So, I was contacted by an employee at @Marvel who sent me an email he believes was sent to me (and eaten by MailerDaemeons, as is wont to happen on occasion--I'll accept that as a possibility and not speak about the gremlins on the wings.) at the end of April.
He assured me that they were looking into the black void that ate my first 2 letters (and, to clarify, I mean 3 copies of the 2 letters and several emails--so closer to 8 letters).
He also said that Marvel is looking at including more female superheroes, and that I should be patient. I will say that I'm not holding my breath (because when companies have been demonstrating oblivious sexism for 50 years, lipservice to claims they will do better without telling me a concrete plan to do better doesn't fill me with hope for the future. But it gives me more hope than the initial response I got--"we'll work on this" isn't the holy grail, but it IS infinitely better than *shrug*).
I would really REALLY like to see a plan to implement diversity. That doesn't mean someone re-writing every story, but it does mean "oh, lets substitute Spider Man for Ms. Marvel in this product we made" should be given the resounding "WTF, are you TRYING to marginalize women?" response that it deserves. I think a panel of people who give a critical eye to some of what happens would help immensely. I"m sure a company the size of Marvel has something like that--but they're not especially effective and should be overhauled into something with an ability to undo the cropping out of women that is so entrenched in Marvel's stuff.
He assured me that they were looking into the black void that ate my first 2 letters (and, to clarify, I mean 3 copies of the 2 letters and several emails--so closer to 8 letters).
He also said that Marvel is looking at including more female superheroes, and that I should be patient. I will say that I'm not holding my breath (because when companies have been demonstrating oblivious sexism for 50 years, lipservice to claims they will do better without telling me a concrete plan to do better doesn't fill me with hope for the future. But it gives me more hope than the initial response I got--"we'll work on this" isn't the holy grail, but it IS infinitely better than *shrug*).
I would really REALLY like to see a plan to implement diversity. That doesn't mean someone re-writing every story, but it does mean "oh, lets substitute Spider Man for Ms. Marvel in this product we made" should be given the resounding "WTF, are you TRYING to marginalize women?" response that it deserves. I think a panel of people who give a critical eye to some of what happens would help immensely. I"m sure a company the size of Marvel has something like that--but they're not especially effective and should be overhauled into something with an ability to undo the cropping out of women that is so entrenched in Marvel's stuff.