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

[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)