Bitch planet treats women like slaves who only live to please the unachievable expectations set by men. These men are referred to as “The Fathers”, they can be seen through computer screens in the main interrogation room. On Bitch Planet women are used as pawns in a man’s world. Women must fit into a man’s “perfect mold”, if they disobey or do not meet standards they are sent to Bitch Planet, a place where individuality goes to die. The basic purpose of this visual text is to show how conformity can ruin a society as well as how poorly men treat women.

A perfect woman on Bitch Planet complies with the regulations for perfection set by men. These regulations force women to lack individuality while diminishing their capability to succeed to their potential. Bitch Planet is a satire of how men and society itself treats women. The society in which we live gives women unrealistic expectations, such as being thin, pretty and womanly. These are all relative terms and one should not be judged by their “perfection” because everyone is unique and that is enough to be proud of on its own. Penelope in the case of bitch planet is not the ideal women. Penny is an independent black woman who lacks many feminine qualities that The Fathers require in order to be a “Good Woman”. Penny was torn from her mother at a young age for reasons that are not known to the reader. She has been closely watched by The Fathers throughout her life. Penelope has been marked as a problem in the society that The Fathers have tried to create. Penny represents everything that Bitch Planet wants to eliminate. Throughout the comic Penny bravely fights an uphill battle against the Fathers for her right of individuality. Penny is happy with herself and the Fathers cannot bring down her confidence. 

The most interesting scenes in the comic was when Penelope would stand in the room surrounded by guards and walls of computer screens with The Father’s faces on them. Penny mentions on the first page how she feels uncomfortable with all the men standing there watching and judging her. In the comic Penny is the most detailed and biggest thing in the room suggesting that she is the focus of the scene. The room which she is held in is small and of a dark greenish tint. In fact, the fathers all have a greenish tint to them as well. The green tint represents the wealth present in the room. The money invested into bitch planet could only be made possible by The Fathers capital. The pictures of the father’s faces are also very faded, it looks like they are washed out and lack color. This could represent how the fathers lack sympathy and compassion for women. With all the money invested into Bitch Planet one would think that there would be monitors with higher resolutions. Yet the screens still lack color and vibrancy, much like the planet itself. 

These men are arrogant and ignorant of others feelings. The fathers want their citizens to conform to their standards and regulations because they themselves have conformed. They are mostly middle age white men with suits. There is one black man on the board of Fathers. This sticks out to me because it shows how strong of an influence the Fathers have on people. Why would a black man support the oppression of a black woman? They appear to be of high class yet they lack high intelligence. Frank is one of the more verbal fathers in the comic, she speaks to Penny quite a lot and on page 189 Frank shows how much of a hypocrite he is. Frank is beginning to explain what experiments he will be doing to Penny, He mocks her by asking “Are you familiar with the cerebral action potential integration and extrapolation matrix?” she naturally responds by saying no. He then proceeds to laugh at her and while explaining it mispronounces the word “Algorithms” as “Algriffins” which is then corrected in the panel that follows. Frank represents the entire board of fathers by speaking directly to Penelope, which would make him the leader. If the leader of the group of people who run this corrupt planet cannot even explain his own insane methods, then that clearly shows how wrong this system is. 

The colors present in the comic convey an overall depressing mood. The colors used in the comic are very dark and drab, implying that the world that the characters live in is depressing and hopeless. Pink and purple are used often throughout the comic mostly when women are present. Although purple and pink are usually happy colors, in this visual text it seems as if the color has bled out of them. This is a representation of the fact that the Fathers who run Bitch Planet oppress the citizens so much that they literally suck the life out of everything in it. The illustrator definitely uses these colors on purpose because the text would change dramatically if all the colors were bright and loud. Every woman in the comic wears shades of red or purple to symbolize conformity and womanhood. As women are typically associated with red, pink or purple these colors usually represent love, compassion and sacrifice. While men are associated with colors like blue, green and brown to symbolize strength and wealth. These stereotypes hold true as every man in the comic is wearing either a black or brown suit or a green hoodie. The darkness in colors of the visual text represent the overall sadness and despair this comic has. The women on Bitch Planet have nothing to fight for; their sole purpose in life is to do what men tell them to do, that is not a life worth living.

The lack of contrast in Bitch Planet shows how the population has assimilated to this way of life. Conformity breeds individuality and individuality is what makes a civilization thrive and be successful. The lack of contrast in the comic is most relevant in the bakery scenes. If you step back from the individual panels and look at both pages of the comic as one the panels seem to blend together. This might be a tool used to show the lineage of time in the scene and how the interactions between patrons happens very quickly. It could also be used to represent the bleakness of a monotonous routine. Pages 191-193 give me the impression that Penny does not enjoy her job very much. If you refer back to the beginning of the comic there is a scene where as child Penny makes muffins with her mother, which is also when she was taken by “The State”. Penny used to make muffins with her mother as a hobby they use to bond and become close. Now she makes muffins every single day for people she doesn’t know in a society, that doesn’t see her as a human or respect her as a person. That must be very difficult and frustrating to deal with every single day. The lack of contrast is present not just in color as well. The women in the comic besides Penny all look very “corporate”, they wear jackets or blouses with button down shirts and skirts. Women in this society would have stereotypical womanly jobs such as housewives or secretary’s. The women in this comic are supposed to be very submissive and weak. Women on Bitch Planet cannot have their own opinion and must obey what men tell them to do. This also represents the unjust nature of the society as a whole. Penny’s clothes are colored black, brown and purple; all colors that lack pop and enthusiasm. These color are also associated with a more masculine connotation. Penny is a very angry and violent character throughout the comic, she yells frequently and acts out violently against customers in her baker shop. So Penny is a non-conforming entity who lacks “Womanly” qualities and acts out violently against her oppressors.

Conformity ruins a society and oppresses its citizens. Bitch Planet sets unrealistic expectations for women much like our society. The Fathers represent men and big corporations in general who expect women to behave a certain way. These expectations torture and oppress women both emotionally and physically. Women are told what to wear, how to look and what to say in order to fit into the mold created by The Fathers. Penny represents a woman who does not fit The Fathers standards and stands alone against them. The Fathers are ignorant of the damage they are causing to civilians within the society. The men on Bitch Planet have been negatively altered to expect certain behaviors from women. The colors used in the comic are dark and lack hue, this tool is used to demonstrate the hopelessness and oppression of the civilians on Bitch Planet. The lack of contrast in the comic is shown by the similarity of color throughout, and is used to indicate conformity. Bitch Planet is a terrible place to live if you are a woman who cares about individuality.

 