
On the surface, Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick,  seems like a simple comic book. The moral of the comic is obviously that one should not care about what others think of them; that the only thing that matters is if you like yourself. However, Bitch Planet offers a much deeper insight into today’s society and political agenda. Bitch Planet is a brilliantly crafted analysis and critique on how society views women. DeConnick’s own background may have played a large role in her inspiration to create Bitch Planet. As a child, DeConnick was raised on several different Air Force Bases. This upbringing could be seen as male-dominated and masculine. With a feminism movement that was just starting to gain traction, and an abundance of comics on the bases, DeConnick was able to harness all of her childhood and past memories and create comics such as Bitch Planet. 

Bitch Planet starts off immediately with a reference to such societal beliefs. One of the “crimes” that Penelope has committed is “wanton obesity” (177/4-5). They look upon Penelope as if she has ruined herself by weighing as much as she does. To assume that someone’s body shape and size is completely out of spite of society is obviously ridiculous. As James H. Kavanaugh explains in his essay "Son of a Bitch": Feminism, Humanism, and Science in "Alien"; 

“Within a rigorous Marxist theory of history, society, and culture, it is a theoretical error to found a transformative program for social liberation on the pseudo-concept "man"... For Marxism, there is no such thing as man; there are specific men and women” (Kavanaugh 90). Kavanaugh explains how in reality there is no definition for what makes a man a man and a woman a woman. They are flowing ideas that can be applied to pretty much anyone. The only thing that truly binds a person are “specific classes, with class standing as the significant category of an effective theory of social transformation” (Kavanaugh 90).

As Bitch Planet continues, scenes of feminine strength appear to play the devil’s advocate against the world of men. A flashback shows the support Penelope’s mother provided for her. Her mother repeats terms such as “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “you’ll be as big and strong as an oak, like your daddy” (179/1-3). Penelope’s mom defies the social standards in these panels, telling Penelope that it is perfectly okay to be big and strong like a man. This concept of “be who you want to be” is immediately struck down, as authorities arrest Penelope’s mom for being “delusional, and dangerous” (184/2).  

Abigail M. Feder provides a synopsis of societal sexualization of women in her journal, Big Girls Do Cry: Femininity and "Toughness" in the Kerrigan-Harding Affair. Feder describes the incident of Nancy Kerrigan injury after the National Championship in the winter of 1994. As reports of a violent attack on Kerrigan surfaced, the media responded in horror. However, a large part of this shock was not in response to Kerrigan’s well-being. Instead, the media was afraid that their self-constructed figure-skating dream of “gauze and sequins and flowers and ‘ladies’ ‘floating’” was in jeopardy (Feder 17). The media then turned the story towards the rivalry between Kerrigan and Tonya Harding; 

The rivalry between Tonya Harding and Kerrigan became a classic tale of wicked witch and innocent princess. The 2I February 1994 cover of Time, with Kerrigan skating in the front in a white dress and Harding's face, dark and brooding in the background, was the ultimate illustration of this trend. But this case also opened a forum for some thoughtful commentary about the narrow range of acceptable images for women athletic competitors. Is it possible to resolve the contradictions between proper femininity and appropriate athletic ambition. (Feder 18)

Harding was consistently viewed as a monster or villain. Nancy Kerrigan, on the other side of the spectrum, was viewed as a “damsel in distress” (Feder 19). In this situation, society was able to set aside the fact that Kerrigan and Harding are two strong, competing figure skaters. They subjectively made Kerrigan the weak woman who needs help and Harding the masculine woman who was set on destroying Kerrigan’s career. This essay was published during the beginning of “third-wave feminism”, which was a movement in the nineties that focused on rights for queer and non-white women. At a time when the feminism movement was so prevalent, this essay provided a very important look into society at the time. DeConnick would have been in her early twenties at the time, most likely facing with the height of sexism for her as a young woman. 

DeConnick continues Penelope’s “masculine” background with a flashback to her days in some sort of foster care facility. Penelope is reprimanded for beating up a boy. Her punishment, however, comes in the form of change. Mother Siebertling begins to change Penelope’s hair style. Siebertling explains that her hair does not do what it is supposed to do. Here, DeConnick makes a direct connection between Penelope’s behavior and her hair. Like her hair style, Penelope does not conform to what society has deemed appropriate. Siebertling has deemed it appropriate for her fair to “either curl up or lay down” while society has deemed it necessary for Penelope, along with all other women, to act according to the gender norms that they created (188/2). This scene also plays into the sexualization of women. Penelope’s hair does not look physically appealing in the eyes of Mother Siebertling. In recent history, sexism has come in several forms. The most common being gender norms. This scene acts as a critique of these norms as a whole. Rose Weitz explains the danger of such norms in her essay “Women and Their Hair: Seeking Power through Resistance and Accommodation”. Weitz writes,  “Power based on conventional attractiveness is also fragile, achieved one day at a time through concentrated effort and expenditures of time and money” (676). Wietz criticizes the idea that real power comes from looks. Hair styles, she argues, are a great form of expression for women. Wietz explains that “Hairstyles serve as important cultural artifacts, because they are simultaneously public (visible to everyone), personal (biologically linked to the body), and highly malleable to suit cultural and personal preferences” (667). DeConnick continues her visual metaphor with the conversation between Penelope and Mother Siebertling. Siebertling, on the topic of hair style, says, “It’s not black or white, good or bad. Folks don’t know what to make of it because they don’t know what it is” (188/2). DeConnick attempts to help the reader resonate with Penelope and her fight against societal standards with her simple question following Siebertling’s response; “Why folks gotta say what I am, mother? Ain’t it enough to know who I am?” (188/3). Siebertling’s following response represents society’s viewpoint towards the subject as whole, “No, Penny. It doesn’t work like that. You need to learn to see yourself through the father’s eyes. And I will teach you, Penny. I will teach you, if it kills us both” (188/4). Mother’s response symbolizes the forceful way society has pushed misogyny and sexism. “Father” represents the patriarchal standards and how the male decides what is right and what is wrong; especially in dealing with women and how they look, act, and feel. It is apparent that DeConnick focused on using small moments and symbols to push her anti-misogyny agenda. 

