Today, our society faces a major problem regarding basic human equality. Throughout the 20th century there have been many protests for civil rights, specifically movements relating to women’s rights. Women have gained many rights because of these actions and continue to spread messages of equal rights for all. Although we have made significant progress, there are still inequalities between men and women. People continue to stereotype, judge and categorize one another based on their gender identities, race, sexual orientation and more. This has led to the shaming of feminist ideologies and as a result, is furthering our oppression. Numerous sources point towards complete denial of the existence of sexism and racism in today’s culture, which is absolutely ridiculous. Kelly Sue DeConnick’s character in Bitch Planet, Penny, combats this oppression and disparity by practicing self-confidence, while dealing with the struggles of life as an African American woman. 

In many modern day instances discrimination is found in social media interactions rather than violation of legal rights. Intriguingly, I noticed a recent controversy while browsing Twitter involving a female comic writer, Chelsea Cain. Many users were outrages by her comic Mockingbird, because of the cover photo showing the lead character wearing a tee shirt saying “ask me about my feminist agenda.” People seemed to believe that there is no room for a feminist message in comics. Not only did they disagree with the message of her writing, but harassed her and some sent rape threats (Clark). Cain noted in a tweet that she never blocked anyone on Twitter until she started writing a relatively low-profile comic book series, never having to in her years as a novelist selling millions of books. “Cain subsequently expressed that this type of harassment is a problem specific to the comics industry” (Couto). Interestingly, the harassment is almost unique to the comic industry because of the specific audience of comics. Considering the large majority of disgruntled tweets were regarding the shirt the lead character wore promoting feminism, it appears the hatred is stemming from the fact that Cain is fighting the norms while writing about female empowerment in an industry that is largely dominated by men. 

To learn more about the situation I browsed #standwithchelseacain where I found that many users supported her and the way she chose to spread her message, although many were not so considerate. There were massive quantities of normal people tweeting angry, sexist things while not realizing their own sexism. One twitter user wrote “I don’t #standwithChelseaCain because I don’t like the religion of a spoiled white girl shoved down my throat.” While another wrote “I don’t #standwithChelseaCain because I don’t want puritans ruining comics again. #Feminismiscancer” This type of blatant disrespect for an individual who is simply fighting for equality is disturbing. Furthermore it proves that people are intolerant of the messages spread by feminists. Most of the people tweeting with an anti-feminist sentiment were white males. They likely feel that others mustn’t be experiencing inequality because they have been privileged enough to not suffer from it. 

Feminist shaming is not limited to ordinary citizens with angry impulsive tweets, it also ventures in to the world of writers and supposed feminists in academia. Camille Paglia is a well-known “dissident feminist” She claims to have feminist ideologies while critiquing many of the characteristics of modern day feminism. She holds the beliefs that the first and second waves of feminism were valid and necessary for true equality, but the third and most recent wave covering the 1990’s until now is attacking and targeting masculinity in all forms. Having said statements such as “If civilization had been left in female hands, we would still be living in grass huts” it is hard to understand Paglia’s claims of being a feminist at all (Lewis). 

In Paglia’s book, A Feminist Defense of Masculine Virtues, she explains why she believes that modern feminism is becoming somewhat of a monster that is destroying any semblance of masculinity. She elaborates by stating, “The emancipation of masculine virtues is something that is beginning as early as kindergarten in the U.S” (Montell). Claims like this can be damaging to the feminist movement’s progression. With self-proclaimed feminists writing books about how they disagree with the modern ideals it is significantly setting back the feminists. Rather than critiquing modern feminism as a whole she should critique the individuals within the movement who are giving it a bad name. It is undeniable that within every movement there are people who take things to extremes doing things such as discriminating against all men, however this is not at the heart of the movement and Paglia should acknowledge it. 

