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arguablysomaya · 5 months

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Nightwing's weird fem-coding

! LONG POST !

Finally got around to jotting down my thoughts on the weird way that Dick Grayson (Nightwing) often occupies female-coded roles without being a particularly feminine guy. This is entirely due to me procrastinating on my finals. Okay!

Dick has often been cited as the hero who plays into the "female gaze", and he takes up some key roles that are typically reserved for women characters.

A large portion of Dick's fem-coding is contingent on his being with his family, and when he's not with them, this fem-coding kinda drops away, such as when he's with his various teams or acting solo.

His most prominent (and imo, complex) femme-coded role is:

-> Eldest Daughter + Widow

Eldest daughter syndrome means " frequently feeling like you’re not doing enough, like you’re struggling to maintain a veneer of control, like the entire household relies on your diligence." It's born out of the unique way that first-born girls are expected to take on adult roles around the household before they've had an opportunity to fully experience childhood (an opportunity their younger siblings will have, in part due to this sacrifice). It creates a strong sense of independence and a desire to be a good role model, but also leads to undue pressure and perfectionism.

Dick acts as a central emotional pillar for those in his family. To the point that when he fakes his death, it breaks something fundamental in the family dynamic:

Not only is it repeatedly made clear that Bruce depends on Dick to act as a lifeline for his own mental struggles, but moreover, his siblings do as well. In a very literal sense, the maintenance of the batfamily rests on Dick's shoulders. Bruce is so rarely available for emotional support that these children turn to the next best thing, which, to be fair, is better than what Dick had growing up. He has to clean up so many breakdowns, it's honestly pretty staggering.

As the OG sidekick, Dick receives quite a bit of hero worship, particularly from younger heroes/sidekicks, who look toward him for guidance. As a naturally upbeat and welcoming person, Dick ends up in the position of bringing light to everyone, not just Bruce. For example, here's Cassandra:

This balancing effect is unique to Dick's skill set. However, this can (and does) backfire very easily. The same pragmatism Bruce engages in hurts extra bad when coming from Dick: like when Dick had to take Robin away from Tim. Not to mention just how intimidating Dick's legacy is, which can create resentment when his successors aren't able to play this role so easily. For example, Jason both before and after his death expressed insecurity that he felt he was constantly being compared to Dick, and falling short.

As the original character that people think of when they think "sidekick", DG Robin (and his successors) had the advantage of not losing prominence even as his contemporaries (Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, etc.) were de-prioritized in favor of independent teenaged heroes (like Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire). But that means Robin as a concept now has to deal with questions that weren't so prominent in the earlier decades, such as: "How do we justify a grown-ass man using a child (and in fact, children) as emotional crutches?"

It's icky to think about, but there's no denying that early Batman and Robin got side eyes for homosexual subtext. I mean, they literally call each other "partners". So while that "subtext" was, and remains, just audience speculation, given Dick is literally Bruce's adopted son, there is room, I believe, to call into question how healthy it is for Bruce's oldest kid to be taking on a nearly-parental role and be a core pillar of Bruce's emotional regulation.

Hot take here, but I think Dick's relationship with Bruce was/has been pretty emotionally incestuous for a long time.

-> Emotional incest

"Emotional incest[...] is a type of emotional abuse performed by a parent. In cases of emotional incest, parents rely on their children for significant emotional support, which is a reversal of roles. Emotional incest is more than just relying on your kids on occasion—rather, it is an extreme dependence on them." (There's a pretty good argument to be made that Bruce has been emotionally incestuous with all his Robins, especially Dick and DEFINITELY Tim, but y'know. Small steps.)

Emotional incest is a semi-common consequence of eldest daughter syndrome; the natural conclusion of deputizing a child to manage the other children combining with an inability to see the child as a child, still in need of emotional guidance, but more like an adult capable of shouldering the burdens of grown-ups dumping their traumas on them.

To be clear here, while emotional incest may not be incest in the most traditional, taboo sense, it is still abuse. It's putting a burden on a child they shouldn't have to carry, even for children that aren't dealing with such extreme burdens as "grown-ass man running around in a fursuit needs me to keep him from getting himself killed". It's a perversion of a healthy parent-child relationship, where the child is treated more like a partner than a child. In Dick's case, it further exacerbates the parentification he already experiences. This is made more explicit when Bruce "dies" and Dick is cast into a sort of "Widow" role.