DeConnick continues her graphic novel but changes the focus of her narrative. The next scene shows armed men strapping wires all over Penelope’s body in an attempt to figure out what she believes to be her “ideal” self. In this section, it appears that DeConnick is criticizing the idea that women are viewed to be less of a person than men. Penelope is treated like a lab rat in order to help the cause of the men around her. The man in charge of the facility asks Penelope, “How long since you imagined what your life could be like if you were more compliant, Penelope? How long since you prioritized how others seen you? (190/3-4). The fact that Penelope is locked up because she simply isn’t compliant towards what the men want is DeConnick’s main focus here. DeConnick’s viewpoint and argument is very similar to that of  Grace P. Lau, Aaron C. Kay, and Steven J. Spencer in their short essay Loving Those Who Justify Inequality: The Effects of System Threat on Attraction to Women Who Embody Benevolent Sexist Ideals; “ 

Stereotypes of men and women, in particular, can serve as psychological tools that justify and maintain social inequality. For example, Jackman (1994) has suggested that ascribing favorable and flattering, but clearly stereotypical, traits to women reduces resistance to gender-based role divisions (also see Hoffman & Hurst, 1990) by subtly implying that women are well suited to the roles they have traditionally occupied, and that stereotypically feminine traits are valued by society. (20)

Just by the existence of these stereotypes, women have not been able to have the opportunities that they should. 

DeConnick later shows that this sexism is not all aimed towards Penelope. An advertisement for yogurt with a picture of a white, blonde woman in a suggestive position stands in the background as an angry male asks a bystanding woman in a assaultive manner if she rolled her eyes at him. Again this represents the view that women are less than men. It’s clear that DeConnick portrays males as the more dominating sex, as the women pretty much have to say and do whatever they want. 

DeConnick shifts her focus greatly in the following scene. Penelope gets angered as two men talk about her, “No wonder she’s state sponsored, christ. Look at her, who wants to come home to that? Skins, they like ‘em big like that. It’s in their animal nature-- big asses, big lips You ever fuck a skin? Wild” (194/1-2). Here, DeConnick changes her focus from sexism to racism. However, as Diane K. Lewis writes in her essay, A Response to Inequality: Black Women, Racism, and Sexism, sexism and racism commonly go hand-in-hand:

Black women, due to their membership in two subordinate groups that lack access to authority and resources in society, are in structural opposition with a dominant racial and a dominant sexual group. In each subordinate group they share potential common interests with group comembers, black men on the one hand and white women on the other. Ironically, each of these is a member of the dominant group: black men as men, white women as whites. Thus, the interests which bind black women together with and pull them into opposition against comembers crosscut one another in a manner which often obscures one set of interests over another. (Lewis 343)

DeConnick has heightened the discrimination in Bitch Planet as Penelope is both black and a woman. Here, Deconnick shows the extent of discrimination in society; that is is not limited to just race or gender, but is combined together. 

In the next few panels, DeConnick pivots to the sexualization and body image stereotypes of women. A female news anchor interviews an “expert on celebrity eating habits” who mentions the newest diet trend; a gastrointestinal parasite. The following panel shows three women discussing a miniscule amount of calories and the effect it may have on them. These panels relate directly to Kathy Miriam’s argument about the SlutWalk campaign in Feminism, Neoliberalism, and SlutWalk:

we're here to demand a world in which what we do with our bodies is nobody's business. But what women actually do with our bodies is, in reality, majorly big business. Indeed, to the tune of billions, corporate investment in branding female sexuality is obvious; ever-new body-modifying and mutilating procedures are promoted as necessary for women's "self-esteem." The structural causes of how women dress and adorn ourselves as a class are obfuscated by the emphasis on individual self-determination. (263). 

The feminist movement has battled the stereotypes and gender norms they have faced for a very long time. One common sexist topic common in media is the sexualization of women. Models have to be thin, advertisements have to have “perfect” looking women, and unhealthy diet trends promote losing as much weight as possible regardless of any risk. These panels represent the misguided belief that women must look a certain way to be deemed “beautiful”. Society has created these “rules” that women have to, according to the media, live by. 

Bitch Planet ends in a huge climax, as Penelope grabs a dough roller and smashes the news feed and attacks one of the males who she overheard talking about her. After all of the discrimination, DeConnick ends her comic on a good note, as it is discovered that Penelope’s “ideal” version of herself is her current self; proving that the most important thing is to be comfortable with who you are.

Overall, Kelly DeConnick did a wonderful job with representing society’s sexist stereotypes through small symbols. DeConnick was able to create a visual and written battle between Penelope’s own conscious and the standards that were set in stone by the predominately male-dominated society. Society, for too long, has deemed women to be inferior to males. A constant barrage of stereotypes and misogynistic ideas has partially halted the progress of women. However, through literature such as Bitch Planet, it is evidently clear that a movement to get back on the right path in society is underway. 