To the critic who argues that sexism is in the mind, income inequality continues to run rampant despite the many years of civil rights campaigning. Women are paid less than men for the same job, and that is tangible and irrefutable evidence that sexism is a real and pressing issue. Until equal work results in equal pay for men and women, no detractor can say that sexism is not a true modern-day civil rights crisis. Ignoring the unfair predicament will not cause its disappearance; in fact it only inflames the subject. A more effective solution would involve legislature revised to reform the unjust economic and social trend of income inequality. With tangible evidence of discrimination it is hard to understand the amount resistance against a movement with such pure intentions.

While attempting to identify the many critiques of the feminist movement, I wondered why it has been so misinterpreted by many people. Surely not all of them are just men threatened by it; there are also women who rebel against the perceived principles of feminism. I found a quote by Emma Watson that reads “The more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating.” This is likely one of the largest misconceptions about the feminist movement.  She acknowledges many of the gender stereotypes that can be harmful to men as well in the launch of the “HeforShe” campaign, such as pressures to act “aggressive” and “macho.” (Watson) By doing this she attempts to welcome men into the feminist movement and clarify many misconceptions. If more celebrities and known feminists would discuss the fact that the movement is about freeing all people from becoming trapped into gender stereotypes, perhaps we would not be seen as pity seeking man-haters and the word feminist would no longer be looked down upon by so many individuals.  

The more we speak about feminism, the more we can open peoples eyes to the true messages of it, the more easily it will be to gain a following and make appropriate societal changes. Many female writers like Cain have boldly brought feminism into the male-dominated industry of comics. The more we talk about uncomfortable subjects the more easily it is to address the problems facing us. DeConnick does this through her comic Bitch Planet. In DeConnick’s Bitch Planet she examines the ways patriarchal ideologies can be put into practice through a dystopian society whose values may not be as far-fetched as they seem. The ways in which the system has harmed Penelope to make her more violent and frustrated creates a parallel to real modern-day society. Images we see in advertisements showing unrealistically thin women lying on cars eating cheeseburgers don’t encourage women to be confident in themselves and eat what they want; it teaches us that we are mere objects and that the standards expected of us are unattainable, leading to a burden on our women. Relating this idea to Bitch Planet, DeConnick shows that this boarding school that was determined to make her a perfect specimen of a women has not made Penelope more compliant to the rules of society, it has fueled her anger and hatred towards it.  DeConnick emphasizes the standards that women are held to in modern society by highlighting the ways that many women feel because of society’s expectations. When Penelope has an uncontrollable fit of rage, the illustrations illuminate the frustration felt by women in modern-day western civilizations. She is depicted throwing things at people and destroying the bakery that she works in, while other women in this society just sit to the side and stare in horror. This parallels the conflict between women in our society. It shows that we struggle between succumbing to the standards expected of us and accepting ourselves for who we are. 

From the start of the comic, Penelope’s appearance makes it apparent that she would be mistreated in the patriarchal society of Bitch Planet. She is very large in stature, overweight, and African American. Meaning that many of her natural physical attributes are not considered to be ideal to the “Fathers.” She is not only a female but African American and that subjects her to many forms of discrimination. This is one of several reasons she gets sent to a boarding school that is supposed to train her to become a peg in the system. Penny starts being trained to fit into this society that never truly wants to accept her, but rather shape her to become the bare minimum of what they will accept. This lack of acceptance leads to an inner frustration that cant be fixed. This is shown through Penny’s numerous outbreaks. She knows that no matter what she does she will never be good enough for the Fathers or their societal standards. She appears drained an worn down while speaking to the Fathers in the beginning, but by the end she feels empowered because she realizes again that she is proud to be herself.  This shocks the fathers, because when they hook her up to a machine, which is supposed to show Penny’s vision of an ideal version of herself, it shows her reflection. The fathers are confused and assume that the machine is broken.  This reflects DeConnick’s hope for women in today’s society. Although life in a patriarchal society may wear down women, we must overcome these obstacles and be proud to be ourselves.

