Due to the portrayal of a perfect female through the media, women strive to conform to a specific image. In Bitch Planet, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, she uses a dystopia to convey how women are oppressed by society and the effect of outside influences in relation to the way females view themselves. Penelope, the main character is sent to “Bitch Planet" to erase her confidence and self-security and becomes a victim of female oppression. By observing the contrast of color, the symbol of the moon, as well as close up shots in Bitch Planet, we can observe racial divide, male dominance, as well as frustration expressed by Penelope; this is important because we can see the pressure women receive from society to fit a specific image. 

In mainstream media, the ideal woman is typically portrayed as a Caucasian female. The same concept transfers over into the comic, Bitch Planet. On page 188, in the top right panel, the illustrator uses the contrast between darker and lighter skin tone to demonstrate how African American women are belittled in society due to their physical appearance. In the comic strip, Kelly Sue DeConnick, intentionally uses a darker skin tone to portray Penny compared to the lighter skin tone to emphasize the racial divide. The Caucasian women in Bitch Planet says “Either curl up or lay down” in response to Penny’s question concerning her hair, “what is it supposed to do?”. The white women expects Penny’s hair to behave as she would like it to; this demonstrates how racial divide influences conformity. Historically, African Americans have not been associated with the terms “pretty” or “attractive”, therefore, due to her lighter skin color, the Caucasian lady feels entitled to judge and dictate how Penelope looks. By commanding the actions of Penny’s hair, the sense of conformity is introduced. The expectation of conformity emphasizes the perspective of the white women and her view of Penelope as a subordinate. 

In Bitch Planet, Penelope receives an excessive amount of judgement from not only other women in the comic, but the male characters as well. “The fathers”—whom are Caucasian men attempt to alter Penelope’s thoughts on herself and work to persuade her to become the woman the state would like her to be, not the women Penelope would like to be. When the fathers make an appearance in the comic, the background includes a white space with a circle centered behind their head (DeConnick 177). The circle behind the father’s head serves has a parallel to the halo behind Jesus Christ’s head, as appeared in many pictures. This symbolized the superiority and all righteous attitude the fathers portray. The circular background communicates the fathers as a position of higher power; the attitude of higher power communicated through image assist the author in expressing the fathers subordinate attitude towards penny. In Christianity, Jesus Christ is the savior and lover of all his children; this is the actions the fathers attempt to emulate towards Penelope, but in a condescending fashion. One of the fathers says “Penelope, your fathers love you. It pains us to see you like this” (DeConnick 178). The fathers appear to care for Penelope and feel sympathy for her, but the pain they feel is the result to her rebellion against their wishes and expectations they have for her life. The contumelious tone is easily disguised due to the image in which they are portrayed. Penny not only is seen as a subordinate due to the darkness of her skin compared to the father, but her positon in the image in relation to them as well. When the fathers attempt to alter her perception of her image, the fathers are speaking to her as if she is physically positioned below them in the bottom panel of page 177; the fathers are physically placed above penny to correlate with the idea that they are in a higher power than penny and her subordinate status to the white males in the comic. This demonstrates the amount of pressure being applied to Penelope so she will imitate the women in the dystopia who are portrayed as “perfect”.   

Due to the constant intervention and harassment from judgement and mistreatment, Penelope expresses her anger and frustration on several occasions. To grasp the full understanding of emotions expressed by Penelope, close ups of her facial expressions are used throughout the comic. The close ups focus on her eyes which evoke anger from mistreatment. The grinding of her teeth is used to show her intense efforts to hold back built up anger she has toward the Caucasian population in the comic (DeConnick 195). When Penny is attached to the system to gain a new vision of herself, the closer image of her facial area allows her rebellion against the fathers to be revealed (DeConnick 198). The closer image of Penny’s face allows the reader to focus on how the visuals contribute to the argument made in the comic. The closer images in the early parts of the comic communicate irritation and a sense of rage, but in the later part of the comic when Penny rebels against the dystopian system, there is a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction expressed by Penelope due to her “accomplishment” (DeConnick 199). The close up shots of both emotions allow for easy comparison to be made by the reader. When Penelope is released from the fathers’ system a sense of relief is felt. The pressure of the need to conform from a specific image and obtain a particular look—against what she believed—led to negative emotions, which were displayed in close images. 

Kelly Sue DeConnick’s uses her comic, Bitch Planet, to inform society on the ways in which judgement and expectations placed on women leads to frustration and anger; perceptions of others do not provide happiness to that individual. Women, in general, are expected to follow the rules or expectations of men without question; African American women are belittled concerning their beauty due to them lacking the perfect “Hollywood” image portrayed in the media. Rarely is it ever expressed from a women’s perspective on how it feels to be judged. The author carefully uses details in the images to communicate how common influences effect women self-confidence regarding self-image. 

