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What is power?
Jun. 28th, 2013 04:56 pmPower comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It's used to oppress, to exploit, to empower, to facilitate, to sustain, to create and to destroy. It's unequally distributed in this world, in ways that most of us really don't like, even those of us who benefit from the inequality by virtue of gender or colour or beliefs. Privilege is part of the framework that underpins the inequality, and a lot of it is forced upon us in ways we can't change even if we could, and whatever we do to try to correct it is bound to be seen by some as too little too late. Privilege weakens us as well, by making us less flexible, less capable. Power makes us powerless.
Sinfest is one of my favourite webcomics, and I'm sure many of you know it. Lately it's been becoming a bit of a single-issue thing, as the author, Tatsuya Ishida, has focussed more and more on feminism, and a view of feminism at that with which some people, even feminists from what I've gathered, are not entirely comfortable. The introduction of "the Sisterhood," a number of young women who ride around on bikes striking blows against the patriarchy, has killed a number of the running gags that made it popular, while providing few jokes to take their place. In particular, the two former protagonists, Monique and Slick, have more and more taken a back seat in recent strips, and it's interesting to look at the actual power exchange that's taken place as a result of this.
'Nique originally presented as a thoroughly sexist stereotype; ditzy, shopping-obsessed, girly, flirty and teasing, her spoken word act accompanied by a great deal of bottom-wiggling and "do you think I'm sexy?" talk. Slick, the hobbit-sized male lead (I think we have to assume the main characters are all adults despite the fact that they sometimes seem to present as children), equally did men no favours in his characterisation; obsessed with sex for its own sake, idolising the stereotype of the pimp, incapable of subtlety or emotional contact of any sort, and thoroughly armoured in his own invincible self-delusion of mastery.
But the key is here; throughout these early strips, 'Nique has been the one with the power. She was successful, idolised for whatever reasons, possessed of intelligence and empathy and the desire to change the world for the better. Slick and his comrade Squigley have always been presented as the archetypes of impotence, finding success only in their porn-inspired fantasies of conquering an illusory "matriarchy," never advancing a step beyond their ground state of irrelevance, never truly having the will to want to try. In the world of the strip, 'Nique was always on top, defying both God and the Devil; Slick was the plaything of both. If power means anything at all, on the individual level, the woman here had it all, the man had nothing.
Since 'Nique's "awakening" by the Sisterhood to the omnipresent, grey-green Matrix-like "oppression field" of the patriarchy, she has abandoned her power. Her act, unaccompanied by sexy displays, no longer succeeds; her only supporter is an obsessive fangirl. She still craves attention and affection, but is no longer willing to do what "men" want in order to get it, and so her desires go unfulfilled. Slick, on the other hand, has acquired an "evil twin" who regularly escapes from his mirror universe to cause havoc in the strip's "real world"; he storms the gates of paradise, he outrages women and leaves the original, hapless Slick to take the blame. Slick One is still powerless, but Slick Two is definitely not.
So what is Ishida saying here? I'm honestly not sure, but he's been driving the point home for some considerable time, whatever it is. If he's saying that (to paraphrase Dennis Moore) this redistribution of power's trickier than it looks, then yes, I think he's right, but where is he going to go from there? If Sinfest is going the way of Cerebus, becoming a platform for the author's increasingly individual views on a single issue rather than an entertaining sitcom in webcomic form, is that a good thing? Does it help the cause of feminism in general--a cause still very much alive and important--or does it weaken it? And if the author wants to get where it looks as if he's going, did he maybe start from the wrong place?
Discussion invited.
Sinfest is one of my favourite webcomics, and I'm sure many of you know it. Lately it's been becoming a bit of a single-issue thing, as the author, Tatsuya Ishida, has focussed more and more on feminism, and a view of feminism at that with which some people, even feminists from what I've gathered, are not entirely comfortable. The introduction of "the Sisterhood," a number of young women who ride around on bikes striking blows against the patriarchy, has killed a number of the running gags that made it popular, while providing few jokes to take their place. In particular, the two former protagonists, Monique and Slick, have more and more taken a back seat in recent strips, and it's interesting to look at the actual power exchange that's taken place as a result of this.
'Nique originally presented as a thoroughly sexist stereotype; ditzy, shopping-obsessed, girly, flirty and teasing, her spoken word act accompanied by a great deal of bottom-wiggling and "do you think I'm sexy?" talk. Slick, the hobbit-sized male lead (I think we have to assume the main characters are all adults despite the fact that they sometimes seem to present as children), equally did men no favours in his characterisation; obsessed with sex for its own sake, idolising the stereotype of the pimp, incapable of subtlety or emotional contact of any sort, and thoroughly armoured in his own invincible self-delusion of mastery.
But the key is here; throughout these early strips, 'Nique has been the one with the power. She was successful, idolised for whatever reasons, possessed of intelligence and empathy and the desire to change the world for the better. Slick and his comrade Squigley have always been presented as the archetypes of impotence, finding success only in their porn-inspired fantasies of conquering an illusory "matriarchy," never advancing a step beyond their ground state of irrelevance, never truly having the will to want to try. In the world of the strip, 'Nique was always on top, defying both God and the Devil; Slick was the plaything of both. If power means anything at all, on the individual level, the woman here had it all, the man had nothing.
Since 'Nique's "awakening" by the Sisterhood to the omnipresent, grey-green Matrix-like "oppression field" of the patriarchy, she has abandoned her power. Her act, unaccompanied by sexy displays, no longer succeeds; her only supporter is an obsessive fangirl. She still craves attention and affection, but is no longer willing to do what "men" want in order to get it, and so her desires go unfulfilled. Slick, on the other hand, has acquired an "evil twin" who regularly escapes from his mirror universe to cause havoc in the strip's "real world"; he storms the gates of paradise, he outrages women and leaves the original, hapless Slick to take the blame. Slick One is still powerless, but Slick Two is definitely not.
So what is Ishida saying here? I'm honestly not sure, but he's been driving the point home for some considerable time, whatever it is. If he's saying that (to paraphrase Dennis Moore) this redistribution of power's trickier than it looks, then yes, I think he's right, but where is he going to go from there? If Sinfest is going the way of Cerebus, becoming a platform for the author's increasingly individual views on a single issue rather than an entertaining sitcom in webcomic form, is that a good thing? Does it help the cause of feminism in general--a cause still very much alive and important--or does it weaken it? And if the author wants to get where it looks as if he's going, did he maybe start from the wrong place?
Discussion invited.