In the beginning, when Penelope faces the fathers in her orange jumpsuit, it is clear that she holds anger and resentment towards them. Although we do not yet know any of the hardships Penelope has experienced, because of the way she looks and her gender. Although we can infer that she has been mistreated because of the looks of disgust and frustration. Penelope looks aggressively at the Fathers who look at her as if she were an ugly animal. As their conversation progresses she looks pained and saddened as she begins to recall memories from her childhood. When Penelope has a flashback she appears innocent and happy. She was nothing other than an ordinary, innocent, happy little girl. By showing her past innocence, it makes it clear to the audience that Penelope was once a normal child, unaffected by the harsh truths of discrimination and authoritarian rule. After this flashback, the facial expressions of the fathers which appear aloof and falsely-concerned cause an outrage in the reader, similar to how Penelope feels. By showing her once held innocence, DeConnick plays with the reader’s perception by relating Penelope to the audience. 

Throughout Penelope’s life she is taught that she is lesser than the other women in her society because of the way she looks and expresses herself. But the sexism and racism she is subjected to isn’t always through blatant acts of disrespect, it is more frequently through seemingly small acts that reinforce these backwards ideologies. For example when Penny gets sent to the principles office Mother Sierbertling insists on saying things that perpetuate patriarchy and racism, but one can’t help but to wonder if she is even aware of this. They start a conversation about Penny’s grandmother whom Penny refers to as Bertha however the principal calls her “Mrs. Chester Alexander,” which was her husband’s name (DeConnick 186). When Penny brings this up, Mother Sierbertling just dismisses the fact that she will not even refer to the woman by her own name. Next in their encounter, “Mother” tries to tame Penny’s naturally curly, kinky, African American hair. When Penny questions “What’s wrong with it?” Mother replies with “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” (DeConnick 188) This perfectly exemplifies the ignorance that many people hold in regards to beauty standards and treatment of women. It is often the case that just because someone does something different than the ordinary, they are punished regardless of whether or not what they did was wrong. Rather than focusing on education and acceptance of our differences, we are often taught to repress the things that make us who we are. 

Next DeConnick shows a glimpse of what people in this dystopia are like with a flashback from Penny’s life. When Penny is working in the café several customers make belittling remarks such as calling her “sweetheart” in a condescending manner, then proceeds to say that if “these muffins [weren’t] so good [he’d] talk to [her] old man about this” (DeConnick 192) Penny quietly ignores these degrading remarks, but listens silently to the conversations going on around her. In the café there is a group of three thin white women who order a “sugar-free, salt-free, gluten-free muffin with three plates” to split between them. As the women sit down to eat their “15 calorie each” muffin, they talk about how they envy the bowels of each other for how easily they eliminate anything they injest. Meanwhile women on a talk show speak of a “Dream come true for teens who wished for a gastrointestinal parasite” (DeConnick 197) As these unwholesome conversations progress, Penny becomes increasingly outraged. This results in her knocking a man over the head with a rolling pin and demanding that everyone in the café get out immediately. This shows how much aggression she had pent up inside of her because she felt as though everyone else in her society was programmed to please the fathers. 

Many Americans hold the common belief that we live in one of the greatest countries in the world. While we have corrected many injustices, we have reached neither equality nor equity for our citizens. By acknowledging the privilege that some people hold over others we can work towards becoming a country that encourages success for people of all races, genders, sexualities and backgrounds. One such acknowledgment is that we live in a patriarchy, which impairs many young women for numerous reasons. Bitch Planet exemplifies many of the battles that women in our society face today. By recognizing that we are in a (white) male dominated society, we are able to work towards correcting actions that lead to our disadvantages. While many may think that patriarchy no longer exists, there is proof by finding parallels in the dystopia created by Deconnick. By telling the story of Penny, a woman who has been systematically oppressed, she opens peoples eyes to become more understanding about the practice of discrimination. 
