Cheryl Lynn isn't quite sure who she is, but she's pretty sure of what she wants to be. A warrior woman. A bad-ass mamajama. Perhaps an earth goddess extraordinaire. She spends her days abusing keyboards and screaming at computer screens while she waits for her cult following to finally show up.

She changes her mind more often than extras in rap videos change thongs.

Remember: save to your own server, sweets!

Reading SELF Magazine.

Writing To-Do lists.

Hearing Thunder.

Watching General Hospital.

Building Nothing.

Eating Vitamins.

Drinking Iced Tea.

Buying Comic books.

Thinking "It is HOT!"

Playing Episodes from Liberty City.

Adoring Cold water.

Saying Very little.

Abhorring Bigotry.

Feeling Calm.

Hoping To get in gear.

In conclusion...

Comics are for straight white men.

That is bull!

Superhero comics are for straight white men.

That is bull!

Superhero comics published by Marvel and DC are for straight white men.

That is...uh, that's pretty damn accurate actually.

This is not to say that I'm not going to sound off when either of these two companies sends something racist or sexist down the pike. Because I will. Just like I would (and did) with any other company. Because the words/images affect my culture and in turn affect me. However, I'm not going to sit around and give companies that do not hire women of color to write stories and do not care enough to depict characters that share my features correctly my money in the hopes that one day someone up in editorial will consider me to be just as important as the straight white men who write, draw, edit, market, sell and buy DC and Marvel comics.

It's not gonna happen. But that's Marvel and DC's (and damn near every other comic and manga company's) loss. Because Black and Latina women and girls seem to have a whole lot of disposable income to spend on reading material.

Damn! I've got to get my hands on some of that money!

Ahem. Back to the topic at hand. But Cheryl Lynn, you say, I want to read about awesome superheroes and I don't want to deal with sexist images and I'm tired of people telling me to shut up because somewhere on the planet some woman endures horrific sexism!

If you can draw? Start creating. If you can't? Start hunting. There are comics out there that can give you the capes you want without the sexism. And when you find them? Support them. Brag about them. Buy them.

And this certainly doesn't mean that you have to shut up about the things that trouble you at Marvel and DC (or any other company, for that matter). You speak right the fuck up. And it doesn't mean that you should stop trying to make positive changes at either company. But you have to realize that both companies are very resistant to change. You are working with dinosaurs that want very much to cling to the status quo. And you are not part of that status quo.

For example, I doubt Marvel and DC will ever stop producing comics featuring sexy women to titillate their straight white male readers. However, I started the Pretend Heroes/Real Women feature on this blog to show that those sexy female characters can also be strong and in proportion as well. Female readers can have their kick-ass heroines with actual muscles and the fanboys living in their mothers' basements can still have their fetish wank material! Everyone wins and Marvel and DC would only have to make slight changes that cost them no extra money or time to do so. Will it happen? Depends on how the dinosaurs are feeling. And if they aren't feeling receptive? Screw it. There are other books to read! Great books! To make a long story short...

...make the fucking comics (if you can).
...read the fucking comics.
...buy the fucking comics.
...rave about the fucking comics.
...rant about the fucking comics.

And do it with as much passion as you feel is necessary!

And, I'm done. I soooo don't want to hear about or see MJ for a loooong time. Hundreds of comments about MJ's rack and I can't get even a dozen people to draw Torchy Brown?

Seriously, you guys suck.

Cheryl Lynn @ 11:00 AM EST Link