Female comics buyers

[Trey Strain]

Some people want very much to discuss this topic. All right. This is the place to do it.

How many comics buyers are female? How many comics readers are female? How do women tend to get into comics? Do most women like the idea of digital comics as opposed to the comics shop experience? Do a lot of women have issues with the exaggerated physiques of the female characters? Id you'e a womanm are you more likely to seek out titles with female protagonists?

Here is the place to discuss it all!

[Trey Strain]

Let me kick it off. I say that 47 percent of comics buyers are not female. I think the real number is more like 8 percent.

And notice that I said buyers, not readers.

[klynn]

Let me kick it off. I say that 47 percent of comics buyers are not female. I think the real number is more like 8 percent.

And notice that I said buyers, not readers.

I'm curious, how do arrive at your 8% estimation?

[Dark-Flux]

Hard to tell with increased emphasis on the bookstore and digital market.

[t hedge coke]

Let me kick it off. I say that 47 percent of comics buyers are not female. I think the real number is more like 8 percent.

And notice that I said buyers, not readers.

And, you have what evidence for this? Still, awesome to start out this already dodgy thread with some nice belittling of numbers and suggesting that women don't buy their own comics. I'm not even sure what that's about. Are they only reading them because their boyfriend of brother gets them? Do they just shoplift all the dang time?

[ed2962]

And, you have what evidence for this? Still, awesome to start out this already dodgy thread with some nice belittling of numbers and suggesting that women don't buy their own comics. I'm not even sure what that's about. Are they only reading them because their boyfriend of brother gets them? Do they just shoplift all the dang time?

Well, he kinda suggested exactly this in his thread about ethnic readers in the DC boards

(not the shoplifting but women reading cuz of boyfriends and husbands)

[Brandon Hanvey]

And, you have what evidence for this? Still, awesome to start out this already dodgy thread with some nice belittling of numbers and suggesting that women don't buy their own comics.

That's probably partially my fault since he is referring to a survey DC had Nielsen did a few years back after the launch of the new 52 which I posted about in another thread. It was showed 7% female readership. But some of people have found flaws with the study due to lack of sample size and method of polling.

https://graphicpolicy.com/2012/02/11...mean-anything/

Furthermore the 7% female readership was only for people who responded to the in-store poll which was a small section (167) of the roughly 6000 respondents. The online/digital portion had over 5400 respondents and 23% female readership.

[Cold Water]

Some people want very much to discuss this topic. All right. This is the place to do it.

How many comics buyers are female? How many comics readers are female? How do women tend to get into comics? Do most women like the idea of digital comics as opposed to the comics shop experience? Do a lot of women have issues with the exaggerated physiques of the female characters? Id you'e a womanm are you more likely to seek out titles with female protagonists?

Here is the place to discuss it all!

Oh here it is!

1. Female comics buyer right here.

2. Female comics reader right here.

3. Nostalgia,and my husband suggested them (but he wasn't reading comics yet at that time).

4. I buy a lot online, but I get my monthly pulls from a LCS. But I LOVE going to bigger comic shops than my local one because the selection of HCs and trades is much larger.

5. Not answering this for you because that is obvious bait right there.

6. Yes.

[Anis]

Some people want very much to discuss this topic. All right. This is the place to do it.

How many comics buyers are female? How many comics readers are female?

I don't know anyone but myself but then people in my circle don't read comics not just the female ones.

How do women tend to get into comics?

I love good artworks, I love reading, I love fantastic and heroic stories. Comic books give me all of that.

Do most women like the idea of digital comics as opposed to the comics shop experience?

ALL of my books are physical books (you know, the ones made of papers). I'm not reading digital books. The day they stop printing physical books IS THE DAY I STOP READING.

Do a lot of women have issues with the exaggerated physiques of the female characters?

Not me. Male characters have exaggerated physiques as well so what's the issue? If I can admire Superman's abs it's only fair if male readers can enjoy WW assets as well.

Id you'e a woman are you more likely to seek out titles with female protagonists?

Not me. Don't like them and don't read them.

[Anis]

Some people want very much to discuss this topic. All right. This is the place to do it.

How many comics buyers are female? How many comics readers are female?

I don't know anyone but myself but then people in my circle don't read comics not just the female ones.

How do women tend to get into comics?

I love good artworks, I love reading, I love fantastic and heroic stories. Comic books give me all of that.

Do most women like the idea of digital comics as opposed to the comics shop experience?

ALL of my books are physical books (you know, the ones made of papers). I'm not reading digital books. The day they stop printing physical books IS THE DAY I STOP READING.

Do a lot of women have issues with the exaggerated physiques of the female characters?

Not me. Male characters have exaggerated physiques as well so what's the issue? If I can adore Superman's abs it's only fair if male reader can enjoy WW assets too.

Id you'e a woman are you more likely to seek out titles with female protagonists?

No. Don't like them and don't read them.

[Prisoner 6655321]

My girlfriend reads comics too. I typically wouldn't speak for her but I feel fine doing so regarding this. She kinda hates my LCS because she tends to get harassed by socially awkward teenage boys but for as much as she dislikes that she really detests digital print media as a product. Growing up, her step father had a bunch of old comics she'd read and she's a generally very literate person. Typically she has no beef with most "exaggerated physiques" but there are times when she thinks a line gets crossed. While she seeks out stories with female protagonists and stories (music, anything) by female creators she does not exclusively read books about / by women. Finally, not that it was asked, she does not frequent comic book message boards because she has a fairly low opinion of people, especially those on the internet.

[Cold Water]

My girlfriend reads comics too. I typically wouldn't speak for her but I feel fine doing so regarding this. She kinda hates my LCS because she tends to get harassed by socially awkward teenage boys but for as much as she dislikes that she really detests digital print media as a product. Growing up, her step father had a bunch of old comics she'd read and she's a generally very literate person. Typically she has no beef with most "exaggerated physiques" but there are times when she thinks a line gets crossed. While she seeks out stories with female protagonists and stories (music, anything) by female creators she does not exclusively read books about / by women. Finally, not that it was asked, she does not frequent comic book message boards because she has a fairly low opinion of people, especially those on the internet.

And I don't blame her.
Due to the anonymity that the internet allows, it's even easier for people to just be nasty, and if she is harassed by folks in public places surrounding this hobby, I can only imagine she'd be extra cautious online.
I really hate that people can be such sh!tb@gs to others. Especially to women.

[t hedge coke]

My girlfriend was here for about four days right before CBR went scorched earth. That was enough for her, but she's still reading comics, just not hitting the forums.

Same with my exes, really.

Like LCSs, polling at a forum generally just tells you more about the demographics of the place than the market/fandom.

[DebkoX]

I've noticed a lot more women and girls reading comics these days. The films and surge of feminism have done wonders for it, I enjoy going on Twitter and seeing women impassioned about a character.

[Coco Loco]

It's a hard thing to quantify, because you've got to define "comics". Do webcomics count, for example? Manga?

I think the female readership of sequential art, broadly defined, is pretty robust. Not sure how that translates to interest in North American comics that would be available on the direct market. The 47% figure strikes me as pretty absurd but 7% seems low. I'd be surprised if there are more than a handful of comics stores in the US with more than 10% female customers, but that number might climb once bookstores, digital, mail order etc are taken into account.