This week we talk about an awesome internet meme that’s really taken off in the last few months: gender flipping. We’re sure you’ve seen the pictures of our favorite male superheroes posed like female superheroes. Listen for our discussion of visual and textual gender flipping. Let us know what you think about this meme in the comments. What’s your favorite example?
Disclaimer: We had some technical difficulties with the audio track this week. Our apologies to everyone and we assure you we will be up to our regular standard next week.
Regina is a gamer, writer, teacher, and podcaster living in the Pacific Northwest. She completed her Ph.D. in 2011 from Washington State University in Vancouver and continues to teach there part time. Regina’s research interests focus on women and technology, and her dissertation discusses female gamers and identity in digital role playing games. A lifelong geek and technology enthusiast, Regina recently started a Girls Who Code club in support of their mission to close the gender gap in technology.
To continue the conversations about gender and gaming that Regina started during her research, she started a podcast called Game on Girl. Called the “NPR of game podcasts” by Chris Brown of The Married Gamers, the podcast features women involved in the game industry, and tackles some of the complicated issues in the gaming community. Season 2 began in the spring of 2018 and will premiere new episodes monthly.
View all posts by Regina McMenomy
8 thoughts on “Episode 75 – Gender Flipping”
It's so hard to hear Rhonda. Could she type out her main points? Maybe that'll help.
Great discussion as always! As I heard discussion of superheroes and a girl crawling butt up and questioning whether or not you would see a man pictured thus the first thing that popped to mind is Spider-Man as in attempting to force human physiology into a spider-like crouch he is sometimes depicted, as at http://ranpict.com/replica-spiderman-wallpaper.html, in a butt up crouch. This does nothing to counter any of your very valid points of course, but it makes Spider-Man an interesting point of discussion. As a very nerdy teen he is frequently depicted as "less manly" than some of the others. While strong, his tactics tend to rely less on strength than physical and mental dexterity.
In the discussion of advertisement I immediately had to think of a Hanes Her Way commercial with faceless females in colors posed kaleidescopicly and transmuted into prints on undergarments, which hits at exactly at the dismemberment that Dr. McMenomy mentioned… But interestingly this particular ad strikes me as being fairly clearly targeted at a female audience rather than a male audience. I don't know really how to interpret that, but it was interesting to ponder as well.
I also wanted to recommend a fantasy series, The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. The story is good and the writing is great I think, very poetic prose. The first book is The Name of the Wind.
Thank you again for great discussions! They always leave me with a lot of thinking and geeky things to look for!
Your show made me think immediately of this post http://subtledge.tumblr.com/post/57559077354/dduane-variablejabberwocky I'd like to see more male characters posing in ridiculously impractical armour. Posing with your hips and boobs thrust out isn't just an overtly sexual action but a detraction from the strength or purpose of the character within the story/game.
This is a great topic; I'll have to give it a listen. It reminds me of a art piece I saw at my UC last year, which showed photographs of the president and vice president and their wives. The men were from the shoulders up; the women were from about their navel up. The pieces were made using various photographs of sexualized women (for the First Ladies) and other portraits of men (for the President and VP), and it really was a strong example of such blatant yet latent sexism in imagery. Blatant because it's so obvious, yet latent because no one really bats an eye at it. Culture has a fascinating way of programming reactions, and I think we as Americans have this concept that it's okay for such a divide to exist, so it's rarely questioned. Anyway, I'll add some more ideas when I get a chance to listen to this. 🙂
Those are some excellent examples, Citizen7! I seriously guffawed at the Batman costume. "It helps him fight crime… no really!" So awesome. I love the closing line of the Shortpacked comic as well. I am going to have to spend some time reflecting on the "background radiation" of my life. That is a powerfully accurate term.
I remember thinking about the Calvin Klein audience during the episode, mostly the fact that those ads are targeted at gay men since that is not often the association people make with them in a heteronormative society. But I think I was side tracked by the technical difficulties we were having with the episode. I was in a bit of a panic through the whole thing and that messed with my focus. I think we will have to revisit this topic again just to hit on these new gems you shared with us and to refocus the discussion.
