The Four Color Media Monitor

CBR hasn't exactly been very helpful in preventing sexual harassment in the industry. And while one of their writers did say something, there can be no doubt the editors kept him leashed in and wouldn't allow him to really cut loose and stress some of the biggest faults out there. Here's a bit of his commentary:

A culture of harassment exists in comics, plainly, because the people in positions of power allow it to exist. If higher ups took a firm stand in building a company culture that promoted a safe working environment with consistently observed policies, a robust leadership team committed to maintaining a healthy work place, and transparent paths for reporting unprofessional behavior, known harassers likely would not still be employed.

And those folks in power positions include - you guessed it - the media press as well. When the Eddie Berganza affair came back into focus, CBR was initially reluctant to say anything about it. They even tried suppressing the topic. Only thanks to sites like the Outhousers, bloggers and some Twitter users were they finally convinced to add their voices to the chorus of dissenters. But did they actually support a boycott of DC if that's what it takes to get anything done properly? Hardly. They wouldn't even suggest the time has come for DiDio to leave, since he's part of the problem. And if he was willing to publish a sexist screed like Identity Crisis, then it's not very surprising he and his staff would be so lenient on real life offenders.

It's time for publishers to take a stand and decide to prioritize the health and well-being of their employees over everything else. It's time for creators to speak out, to refuse to work with known harassers, and to build a network of solidarity for the fair treatment of all industry professionals. It's not enough for this industry to say they value people, it's time to show it with direct action.

It's also time for, IMO, for news sources like CBR to speak out more clearly, and not try to avoid the subject. As for creators, most of them haven't said anything, and are otherwise still de facto associating themselves with the pervs. That's why it's time for CBR's contributors to start getting more critical of the creators who turn their backs to these serious issues. But will they? Don't bet on that either, because they don't want to be on bad terms with people who don't really deserve their promotions. And that's just why it's so exceedingly difficult to tackle the issue effectively.

Labels: dc comics, indie publishers, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, violence