Perceptions of Gender in the Comics Industry
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Is gender of comics creators a deciding factor in your comic purchases?
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Do you think comics, as a form of media, are something that appeals to most women?
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This is the response that concerns me the most. I’m hoping most respondents didn’t understand what I meant – which is in regards to the FORMAT, not the CONTENT. It seems really odd that 70% of people would think that pictures and words together in comics form don’t appeal to a specific gender. |
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Do you think the comics industry as a community appeals to most women?
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This one doesn’t surprise me because I think it has a lot to do with the responses to my last question – which is that most people think cultural preconceptions keep women away. If that’s true, then the community wouldn’t appeal to women who see it as juvenile and/or only meant for guys. |
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Do you think comic book shops, as a whole, are welcoming to women?
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This response surprised me in a positive way – I expected far more people to think that comic shops are a big part of the problem. |
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| Yes | 1213 | 69% | |
| No | 491 | 28% |
| Yes | 1094 | 62% | |
| No | 536 | 30% |
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Do you think the comics industry is accepting of women as a part of the industry?
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Where do you think the comics industry is in terms of acceptance of women based on its history?
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The question “Do you think comics, as a form of media, are something that appeals to most women?” is flawed, because it doesn’t compare how appealing the medium is for me to how it is for women. I answered No because comics is a niche medium/format– I don’t think comics as a medium appeals to most PEOPLE, and that includes women.
It seems like the definition of comics is different for different people. Ian, are you only talking about current-mainstream comics? Because comics, as just “panels, words and pictures,” including artists like Maria Kalman, Hope Larson, etc., can appeal to anyone regardless of gender.
Yes, I answered no to that question myself because I thought it was referring to the content, not the format.
I’m female and I’ve been buying comics for 13 years. I’m interested to know what the gender of your respondents was. Predominantly male, mixed, predominantly female? (Apologies if there is a backstory to this survey that I am not aware of).