Dick reluctantly dons the cowl in an attempt to bring order to his family members. He's also left to parent Damian, alone. He has to make the decision to take Robin from Tim, and try to deal with the fallout from that decision. He has to put a stop to Jason's fratricidal rampage. He's made into the de-facto head of the family.

And the thing about this is: Dick's not even bad at it. In comparison to Bruce's litany of disasters-in-parenting, Dick does a pretty bang-up job of managing his siblings, heading the Justice League, and being Batman. But the crucial point is that he does this at the expense of his own mental health, which is the crux of eldest daughter syndrome. There's no denying that at the time, Dick was most certainly the best choice for New Father Figure, but it was a choice he was pushed into, and a sacrifice he had to make. When this sense of responsibility to the point of self-sacrifice is pushed to its logical conclusion, it has the effect of making Dick a Martyr-type figure.

-> Protector/Mama Bear/Avenger

Dick has shown repeatedly that his hot button is his family. From Tony Zucco to allowing Blockbuster to be killed after the villain targeted Haley's Circus, going after Nightwing's family is a pretty good way to earn yourself an asskicking. Probably the most infamous example of this is when Dick thought the Joker had killed Tim, beating the clown to death to avenge both Tim and Jason.

And while this role isn't particularly feminine, I do think it's interesting that Dick protects his family members from each other with almost the same frequency that he protects them from outside threats. He's pretty notorious for wrangling Damian and Tim, foiling Jason's murder plans, and most importantly, beating the shit out of Bruce whenever he crosses a line, such as when Bruce asks Dick to conceal being alive from their family to join Spyral or when Bruce wanted to abandon the Bruce Wayne persona after the murder of Vesper Fairchild. Or of course, more recently after Bruce's latest MK-ULTRA shenanigans.

This basically puts Dick in the position of being the glue that holds the family together, at basically all times, but especially in times of conflict. This also means he's put in the dangerous position of bodily defending his younger siblings from Bruce's wrath or irresponsibility, a position made even more awkward given the whole emotional incest thing.

That's not to say that Dick's relationship with his family is 100% unhealthy. Dick and his family members (including Bruce!) feel legitimate affection and care for each other. There are times when the dynamics here are indeed healthy. And like most people with eldest daughter syndrome, the unhealthy nature of this dynamic is usually understated. Oldest sibling syndrome is often just an unavoidable consequence of how parenting works. So while I am of the opinion that this dynamic is often unhealthy, hot take: I'm fine with that.

Now, though I've just listed some tropes that he only falls into around family, Dick also falls into some fem-coding all the time, regardless of who he's with, and these have to do mostly with his sexuality.

-> Sexual Assault & Harassment

Yeah, so nobody is surprised that this is a factor. Look up any list of the top ten hottest/sexiest/most attractive male superheroes, I guarantee 9/10 times Nightwing is number 1. However, unlike his father, whose attractiveness is usually played as a part of the male wish-fulfillment fantasy, something people aspire to be, Dick's attractiveness more often makes him an object of desire- very similar to how most attractive female characters are perceived.

And as an object of desire, Dick Grayson is constantly having to deal with being objectified.

Now, Dick Grayson being an attractive character is not the problem. Dick Grayson being sexually assaulted isn't even the problem. the problem is that he keeps being harassed, assaulted, and raped in ways that are flagrantly nonconsensual, and yet it's not treated with the seriousness it deserves. In fact, it took a full decade for Devin Grayson to retract her previous statement and admit that yes, the rooftop scene with Catalina Flores was in fact rape, and it's never been acknowledged in-universe (though, comics have always been atrocious at calling out sexual abuse of all kinds, let alone that which targets men).

Hell, even when he in-universe calls it out, he's dismissed immediately and the story continues like nothing happened.

Like???

Dick's adult sexcapades (which were consensual and enthusiastic) have long contrasted with the numerous times he's been harassed; times in which he comes across as bored, exasperated, and even frustrated with his own attractiveness and the vulnerable position it often leaves him in.

This puts him in the rare (in comics) position of being a male character who consistently and near-exclusively has his sexual agency and boundaries violated by women - a position that authors uniformly refuse to examine despite writing him into it all the fucking time.

Other characters around him frequently make comments passing off this harassment and assault as a natural consequence of Dick's own attractiveness, making "jokes" that essentially amount to "I understand why someone would want to assault him". Which- UH?

