In “Bitch Planet”, women in the comic were faced with prejudice and colorism. If women were non-compliant or were not the ideal image of the older white men in society (which at this time was the blonde, blue-eyed white woman), they were sent to prison where they were basically programmed to become like the images of the white men. In the excerpt that we read, Penny was not typically the average woman that men would approach because of three reasons; she was obese, she was non-compliant, and she was a woman of color. These were mainly the reasons why women were discriminated against heavily in the late 1960’s & 1970’s. Also, there is a lot of historical context that you can take into account to where women were treated less than a male. The way women were treated in this time frame directly correlates with how women were treated in “Bitch Planet” due to the fact that women didn’t get the same advantages that men did in the 1960-70s due to gender discrimination in the workplace and in society.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, both race and gender were both huge factors that people (especially men) used for prejudice. According to Alyssa Zucker’s journal "Reverberations Of Racism And Sexism Through The Subjective Sexualities Of Undergraduate Women Of Color”, women were discriminated all throughout society; especially in the workplace. For example, in “Bitch Planet”, a man referred to African-Americans as skins. He also discriminated against Penny and stereotyped them (African-Americans) to have “big asses” and “big lips”. Also, another man said that “skins” were “like a baboon”, which was also another stereotype against African-Americans. 

Zucker also states that when women were non-compliant or deviated from the norms during this time frame, they had to face negative consequences such as being put in prison as well as sometimes being physically and sexually abused. This can be brought back to “Bitch Planet” to when Penny was working in the bakery making cupcakes. Penny began to be non-compliant and someone proceeded to called the cops on her. She was then taken to prison where all of her “fathers” tried to change her personal image of herself to where she would become the image that the typical white man would like to see in society. The depiction of the typical type of women differentiated between the females and males. In another scene from the comic, Penny was in front of the mirror, which revealed her “ideal self”, but her “fathers” weren’t enthused because they knew that that wasn’t the image that a typical female would portray in the 1960’ s-70. 

Throughout the comic, there were many other instances where the male was superior to the female. According to Anne E. Fortune & Lou Louental Hanks’ journal, "Gender Inequities In Early Social Worker Careers”, it was stated that, “men received higher wages and were primary beneficiaries, while women received little to no benefits” (Fortune). In the 1960’s-70, women and men could have the same occupation but the men would still get paid more just because of their gender. At this time, there were a lot of gender inequalities against females in the workplace to where they were looked upon as being inferior to males. This goes hand in hand with certain parts of “Bitch Planet”. For instance, in another scene a woman fell inferior to a man. The lady was speaking abruptly to the man in the bakery and then he asked “Did you just roll your eyes at me?” Instantly, the woman responded “no”. In the picture next to that frame, Penny immediately changed the situation so that the lady wouldn’t receive any consequences from the man because of her being non-compliant and not in the image of the women that men want in society. This can correspond to the other journal, whereas if Penny didn’t intervene, the woman could’ve easily been sent to prison because she was non-compliant. 

All in all, “Bitch Planet” is about how woman were treated in the 1960’s-70. In reference to the scholarly journals, women were often disrespected and didn’t have the same rights as men (such as the women that were depicted in Bitch Planet) due to gender inequalities. When they were non com-pliant or didn’t fit the image set forth by men, they were often frowned upon because they did not meet up to the standards at this time. During this time frame, men were superior to females and ruled over everything. Whenever women were non-compliant, they were sent to prison or were abused. When they were not the ideal image of a man, they fell inferior to the man and often sought to become accustomed to this image so that they were accepted in society; if they didn’t change their image to become the same as the men’s image, they would be frowned upon until they met the standards. Also, Bitch Planet” is about the occurring racism and gender inequalities that were very present during the 1960’s-70. If you were not a prospering white male, then you weren’t superior.
