Who likes antiquated gender stereotypes? Moviefone does! Staff writer Jessie Heyman thought it would be a good idea to post a horribly condescending article that reads like it’s from 1972.
As your boyfriend probably told you, “The Avengers” is hitting theaters this Friday. And you, dutiful girlfriend, are attending. But you hate action movies and you’ve never even read a comic book. (Of course, that’s not a slight against the girls who actually do read comic books — i.e. real fans, actual people with varied interests — but for this, let’s just go with the stock view of ladies, ladies!)
Still, there’s no need to fret. Beyond the fact that Joss Whedon’s action film is Awesome (note the capital A), we’ve created a streamlined girl’s guide to ward off any confusion or mid-movie what’s-going-on whisperings.
Including cocktail introductions a la “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and boyfriend impressing tidbits, below is everything you need to know about “The Avengers.”
They’re now hiding behind a hastily thrown up “satire” shield in a later edit, but we all know this was a terribly written, horribly executed article. This piece was so awful I’m not even going to link to it and inadvertently give them traffic. You can find it yourself if you want your eyes to bleed or if you want a trigger to Hulk out.
Now, I’m not a woman, but I imagine most women would object to sticking with the “stock view of ladies.” I imagine many would object to the contrived list of things to say to your manly action loving significant others while watching the movie. I imagine most women are going to object to this frakking awful article as a whole.
The truly hilarious thing is that this just perpetuates the tired and sexist stereotype that comics are for guys and that women should stay out of that domain. Hell to that. Most of my Marvel-savvy friends are women, one of which introduced me to the world of comics. She’s one of the most passionate, genre savvy fans you will ever find.
So shame on you Moviefone. You’ve got some apologies to dish out.
YES TO THIS.
From a different angle, I am also disturbed by how it (satirically?) insults ladies who don’t read comics by calling ladies who DO read comics “real fans, actual people with varied interests.” Like….girls who don’t read comics are not actual people with varied interests? I’m just really CONFUSED.
And obviously I’m offended on my own behalf as a lady who reads comics.
TOO MANY DIRECTIONS TO BE INSULTED IN. I CAN’T.
Maybe we should give them “How To Write Satirical Articles” advice.
Somehow the acknowledgement in the first paragraph that women can have interests just as diverse as men and that they are focusing on incorrect stereotypes makes this whole thing immeasurably more offensive. Were it not there I could chalk the whole thing up to ignorance, but that is clearly not the case. And the idea of “boyfriend impressing tidbits” nearly made me gag. This implies not only that few women are interested in superheroes, but also that all men are super-fans, which is just as inaccurate. Heck, even comics fans aren’t necessarily superhero-savvy.
Seriously, if they wanted to write a guide to “The Avengers,” they could’ve just written it for non-comic fans and implied that everyone has a friend who likes comics/ superheroes/ Whedon/ action movies. Ta-da: no perpetuation of hurtful stereotypes.
The editors at Moviefone need to read this article and seriously think about what they’re doing :http://www.themarysue.com/four-year-old-geek-girl-childhood/
“Now, I’m not a woman”
What??? 😉
The worst thing about the article – besides the condescending gender stereotypes – is that it assumes that women are really stupid and can’t figure out the plot to a movie all by themselves. If the Avengers is so Awesome, as they claim, it should be easy to understand, even if you’re one of the people who haven’t seen the other Marvel films. (And if your boyfriend is “dragging” you to see the Avengers, wouldn’t he have “dragged” you to see the others?)
The logic fails in this article.
You and your logic and reasoning.
I know, right? I’M SUCH A WOMAN.
GO BRIAN!