Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 08/21/2009

The Archie-type

 

When I was in third or fourth grade, my Dad brought home an Archie comic, with some kind of sentiment like, “These used to be around when I was little!” I vividly remember being confused by phrases such as “yuk yuk” and the concept of Veronica and Betty fighting over someone as seriously lame as Archie. I mean, really? Girls fighting over a guy is ridiculous, but Archie isn’t even a stud muffin.

 

Eventually, I stopped reading them, because in reality Little Women pretty much kicks a comic book’s ass. But, Tuesday’s episode of The Colbert Report, and The Word – Arch Enemies – focusing on the fact that Archie recently proposed to Veronica (who knew they were still making new Archie comics?) — got me thinking about all of the ridiculous elements of Archie comics, that Colbert really nailed. 

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The Word – Arch Enemies
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He brings up points such as: 

1) Moose is obviously an abuser. Uncontrollably jealous and controlling of his girlfriend. But obviously THAT SHIT’S FUNNY. Look at him knock over that table because his girlfriend dared to look at someone of the male gender! Oh boy, that Moose! Um…no.

2) Betty and Veronica are the same person. The guys are drawn differently for sure, but no, Betty and Veronica – same drawing with different hair colors. Because, you know, having a singular, idealized body type is surely more important than individuality. 

3) The typical battle between women over one guy. As Colbert put it, “We always define women characters based on which man they can land…if women join forces, become allies, what chance do men have? They outnumber us. They mature earlier. They live longer. And they can birth life.” I guess that would be the fear…let’s preoccupy them with fighting over guys so they never achieve anything! 

And then the true beauty of this segment really set in…

Betty? Is that you?

“Without Archie to focus on, what would Betty do with herself? Probably something sad like rediscover her own dreams and devote her life to making the world a better place. [Picture of Hillary Clinton]“

Betty could totally be Hillary Clinton. SHE’S CAPABLE.

And just by the way, who was expecting Hillary Clinton to totally add a “that’s right BITCH” after she served that reporter? I know that’s what I said after watching the clip. It turned out to be a misunderstanding, but nevertheless, if that comment had been for real…it would have gone DOWN.

But back on track: Archie Comics. Something about watching that clip made me feel the same way I did after I realized Disney is often sexist. The sort of, “awww there goes my innocence,” reaction. But still. Is it so hard to create a comic book that isn’t sexist and reliant on stereotypes? 

I guess maybe, maybe, we shouldn’t still be reading a comic book that originated in 1941.

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