The presence of the societal standards the women of today face are now more than ever related to the preconceived notion that they must live up to these expectations. This pressure to conform to the norm is only increased with the opinions of others or some sort of desire to please others. In the comic “Bitch Planet,” Kelly Sue DeConnick uses visual text, with the aid of some written text, to show the use of a society’s critiques towards one particular woman that exemplify the underlying flaws of the social expectations that women face in the world of today. The visual text shows recurring themes of facials expressions, gaze and body image to emphasize the opinions various men have formed while meticulously observing this woman with their standards of how a woman should look and behave.

Throughout this comic the reader is introduced to a woman named Penelope, who is the one being judged by society, but more specifically a group of men. The men appear in this comic through screens, with a different man in each individual screen. In the bottom panel of page 177, Penelope stands before the men with her back to the reader, while the men are in the background. The men have disgusted and taken aback expressions on their faces and it can be assumed that this is as a result of seeing Penelope. This conclusion can be reached because throughout the comic they analyze and negatively comment and react to Penelope and her body image. The men’s gaze is either directed specifically at Penelope or they are looking away from her in this panel. Through the men’s negative expressions of looking at the woman, her body does not please them nor meet their standards. This creates negative thoughts towards Penelope’s body image due to these men’s opinions because she does meet their standards of appraisal and their desire for her to conform to society. The use of these recurring visual aspects in this specific panel of the comic establishes the theme for the following panels of criticism a person is facing as a result of societal expectations. It focuses on the negative opinions these men have towards Penelope.

Later on in the comic, Penelope comes to terms with the criticism she has received from not only these men in the screens, but other people in society who negatively view and establish their opinions of her just based on her physical appearance. On the top panel of page 199, Penelope is asked to imagine what her ideal version of herself would be and she looks into the mirror to see that her ideal version is who she already is. This astonishes the men, as they are surprised and in disbelief to see Penelope’s self-content with her current body, when this particular body image is disliked by the men because she does not meet their criteria for what the woman’s appearance should be. The men’s gaze is directed towards Penelope while she is look into the sight of herself in the mirror and laughing. The expressions these men have is shock because they would have expected Penelope to picture, for example, a thinner woman that would fit one of the standards in the society of today. As she comes to terms with being her best version of herself, Penelope defiantly goes against the men and society’s expectations for how a woman should look by being proud of what she looks like.

By having written text along with the images in the comic, the text supplements the ideas being portrayed in the panels. The words form the thoughts that relate to the character’s expressions in the comic. In the panel on page 177, one of the men states, “What have you done to yourself?” This was said as a result of seeing Penelope before them. She did not please them because they had looks of disbelief, but this questions further shows how throughout the comic they judged her appearance. In the panel on page 199, another man questions, “That’s her best version of herself?” By questioning the result of Penelope’s ideal version, they verbally dislike her body image by not believing this image in the mirror because it goes against their perception of what a female should aspire to look like. This agrees with the facial expressions the men have they are looking down upon Penelope in disbelief. The use of the written text connects specifically to the reactions the characters have in the comic.

The use of visual aids, such as facial expressions, gaze and body image, with some written text surrounding the panel, reiterate the opinions of judgmental people in society today that have such harsh views towards women or symbolize the ideals that women believe they must meet to be accepted in society. By having multiple screens that each have a different man’s expressions while observing and critiquing Penelope, show their judgement towards her because she doesn’t not fit into their societal expectations for a woman. This comic not only showed that men have biased views men have towards women, but examples of societal standards women believe have been placed as a marker of who they are as a person. This visual text is generally directed at the society we live in today, but more specifically it is targeted at women who feel these societal pressures or recognize that these body image expectations exist. These expectations in our society have been increased the development of social media because our accounts symbolize to the virtual world who we are. Due to this, we view ourselves in the way we anticipate others will view us through our tweets or Instagram posts. This has only added to people, especially women, feeling the need to have to alter their image through filters to fit into and be accepted by society.
