Gender and book covers

[huinare]

Thanks to Wheelrider's post, I went off on a tangent and found a couple links that were of amusement and interest to me, and hopefully to some of you.

Fantasy author Jim C. Hines took it upon himself to reproduce some of the anatomically questionable, physically torturous, and notably objectifying poses of female characters on a selection of sci-fi/fantasy book covers.  Except it's him instead of a non-existent woman of unlikely proportions:  "Striking a Pose (Women and Fantasy Covers)"

To address the righteous outcry of those pointing out that women aren't the only victims of objectification, Hines then tackled some men on book covers, concluding (aptly, I think) that yes, men are objectified, but not in the same way and not to the same extent: "Posing Like a Man"

It really does my dessicated heart good to see men defending "feminist" notions such as the respective portrayals of women and men in media, and their overt or covert implications.

Comments

[aliana1.livejournal.com]

I've seen these before, and they're pretty great! For the comic-book version, see the Hawkeye Initiative: http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/

[huinare.livejournal.com]

The "sultry kicking" especially highlights the ridiculousness of it all..

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

I hadn't seen these prior to wheelrider sharing them, and be assured I got a huge kick out of these ordinary guys taking on the ludicrous poses for both women and men seen on lurid pulp romance novel covers. The notations with the faux covers are hilarious!

[wheelrider.livejournal.com]

Aha, so that's what you meant by "this whole endeavor" -- freakin' great! (I didn't have time to follow Jim's "journey" past that book cover earlier, so thanks!)

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Yes, that and this all began as a fundraiser for research on...er, I don't remember the name of the condition and I can't get sucked into looking at the site again right now.

He also did a different cover each time the fundraiser hit a new monetary goalpost. There's a whole page of them over there somewhere. I didn't have the time to look at them.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

My gosh - I followed links and links and links and my mind is now mush. As someone who was a dancer for many years, I wouldn't be taking on these poses, certainly not with my osteoporosis (even though my Chiro might enjoy the extra income that my doing these would bring to him). We were fighting the battle in the 1960's-1970's when women's equality and MS was the next barrier to break down and the battle, obviously, still needs to be fought in the visual arts. Oy!

- Erulisse (one L)

[shadowbrides.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, these are fantabulous!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Those are great! I love his poses and his captions. The men's covers consist mainly of the ridiculously muscled chest and the occasionally fan-blown hair, whereas the women's are really over-the-top by comparison. I am probably a little weird because I have never found the super worked-out look particularly appealing--male or female.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

They're all over the top, but yes, the women's tend to be way more so esp. as far as the poses go.

I am probably a little weird because I have never found the super worked-out look particularly appealing--male or female.

Nah, I don't either. At all. Actually I tend to prefer a rather scrawny look.