Bitch Planet issue #003, by Kelly Sue DeConnick is a feminist sci-fi comic about an African American woman named Penelope Leona Rolle as she struggles through life in an oppress, male dominated society.  The comic begins with her futuristic court hearing with only four walls of old white men on TV screens as judges.  It then proceeds to show her grandmother raising her, right before the state takes her from her loving home and put her into foster care.  Next, she is shown at school being scolded by the headmaster for punching a male student.  The headmaster straightens her hair for this misbehavior because it as well, refuses to behave.  She is then dealing with an unruly customer in her state funded bakery.  Overhearing comments from the customers angers her to the where she snaps and attacks a male customer.  She is then arrest, and the comic ends in present day as the wall of old white men attempt to display an image of her ideal self.  Through self-image, how women are imprisoned for not following these social norms, and the idea that women are looked down upon, demonstrates how feminism is in urgent need of implementation in this society.

People in this society are extremely concerned with women’s weight, and how low that number must be.  Hundreds of years ago, having more weight was a good thing.  In the medieval ages, “Food was considered a status symbol and medieval banquets, large meals or feasts… are the best evidence.  Quantity and diversity of food that was served revealed the social status of a guest by his/her seating place.  Guests ranked lower in the social hierarchy were served with less exquisite foods” (ItinerantGroup).  Kings and lords of castles usually were more plump than the average person, as they had more money to spend on food and other delights, than the surfs.  Since that period of time, having excess weight has slowly turned into a bad thing in society’s eyes.  If a person’s weight is too excessive compared to their height, they are medically considered unhealthy.  In our day and age women are expected to have a certain body figure, look, and weigh a certain way.  In Bitch Planet, this is reflected in many different ways.  When Penelope is working in the bakery, the comic depicts a man buying three regular muffins, while the girl after him orders “one sugar-free, salt-muffin, gluten-free muffin and three plates” (DeConnick 193) for her and her friends to share.  This shows that women are criticized more for how much and what they eat in comparison to men, whose consequences are next to nothing.  Later in that same scene Penelope overhears a man talking to his acquaintance and he refers to her as a “baboon” (DeConnick 195).  Men in this society have no sympathy for other’s feelings because they have no requirement to care as they are socially above women.  Many women dangerously starve themselves, commonly referred to as anorexia, or develop bulimic habits in order to stop the gaining of weight.  Society as a whole needs to be more accepting of people of various weights and physical appearance and stop pushing them to change their appearance.

In the comic, Penelope is arrest for not being like everybody else.  In the first few boxes of the comic, Penelope is accused of many different crimes, including “Repeated Citations for Aesthetic Offenses, Capillary Disfigurement and Wanton Obesity” (DeConnick 177).  In this society, it is a crime to be above average weight, style hair in an unappealing way, dress a certain way, or possess tattoos of any kind.  Penelope possesses a tattoo of curly hair on her left arm, is obese, and has shaved half of her hair off, while the other half is in curls.  Conformity is used as a punishment in this patriarchal society.  Penelope’s headmaster used to straighten her hair while telling her “There’s nothing wrong, sweetheart.  It’s just like you… folks don’t know what to make of it because they don’t know what it is” (DeConnick 188).  She did not conform like the others, and that is ultimately why she has been sent to prison.  During Penelope’s court hearing, the judges hook her up to a machine that will create an image based on her ideal self.  When her true self-image appears, they are surprised to find that she is metaphorically looking into a mirror, such that her appearance has not changed.  She sassily spouts “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I ain’t broke… And you bastards ain’t never gonna break me” (DeConnick 199).  Here Penelope is triumphantly defending feminism and is helping bring it into the forefront of people’s minds, even though she must fight for it.  She wants to help free women because she knows they are just as good as men.

In this society women are looked down upon.  Penelope is no different, she has been berated by men her entire life.  “Sweetheart, you can’t just keep people waiting. Second morning in a row. Luckily these muffins are so good or I’d talk to your old man about this” (DeConnick 192).  Men do not think she is capable of taking care of herself and always looking for the man in charge of her.  This has become true in everyday society where women are not allowed to be self sufficient but must always have a man in their life to look up to.  Men think they are better than women so they boss them around “All the more reason to be on the ball… Feeds up by 7am” (DeConnick 192).  When men find out that there is no man above a woman, they look down on them even further than women who have a man in charge of them.  Women often get taken advantage of “Skins.  They like’em big like that. It’s in their animal nature” (DeConnick 194).  Men may not directly speak to her about their wishes but they are always talking down to women when they are in close proximity.  Men act like women have this animal nature but in reality, it is men who are the animals.  Women are also oppressed not just through actions but through words as well.  Until women hold a high-powered position they deserve no title, while men are always referred to as sir or “Father” (DeConnick 178).

In the comic, it shows how women are depicted as less human then men, how they are below men.  It shows how they are berated for their weight, physical appearance, genetic hair style, clothing type.  It depicts how women are cast offs if they do not conform to the patriarchal ideal images.  In reality women are not actually sent to prison, but can still be ostracized for not looking just right.  Men often take advantage of the lowered status of women, Bitch Planet shows this thoroughly throughout the entire comic.  These issues are not just in the comic, but also occur in real life every day and Kelly Sue DeConnick is trying to address these.  Her comic is strong worded with scenes that are real to read and fit like everyday life with little exaggeration.  She has created a powerful call to arms for today’s feminist movement.
