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 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 of it also refuses to behave.  She is then seen dealing with an unruly customer in her state-funded bakery.  Overhearing comments from the customers angers her to the point that she snaps and attacks a male customer.  She is then arrested. The comic comes back to the present day with the wall of old white men attempting to display an image of her ideal self.  Self-image is the theme that is carried throughout all of those events, from how women are imprisoned for not following social norms, to the idea that women are looked down upon by men; clearly demonstrating how feminism is in urgent need of implementation within 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 [of that].  Quantity and diversity of food that was served revealed the social status… Guests ranked lower in the social hierarchy were served with less exquisite foods” (ItinerantGroup).  Kings and lords of castles usually were plumper 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 bad in society’s eyes.  If a person’s weight is excessive, compared to their height, they are medically considered unhealthy.  In our day and age women are expected to have a certain body figure, appearance, and weight.  In Bitch Planet, this is reflected in several different aspects.  When Penelope is working in the bakery, the comic depicts a man buying three regular muffins, while the girl after him requests “one sugar-free, salt-muffin, gluten-free muffin and three plates” (DeConnick 193) for not only herself but also to share with her friends.  This goes to show that women are criticized more for how much and what they eat in comparison to men, whose consequences for eating as much of whatever they want is 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 social requirement to care as they are socially considered to be above women.  Many women dangerously starve themselves, commonly referred to as anorexia, or develop bulimic habits in order to stop weight gain.  Society as a whole needs to become more accepting of people of various weights and physical appearance and stop pushing people, especially women, to change their appearance.

In the comic, Penelope is arrested 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 depicting a head of curly hair on her left arm, she is obese and has shaven half of the hair on her hair off, the other half is left sitting naturally curly.  Conformity is viewed as a punishment to Penelope even though it is the social norm in this patriarchal society.  Penelope’s headmaster used to tell 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) while straightening her hair, conforming her into society.  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 is intended to create an image of her ideal self.  When her true self-image appears, they are surprised to find that she is essentially looking into a mirror, such that her appearance has not changed one iota.  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 bring it to the forefront of people's minds.  Taking a step to help free women from the patriarchal dictatorship because she knows they are just as good as men, they are equals.

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. The 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 are always looking for the man in charge of her.  This has become true in the everyday society where women are not allowed to be self-sufficient but must always have a man in their life, to look up to, be protected by, and provided for.  Men think they are better than women so, they boss them around, “All the more reason to be on the ball… Feeds(news) up by 7am” (DeConnick 192).  When men find out that there is no man above a woman, they look down on them even more than women who have a man in charge of them.  Women often receive derogatory slurs verbally thrown at them, “Skins.  They like’em big like that. It’s in their animal nature—Big asses, Big lips. You ever fuck a skin? WILD” (DeConnick 194).  Men may not directly speak to women their thoughts but they are consistently talking down to women when they are in close proximity.  Men act like women have this animalistic like nature but in reality, it is men who are the animals.  

In the comic, it shows how women are depicted as being beneath men, barely even worthy of being a human.  It shows how they are berated for their weight, physical appearance, hairstyle (even if it is genetic), and clothing type.  It depicts how women are considered castaways if they do not conform to the patriarchal ideal images.  In real life, women are not actually sent to prison but are socially ostracized for not appearing 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 addresses this.  Her comic is strong worded with scenes that are real to read and fit like everyday life with a little exaggeration.  She has created a powerful call to arms for today’s feminist movement.
