Bitch Planet, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, is about a dystopian future where women are imprisoned for certain actions and are controlled by men called Fathers.  This section of the comic follows a woman named Penelope, or Penny for short. At a young age, she was taken away from her mother by the Fathers. Afterwards, she was accused of crimes and sent to Bitch Planet. The visuals and techniques used in this comic show how unfair this world really is. Women are held to a standard of beauty set by the Fathers, and if they do not follow it they are humiliated and punished, however there is no standard similar to this for the men. Through the use of dark, dull colors, intricate drawings, and a well-structured combination of text and visuals, Bitch Planet conveys themes of gender inequality and the struggle against oppression of women. 

Using dark and grim colors on the images of comics is an effective way to show the reader that what is happening in that panel has no good outcome, and DeConnick does just that. By using these colors, DeConnick is able to emphasize the significance of gender equality. In the second flashback, Penelope has just beaten a fellow classmate and was sent to her administrator’s office, Mother Siebertling, shortly after. In this memory, there are no bright or distinctive colors. This the depressing color scheme correlates to the oppression Penelope experiences because in any scene where this color scheme is used, Penelope is persecuted about her looks. In the office, Penelope’s superior talks to her about her errors and attempts to change the way Penelope fixes her hair. The mother says, “There’s nothing wrong sweetheart. It’s just like you-it refuses to behave” (DeConnick 188). The administrator is not only criticizing the way Penelope’s hair looks, but also the way Penelope acts. In this instance, gender equality influences the way all women must look, and the administrator takes it upon herself to change the way Penelope looks. The Mother is seen as a perfect woman in this world and she tries to mold Penelope in her own image. The mother then goes on to use a hair straightener on Penelope’s hair. Both the straightener, and the mother are drawn using dark colors to show Penelope’s oppression. After this instance, Penelope has another flashback to her time working at a local bakery, where the reader can see the dark color scheme appear again. Two men are discussing about Penelope behind her back and she overhears them. One talks about the way she looks and says, “who would want to come home to that,” while the other man talks about her facial features, saying that her kind has “big asses” and ‘big lips” (DeConnick 194). Both of the men talking about Penelope are wearing dark green jackets, and the whole setting of the café has a dull overcast. Because of the gender inequality, the two men are allowed to insult Penelope without being punished. If there was equality, they would have repercussions for what they said. The two men wearing the dark jackets are the ones harassing Penelope, showing that the use of dark colors in this comic correlates to the theme of oppression. By using these colors, DeConnick is also able to construct more detailed drawings to covey other of inequality.

DeConnick uses detailed drawings to construct a feeling of realism in the comic to help elaborate on gender inequality in this reality. In other comics, drawings of characters and pedestrians usually are not very detailed, but DeConnick uses intricate drawings to emphasize certain aspects of Bitch Planet’s society. In this comic, most of the women look the same. They are blonde, skinny, attractive, and revealing. In the media, and in advertisements, the women look the same and all women are forced to follow this set image. For the women who cannot fit this profile, they are described as big, unattractive, and disfigured, and astoundingly, this is a criminal offense. In the flashback where Penelope is in Mother Siebertling’s office, DeConnick uses detailed drawings to differentiate between the attractive, acceptable women, and the oppressed, exiled women. The Mother is drawn with long, blonde hair, wearing revealing clothing, and wearing makeup and lipstick, while Penelope is drawn with short, black hair, wearing minimal makeup, and no revealing clothing. The difference between the two women shows the influence of gender inequality because, based solely on looks, only one of the women is accepted in the community. 

Both the text and visuals in the comic help display themes of oppression primarily in the present day panels of the comic. These scenes are where most of the dialogue is written and where the two components work together. In one scene, the Fathers are speaking to Penelope about their concerns for her. One father says, “Your Fathers love you. It pains us to see you…” (DeConnick 178). Both words are bolded in the comic to help emphasize their significance, and in the visuals the father speaking has an expression of worry. Gender inequality influences the Fathers to think that they can change Penelope to the way they think is best, just like the Mother in Penelope’s flashback. Between the text and the drawing, the Father speaking is trying to persuade Penelope to change her ways to fit in with the other women in this world. The combination of words and pictures help convey the theme of inequality because whenever the Fathers are trying to change Penelope, their words in the text boxes are emphasized and their expressions are stressed. 

The world of Bitch Planet is full of inequality and oppression towards women who do not live up to the standards set by the Fathers, and those who do not follow these rules are often punished for doing so. Using the techniques of dark colors in the flashbacks, detailed drawings of the accepted and rejected individuals, and using both visuals and texts to work together, DeConnick demonstrates the influence of gender inequality in Bitch Planet and alludes to similar issues in the real world. DeConnick uses these ways of communicated the problems of gender equality to show how terrible it really is in the real world. Anyone who reads this comic will realize that gender equality is a real issue in this world because they will see how women are treated in the comic and can relate some of that treatment to the real world.
