extremely gruesome and horrifying ways: the latest was in the recent Batman: Leviathan where Jezebel Jet’s head is seen on a stake.
And, finally, they are the number one victims of sexual violence.

I also wanted to highlight sexual violence against female characters because without a doubt, this does not happen to male characters at even remotely the same rate. As comic creator Caitlin Kiernan said in response to the Women in Refrigerators list, “I do suspect that female characters endure much more in the way of sexual violence, since the primarily male audience would find sexual violence against men distasteful and turn away, and the writers and editors know that.”

What Kiernan says underscores the fact that the male (essentially white heterosexual male) audience is much more important than the female audience who would find the amount of sexual violence against women in comics to be offensive, hostile, off-putting, demeaning and degrading.

Phil Jimenez responded to the Women in Refrigerators list by saying, ”Without a doubt, female characters are abused and degraded in ways male characters never would be, for various reasons, ranging from the mostly male, mostly white creators of these books venting their (often subconscious) lack of respect for women in the books themselves, to the fact that many of the females (like Supergirl or Batgirl or even Jade), are essentially satellite characters of the originals, and therefore are easier to “mess” with, without concern of ruining a particular “franchise.”

It’s an unfortunate trend, and one I can only hope does NOT continue.”

But, sadly, it has continued. I have created a list of women in comics who have been sexually manipulated/abused/molested/assaulted or raped. Others are victims of some kind of sexual violence, or were killed solely for their sexuality (ie. Silhouette) Some of these I took directly from the Women in Refrigerators list, others I researched on my own. You can read more about why I compiled this list here. This list is by no means exhaustive. It is a numbered list to show the actual number; not to qualify them in any ordered format.

