In “Bitch Planet” by Kelly Sue DeConnick there is another world built through the cartoon. Women are dictated by their fathers, or controlling men of the society, and punished for being obese or not what the men perceive as perfect. It brings the reader into a futurist world which has some of the same twisted ideas of the modern world. It enlarges the idea that bigger women are unwanted and sexualizes thin women in advertisements and in casual conversation. This is can be seen throughout multiple panels of the comic. The comic is repetitively sexualizing the thin women and shamming the bigger women with the use of language and background images. 

There are two images of a woman eating food in a seductive position that is somewhat hidden in the background when you first begin to read on page 193. This goes to show that the women are sexualized for their bodies in hopes that it will help sell their product to both women, who wish they were like her, and men, who want to be with her. It can easily go both ways, especially when the larger women are shamed for not losing the weight in both the cartoon and real world. We also see the news report about tweens eating parasites in order to lose the weight faster. We see all ages trying internet diet fads in order to lose weight even today. Teens all over the world are trying different dieting fads in order to try to fit the ever-changing body type that is in demand. By making this relatable connection the reader can connect the diet fads happening today to the dieting fad in the comic and make it feel more realistic. Following the news report a woman comes to order “one sugar-free, salt-free, gluten-free muffin and three plates” (DeConnick194). She plans on splitting a muffin with almost nothing in it with three other people. This also falls under the dieting umbrella because the women feel as if they have to eat like a bird in order to look like the men want them to. They believe that by eating as little as possible they will become more beautiful, which is a very twisted way to think. Although this is an extreme version, we do see this in today’s world. Celebrities everywhere are cutting out things from their diet that they do not need to in order to lose weight. Thousands of people will also starve themselves because they think that it helps them to lose weight, but it just hurts their body more. The writer exemplifies the problems in today’s pop culture to a new level to allow the reader to see how insane it really is.

On the next page we can see the men casually speaking poorly of the bigger woman who is working. One of them talks about having sex with a “skin” and saying how wild it is while smiling and sipping on his coffee with no cares about who overhears him (DeConnick 195). It shows how the men have little shame in what they say and are proud of themselves for doing such things. Directly after that there is a close up of the larger woman. This forces the reader to focus on her face and her face alone. From this image you can see the pure anger and frustration in her face from what these men are saying. By using this tactic, the writer is amplifying the emotion in order to ensure that the reader does not have a chance to miss this important detail. Following that we see the news report continue on about the parasite conveying it in a way that is positive and makes it sound as if it is something that everyone should experience. By using words like ”wish” and “dream come true” (DeConnick 194) they make it seem like a positive even though it is most likely harmful. However, in the society that the writer has created this truly is a dream come true for a majority of the people who live in it. It allows them to no longer be tortured by the men and fathers because of their size and lets them fit in. We can also see the obvious frustration that the larger worker has with the report through the use of action words and visuals, making the image seem as if she is punching the dough as hard as she can. Without this it may just seem like she was doing her job casually. With this addition it adds a sense of frustration that is being exerted into the dough.

On the next panel all three of the women have split the muffin and have discovered that it would be ten calories per person. Then one of them brags about how much the excreted and the others say how jealous they are of them. It may sound foolish what they are saying, but it is most likely happening right now. It may not be quite as extreme however, in some shape or form there is a group of people who are calculating their calories and bragging about how much weight they have lost. One of the next images is of the man comparing the “skins” to an animal. He is still smirking and drinking his coffee while he says it. His tone has not changed on the subject even though now he is treating the person like a piece of meat and that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. He truly feels like there is nothing more to the person other than an object of sex. As this is happening the writer repeats the forceful blows of the previous panel, but begins zoomed out and progressively brings it in to a close up of her face while still using the words and visuals and alternating between the customers and the woman. By doing so it builds the tension as to what may happen next. As the people surrounding the woman say something offensive or demeaning to themselves the clarity of her face rises along with her frustration.

In the world DeConnick has created we can see body shaming and sexualizing which also reflects back to the real world. She executes this in various images to ensure that her idea is conveyed and not missed. The use of close up images also helped to convey the emotion in the characters that other images may not have completely shown. By using ideas that are also in real life she makes the comic more relatable even though it is meant to be in a futuristic world. For example, she includes a news report of a new fad diet which is similar to the real work diet fads. Teens and adults all over the world are trying different dieting fads in order to try to fit the ever-changing body type that is in demand. By making this relatable connection the reader can connect the diet fads happening today to the dieting fad in the comic and make it feel more realistic. Although this is an extreme version, we do see this in today’s world. Celebrities everywhere are cutting out things from their diet that they do not need to in order to lose weight. Thousands of people will also starve themselves because they think that it helps them to lose weight, but it just hurts their body more. The writer exemplifies the problems in today’s pop culture to a new level to allow the reader to see how insane it really is.  This maybe to show that even though things may change along the way we will still have common issues that will continue on no matter what. 
