Originally Posted by
djoki96
Okay, time to get crucified.
First, I'm gonna say that mutants can be an allegory for minorities, to an extent, if written well. Not Rosenberg's "transphobic attack on Rahne" though. That was just tone deaf.
That said, I get the feeling that they are actually using mutants as a stand-in for real life minorities (as in, they're using it as an excuse not to write actual minorities). Most of the visible X-Men are attractive white, straight, and abled people. At the moment, the only visible minorities are Storm and Iceman. Mystique is popular, sure, but not all that visible (which, considering Mystique's personality and modus operandi is especially jarring). I mean, they started (under Claremont's pen, Lee and Kirby simply wrote them as generic heroes) as a stand-in for civil rights- which was mostly led by black people, mostly straight but there were quite a few visible queer members- and all of the members were white Episcopalians (no, seriously, Jean and Angel are confirmed Episcopalians, Beast was raised as one), which was an epitome of middle class white people back in the 60s. Hearing all those attractive white people complaining about being discriminated against, when there are actual visible minorities and powerless mutants facing much worse around the world, can be rather jarring.
The biggest offender, in my opinion, is (and here's where I'm getting crucified twice) Emma Frost. A white straight one percenter who got away with some rather heinous crimes scot-free. And I'm supposed to feel sorry for her? Sympathize? Yeah, no.
That's just my long winded way of saying that mutants are minorities for writers who'd rather not risk it by writing minorities who are visible minorities (when did Karma come out, again? Did she have girlfriend, already? Was her being gay even mentioned afterwards?), so they are a good way for white liberals to pat themselves on the back for being "inclusive" while not being, you know, inclusive.