Mia Dearden/Speedy - raped by her father when she was a child, ran away from home and forced into underage prostitution as a result. Nearly raped by a politician, and by Stanley Dover. Threatened by Dr. Light. She also is the only HIV positive character in superhero comics. Currently in limbo
Red Sonja - Brutally raped at 17 by the leader of a mercenary group
Jessica Jones/Jewel - sexually manipulated by the Purple Man who demeaned and humiliated her and asked her to beg him for sex, and would then deny her and force her to watch him rape or have sex with other women
Stephanie Brown/Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl - nearly sexually abused by her father’s friend. Brutal, highly sexualized torture by Black Mask. Denied being Robin by the powers that be at DC. Denied a memorial. Finally given a memorial. Currently in limbo
Talia al Ghul - threatened with rape by Bane
Sue Dibny - raped by Dr. Light as a way of providing angst for her husband. Then killed. This one is particularly insidious as her husband says, “I hope she fought” after learning that she had been raped. This statement is essentially victim blaming: if a woman does not fight back hard enough, she must have in some way wanted or consented to it.
Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle - shot in the spine, and then her clothes were removed so Joker could take pictures of her naked body as a way of further hurting her father (by degrading her)
Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel - raped and impregnated by… her own son
Felicia Hardy/Black Cat - in a retcon, we learn that she was raped by her boyfriend
Selina Kyle/Catwoman - In Catwoman #1: Metamorphosis, she is is beaten and raped by her pimp, Stan
Gloria from Batman 424 - raped by Felipe Garzonas. Commits suicide after Garzonas threatens to come after her again
Grace Choi - kidnapped, tattooed and pimped out as a child.
Cinder DuBois - of Cinder and Ashe by Gerry Conway. She was raped when she was 13
Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird - Phantom Rider abducts, drugs, and brainwashes Mockingbird into forgetting her original life and convinces her she is in love with Slade, and by implication in the story, raping her
Kate Bishop/Hawkeye II - attacked and raped while walking through a park. Used as motivation for her to become a superhero
Mark Millar has two entries that would absolutely count as being exploitative rape scenes: the Police chief’s daughter in Mark Millar’s Nemesis is raped by her own gay brother; and Kick-Ass’s love interest, Katie, is gang-raped by a character named The Motherfucker and his allies in Kick-Ass 2.
Dinah Lance/Black Canary II - tortured, made infertile, depowered - she is found hanging by her hands wearing just a T-shirt
Christine Helvin of Troublemakers - victim of date rape
Helena Bertinelli/Huntress II - sexually abused as a child
Sandra Woosan/Sandra Wu-San/Lady Shiva - forced by David Cain to produce a child with him
Power Girl - depowered, magically impregnated
Red Guardian II - kidnapped and brainwashed into the love-slave of a super-villain
Karen Page (Daredevil) - forcibly impregnated, made to believe that she had HIV by Mysterio and killed.
Michonne (Walking Dead) - violently raped and tortured by a character named the Governor to force her to reveal the location of a prison. She gets revenge by carving out her rapist’s eye, chopping off his arm, and cutting off his genitals.
Abigail “Abby” Arcane Holland - raped by her undead uncle when she thought it was her husband
Koriand’r/Starfire - raped, tortured, enslaved; forced into marriage… twice
Tara Markov/Terra - statutorily raped by Deathstroke
Diamondback - Beaten and raped by Crossbones as a teenager. Later kidnapped and beaten by him again. Injected with serum that made her mentally unstable. Graphically killed.
Edith Freiberg/Inertia, of Squadron Supreme - Abused by her parents. Raped by three boys. Her father refused to believe her because she didn’t have an injury and said she was just promiscuous.
Liberty (SuperPatriot’s daughter) - Repeatedly raped by invading martians as a way to get back at her father. She becomes pregnant as a result and keeps the child.
Sandra Knight/Phantom Lady - Abducted while pregnant. Left for dead and fetus stolen from womb. Recovered, but never reunited with husband or lost child. Retired from crime-fighting.
Silhouette, of Minutemen - Killed for being a lesbian. The violence here was because of her sexuality
Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre I - Attempted rape & severe beating by Comedian. The rape attempt was stopped by Hooded Justice. As Hooded Justice helps her up, he says, “Get up… and for God’s sake, cover yourself.” It essentially implies that the way she dresses contributed to the attempted rape.
Windfall - Drugged. Gang raped by a group of Frat boys. Pictures of rape posted on internet, which resulted in her expulsion from school. Dead.
Sooraya Qadir/Dust - her niquab and abaya were taken forcibly from her by X-23 and she was left in her shorts and t-shirt [Additional context] (This is not just a sexual assault, but is also a racist act. And this does and has happened in real life)
Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk - horribly slut-shamed (While not a physical assault, it serves to degrade women who like sex and make them appear to be worthless, and within rape culture, considered more culpable if raped or sexually assaulted)
Laura Kinney/X-23 - forced into underage prostitution
Arella was raped by the demon Trigon, leading to the conception of their daughter Raven.
Red Lantern Bleez was repeatedly raped by members of the Sinestro Corps after her home planet was overrun, which inspired her with the rage to become a member of the Red Lantern Corps. This story appeared on July 22, 2009.
Harriet Arkham and her daughter were both brutally raped and murdered by Martin “Mad Dog” Hawkins.
Crazy Jane - molested and attempted rape
Janissa the Widowmaker - raped repeatedly by multiple demons for months to make her stronger
Hippolyta – raped by Heracles
Artemis of Bana-Mighdall - raped, beaten and tortured at first, at the hands of her “husband” (Dalkriig-Hath) and possibly other demons. Eventually, Artemis killed Dalkriig-Hath and regained access to the world of the living. Following the period of time when she took over Wonder Woman’s role.
In the Miracleman comic - Dr. Emil Garganza, raped a Mexican gang leader’s wife in front of the leader, before killing him.
In the graphic novel Joker, Johnny Johnny’s ex-wife is raped by Joker to get back at his henchman and put him in line.
Lianna, the girlfriend of Scandal Savage in Secret Six is stalked and harassed and repeatedly called a whore
Gwen Stacy - killed by Norman Osborn for being pregnant with his twins
The Amazons – raped by Heracles and his soldiers
Maki Matsumoto/Lady Bullseye from Daredevil. She was kidnapped and about to be sold into sex slavery by the Yakuza, before being accidentally freed by Bullseye, which inspired her to become an assassin like him.
Xi’an “Shan” Coy Manh/Karma - Thai pirates attacked Karma’s family on her way from Vietnam to the United States, raped her and her mother, and killed her father. Her mother died soon afterwards.
Gamora (seen in in Warlock and the Infinity Watch, among others) was raised and trained by death-worshipper Thanos of Titan after she was orphaned. When she runs away while they’re on a trip, she’s beaten and raped by a group of thugs, which provides the impetus for Thanos to rebuild her stronger and more powerful than she was before.
Ultimate Comics Avengers Petra Laskov/Red Wasp/Wasp II. She was a promising scientist, married to an activist, and had a baby. Then the Red Skull shows up, because he’s working for the side the husband is protesting against. The scientist, forced to choose between her husband and child, kills her husband, only for Red Skull to then toss her baby out a third story window, and have his men gangrape her. This leads to her becoming the Wasp.
Jenny Hayden/Jade - Her Starheart power, and her hair and skin changing to the colour green were “defensive reactions” to being sexually abused
Ultimates verse Rogue: childhood sexual abuse by her father revealed in a throwaway line
Stacy X: same as Ultimates verse Rogue (part of Chuck Austen giving characters abusive/evil father figures in a run that also included a raped nun going insane and trying to destroy the Catholic church via exploding communion wafers)
Jeanne-Marie Beaubier: childhood sexual abuse retconned into a past that already included explicit physical and emotional abuse and repeatedly subjected to sex to which her base personality did not consent to from her teammate, Sasquatch
Sin / Synthia Schmidt -. In Captain America v5 #15, Crossbones for weeks repeatedly tortured and abused his girlfriend, Sin until she remembered who she was. The last page depicts her remembering she’s evil and the Red Skull’s daughter, so she goes to Crossbones and thanks him for all the brutality and they have sex.
Mercury / Cessily Kincaid - In New X-Men v2 #33-36, she was kidnapped by the Facility and they tortured her with repeated electrocution in her bra & underwear to separate her skin, so they could create the monster, Predator X.
616!Rogue was sexually abused when she was captured in Genosha.
Sharona Jackson/Rapture - Woman of colour from a disadvantaged background who was forced into prostitution at a young age. Killed by the villian Dark Lord. Alternate version was targeted for sexual assault by another villain, then had her skull crushed by the cape who “rescued” her.
Annie (no last name) - raped and discarded by Dragon!verse Thor, kept the child, then was murdered by Thor for hiding his son from him.
Jill August/Dart - comes from an abusive home, snaps and becomes a superhero after she and a friend are assaulted by several men in a bar. Was killed when an ally accidentally pulverized her skull in battle.
Michelle Gonzales - raped by the Chameleon, who deceived her into thinking he was her roommate, Peter Parker. The aftermath, wherein Michelle thinks she’s had sex with Peter and expects a relationship from him, is then played for humor value.