I actually forgot that you were having technical issues about 2 minutes into the podcast. That's how good a job you girls did at powering on through. I edit two podcasts myself (one of them geek and one of them not), so I have first-hand experience with how difficult that can be. So congrats on that. Also, I'm so glad you liked Shortpacked! Sharing geek loves is one of the best parts of being a geek.
It's so hard to hear Rhonda. Could she type out her main points? Maybe that'll help.
I will ask her about that, Justin. After I heard the audio, I considered writing an article instead. My apologies for the audio issues.
Great discussion as always! As I heard discussion of superheroes and a girl crawling butt up and questioning whether or not you would see a man pictured thus the first thing that popped to mind is Spider-Man as in attempting to force human physiology into a spider-like crouch he is sometimes depicted, as at http://ranpict.com/replica-spiderman-wallpaper.html, in a butt up crouch. This does nothing to counter any of your very valid points of course, but it makes Spider-Man an interesting point of discussion. As a very nerdy teen he is frequently depicted as "less manly" than some of the others. While strong, his tactics tend to rely less on strength than physical and mental dexterity.
In the discussion of advertisement I immediately had to think of a Hanes Her Way commercial with faceless females in colors posed kaleidescopicly and transmuted into prints on undergarments, which hits at exactly at the dismemberment that Dr. McMenomy mentioned… But interestingly this particular ad strikes me as being fairly clearly targeted at a female audience rather than a male audience. I don't know really how to interpret that, but it was interesting to ponder as well.
I also wanted to recommend a fantasy series, The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. The story is good and the writing is great I think, very poetic prose. The first book is The Name of the Wind.
Thank you again for great discussions! They always leave me with a lot of thinking and geeky things to look for!
Your show made me think immediately of this post http://subtledge.tumblr.com/post/57559077354/dduane-variablejabberwocky I'd like to see more male characters posing in ridiculously impractical armour. Posing with your hips and boobs thrust out isn't just an overtly sexual action but a detraction from the strength or purpose of the character within the story/game.
This is a great topic; I'll have to give it a listen.
It reminds me of a art piece I saw at my UC last year, which showed photographs of the president and vice president and their wives. The men were from the shoulders up; the women were from about their navel up. The pieces were made using various photographs of sexualized women (for the First Ladies) and other portraits of men (for the President and VP), and it really was a strong example of such blatant yet latent sexism in imagery. Blatant because it's so obvious, yet latent because no one really bats an eye at it. Culture has a fascinating way of programming reactions, and I think we as Americans have this concept that it's okay for such a divide to exist, so it's rarely questioned.
Anyway, I'll add some more ideas when I get a chance to listen to this. 🙂
Those are some excellent examples, Citizen7! I seriously guffawed at the Batman costume. "It helps him fight crime… no really!" So awesome. I love the closing line of the Shortpacked comic as well. I am going to have to spend some time reflecting on the "background radiation" of my life. That is a powerfully accurate term.
I remember thinking about the Calvin Klein audience during the episode, mostly the fact that those ads are targeted at gay men since that is not often the association people make with them in a heteronormative society. But I think I was side tracked by the technical difficulties we were having with the episode. I was in a bit of a panic through the whole thing and that messed with my focus. I think we will have to revisit this topic again just to hit on these new gems you shared with us and to refocus the discussion.
Thanks so much for your comment. 🙂
I actually forgot that you were having technical issues about 2 minutes into the podcast. That's how good a job you girls did at powering on through. I edit two podcasts myself (one of them geek and one of them not), so I have first-hand experience with how difficult that can be. So congrats on that. Also, I'm so glad you liked Shortpacked! Sharing geek loves is one of the best parts of being a geek.
I will check them both out! I love new geeky recommendations. It's really the best stuff of life. 🙂