Martian Manhunter, "Black like me"

I would like to first start off by saying that it is not my intention to misrepresent myself as a person that is a member of a racialized group. The title of this blog post is about how Martian Manhunter takes on the guise of an African American man much like John Howard Griffin does in his novel "Black like me."
Now that I have laid out the ground work, lets have a look at Martian Manhunter, he is the last surviving member of his race from the planet mars. Other members of his race have surfaced in various story arcs, but that's not really important here. I feel it is safe to say the Martian Manhunter has a feeling of diaspora, in that he never feels at home on earth and has not fully integrated into earth society, he has a longing for mars and of a time before the destruction of his people.
Martian Manhunters earth disguise is that of John Jones, and African American man and police officer. Like Marc Singer notes about the legion of superheroes and false diversity, I would like to make the same claim here about Martian Manhunter. Despite the appears of diversity, we have a fictional alien shape shifting race that offers no insight into the struggles of racialized peoples. Whether he's in black skin or his green skin, he's being artificially "othered"

Maybe the Punisher just needs sensitivity training

Ok, who's excited about the new Punisher ongoing series, I know I'm buying it.... but, I mean really, I don't care for ol' Frank very much as a character. I mean of course I LOVED The Punisher when I was 15 and first saw the cover of The Punisher Warzone number #1, you know the one with the red die cut wrap around cover... drooool.... that was it for me... from that day on I was hooked on comic books. SO, frank I want to say that I owe you this passion I have, even if I don't really like you as a (fictional) person. I will of course buy everything the punisher is in, I'm locked into the tradition.

Grifter... falling?

Punisher watches
 as crocs eat a human

 I have picked up and dropped many, many titles, anyone remember Grifter from the new 52 DC reboot... ugh... and I though WildC.A.T.s was so good... maybe it wasn't I was still youngish. So why don't I like the Punisher, isn't he a sympathetic character... for crying out loud his whole family was murdered in front of him... how could a MAN not want revenge... what kind of MAN would he be if he didn't exact vengeance on everyone responsible and wage a one man war on crime!!! yeah, well... theirs that. He's a little bit of a hyper masculine trope... maybe a little... maybe. I also feel Frank doesn't fully understand the roots cause of crime, you know, things like poverty, poor community or family structure, inadequate schools/schooling/ under-education, poor economy, lack of opportunities... etc... etc... maybe he'd kill less people if he did. I probably should have reviewed the two issues of the new ongoing series of The Punisher I've read so far... Franks is in LA, you fill in the blanks.

A new beginning or just more of the same

I had originally created this blog as a class assignment, and I had every intension of leaving it to die a lonely death, one that I'm sure many... if not most blogs experience. Instead I have decided to use this space to write. See... I'm what you might call a terrible writer, so I have two major goals with this blog, one: to improve my writing skills... the more you do something the better you get... right? and two: to practice doing media critiques... by media of course I mean comic books, maybe the odd movie. Now I cannot do this alone, so I need you... yes YOU, to help me. I will as much as I can be writing  from a feminist perspective, what I ask of you is if I write something you disagree with, assuming anyone is reading this, I really, really, REALLY, want you call me out on it. I also need you to explain why you disagree. This will help me to see past my privileges and to remove "blind spots." Of course if you agree with me and think I'm brilliant feel free to rain down complements.
Thanks

Live like the stars at the low interest rate of 20%

Once again December has descended upon us with the echos of competing songs flooding in from every direction and every shop we pass by assault us in a barrage of sound. Our other senses bombarded with greens and reds, the swirl of mint, and the promise of joy if we just engage in the ritual of spending. I don't hate Christmas, I enjoy the days off work, and I enjoy the time I get to spend with my family, but I do not enjoy the feverish pace of consumption in the guise companionship, the struggle to find the perfect trinket to express a feeling caring or thoughtfulness. A few kind words, a hug and sometime spend in conversation have no equal in the material realm.

Avengers are buff, but are no Buffy

The Avengers movie was in theatres back in May, that being so long ago this post is hardly relevant to the times, was received with much fanfare and it was a huge success, I enjoyed it a lot. I did however want to point out two every obvious things... pointed out by many before me, and I'm sure many after me. One, cast of mostly white men, two, cast of mostly white men. Hey, isn't that the same thing twice, yes but from two different angles. First I would like to talk about the lack of racialized people in the movie, we see Nick Fury played by Samuel L Jackson, as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. he's not really a member of the team, so that leaves.... The Hulk.. he's green right... hmmm. All of the characters are "classic"

To beard or not to beard

In an effort to tackle the concept of being “masculine” I decided to take a look at the documentary film, Mansome directed by Morgan Spurlock, the director of other “gems” such as supersize me, and wherein the world is Osama bin laden,  What I was looking for was information on what we as a society see and believe to be typical gender norms for “men,” I tried to identify a hegemonic masculinity. Antonio Gramsci talks about hegemony in his Prison Notebooks, and I think looking at spontaneous consent will help identify a shift in Hegemonic masculinity. Manliness being identified as the rough and rugged working man, who loves sports, cars and beer, but shifting to include more less typically "manly" options. I would argue in part due the ability to sell products to men that have not typically been purchased, like a variety of skin care products as an example.

Boys toys, and violence or lego my lego

A few days ago, while procrastinating, I decided to watch a few youtube videos under the guise of "doing research," I decided it was time I watch the Tropes vs Women a six part vblog by Anita Sarkeesian who runs Feminist Frequency website (link in important links side bar). Lucky for me watching these videos, and many others on the channel, actually was research. The videos that struck me at the time was the two part Lego video, about the gendering of lego, which I believe she was using as an example of how toys (and other media) are gendered.