Can I be frank with you? Saying Lois is “fearless” is something a lot of men say about her. It’s obvious. A lot of men know that Lois is “strong” and they love to repeat to us in sound bites that she’s strong and fearless. It’s true...but she’s also so much more than that. She’s also kind, sexy, shrewd, funny, honest and warm. Saying Lois is fearless at this juncture is like saying Wonder Woman is the best warrior. It’s all true but these women are so much more than that.
Even saying the marriage is “the 8th most interesting thing about her” sounds good in theory but it’s just another thing men say that I don’t really buy. It sounds like a “feminist” thing to say but it’s not. I don’t know any married women who would actually use those words.
The truth is that it’s completely OK to acknowledge that the relationship that Lois and Clark share is deeply important to them both and that how she’s feels about him and he feels about her is not only interesting but life affirming and intense. We don’t want the Tomasi/Gleason route of her serving pie all the time but we don’t need to act like it doesn’t matter either. And see....that is both my fear and complaint about men telling these stories.
I don’t want or need Lois written as being “fearless” 24/7. That’s a huge burden to put on her and robs her of the vulnerability that makes her who she is anymore than I want her written as some stepford wife serving pies.
All women want—all we have begged for for years—is to have a seat at the table to help portray complex women like Lois (and Diana too bc God knows her book struggles with this too) as real people. And to be given empathetic point of view. And to be allowed to be loving and sexy and struggle and get mad and work hard and love our jobs and our husbands and our kids in a way that feels true.
What would go a lot further with me here from Bendis? Is for him to devote some time to talking about why LOIS is so important as a reporter. We are living through one of the most profound movements for women in history right now with #metoo and a lot of the victims and heroes have been female journalists. I am always happy to see Clark working as a journalist but the public focus right now is not on male reporters. It is not male journalists who are changing the world right now. It’s the Lois Lane’s of the world who are quite literally changing the status quo. Clark Kent is Superman. He’s the best at EVERYTHING. Except journalism. It’s the one thing that he’s not the best at. The one thing where, despite his powers and privileges, he comes in second. And Clark both knows this and celebrates it. It’s one of the BEST things about Clark. He’s the most powerful man in the world but he is not afraid or threatened by the fact that his wife is just better. He’s happy to be her partner. He’s happy to support her. He would be the first to tell you that no investigation is complete unless she’s part of the lead. The worst and most insulting thing that Bendis could do is be so focused on trying to make Clark the hero in every possible way that he forgets this fact. Lois is driving the fight on the ground. Lois is the one leading the charge at the Daily Planet hopefully with Clark as a partner. But there’s literally nothing that would turn me off faster from Bendis than him being so focused on making everything so male centric that he steals that from her. Not in 2018. Not when we are literally living in a revolution right now where women like Lois are changing the world.
Time will tell so I’ll just say what I’ve said before. Representation matters and no middle aged man should be attempting to do anything even remotely controversial with characters like Lois Lane or Wonder Woman without significant female input. These characters mean too much to women and the damage is too great when these guys inevitably mess up.