There is also, of course, the unavoidable reality that as an acrobat and an aerialist, he receives a very specific type of sexual harassment

the nature of nightwing's fight style necessitates a type of tight-fitting suit that male heroes typically don't go for: an extremely slick suit with bare-minimum armour that again, makes him vulnerable in a way most male heroes aren't, but a style female heroes wear all the time, whether it makes sense for them or not. This of course then allows artists to draw attention to this fact by posing Nightwing in poses usually reserved for femme fatales:

And unlike the Hawkeye Initiative, these poses are (largely) unironic, and not played for jokes. Dick isn't arching his back or looking over his shoulder to poke fun at how female heroes are treated; he does so because the artist (clearly correctly) sincerely believed these poses would play into the unironic gaze of the audience, and also probably thought it was hot. It's the same line of thought artists use when posing femme fatales.

He's even been known to use his sexuality as a bargaining chip, much like more traditional Femme Fatales. In Batman and Harley Quinn (2017), he refers to sleeping with Harley Quinn after being kidnapped by her as one of "the things I do for Gotham", to which she responds "I'm taking that as a 'yes'." And that's uh- not how consent works.

And this particularly sucks because- HELLO? The opportunity to explore the very real and tragically underacknowledged phenomenon of sexual violence against men is literally invaluable, especially with such a prominent character. It's one thing to ignore that men face sexual violence, it's another, entirely more unforgivable thing to continuously and explicitly depict such scenarios and play them off as jokes or not as serious as they clearly are. But what did I expect from an industry that has never had a good track record on sexual violence anyway.

-> Queercoding?

There's also of course the fact that DC has been, as of late, dropping hints that Dick might be bisexual.

That on it's own doesn't mean anything, but when paired with the fact that DC has been angling toward giving Dick a similar playboy persona that Bruce has, just with men included, it's just very interesting.

(BTW: The likelihood DC actually commits to making Dick bi is, uh, not a lot, but if they're gonna stick with this weird closet stuff for a while, let's hope they do so in a way that doesn't make him sound like a cross between Donald Trump and Harry Styles next time? Please?)

Anyway, all of this is basically to say I am forever fascinated by the gender dynamics of Dick Grayson, likely due to the fact that I'm projecting all my eldest daughter traumas onto him, and that someone who's background is in Gender Studies needs to get on this shit if they haven't already. I just love this character sm.

#this ended up taking/being way longer than I thought it would #but its done now so i can stop procrastinating yayyyy #shut up somaya #batfam #dcu #dc universe #batfamily #batman #dick grayson #nightwing

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20001541 · 7 months

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DFO Theory Questionnaire Results

Posted roughly a week ago, the questionnaire's purpose was to see fans thoughts towards the DFO theory and how they would feel if things were to go a certain way. Overall there was about 44 responses in total. More info underneath as it's a very long post.

Our first question was Do you think DFO is going to be canon? the results were:

Breaking this down, it means we had 33 said yes, 11 said no

For our second question was Do you want DFO to happen in canon?here things are more divided:

23 said yes,

18 said it depends

3 said no

Third question was Do you read fanfiction about DFO? the results are:

30 said, yes I do (and I am a DFO is canon believer)

4 said, no I don't (and I am a DFO is canon believer)

10 said yes, I do (and I am not a DFO is canon believer)

0 said, no I don't (and I am not a DFO is canon believer)

Fourth question was If canon, do you think AFO would hold some affection for Izuku or would just see him as unimportant and/or useless?

29 said they think he would have some affection

15 said AFO would not care for Izuku

Fifth question: If canon, do you think AFO would be in love with Inko or was simply just using her?

16 answered, I think he would be in love with her

21 answered, I wouldn't call it love, but I think he holds some affection for her

7 answered, No he was just using her

Sixth question: Do you believe in the Inko Shimura theory? (The theory that Inko Midoriya is Nana Shimura's daughter)

17 answered yes

27 answered no

Seventh question: If it becomes canon, which do you think is a likely possibilty; AFO took Izuku's quirk from him when he was small making him believe he was born quirkless or Izuku has some latent form of the AFO quirk? (no idea why the pic has quirkl... as it says quirkless not quirkl... when I copy it)

4 said, AFO stole Izuku's quirk when he was younger

23 said, Izuku may have a latent form of AFO that he inherited

17 said, neither he was born quirkless

Eighth question was: How do you expect Izuku to react if it does become canon?

Ninth question: If GFO (Grandpa for One aka AFO is actually Izuku's grandad) became canon instead of DFO, would you be okay with that?

25 answered yes

19 answered no

Tenth question: Do you think AFO may have other biological children? (Not counting Izuku as his possible son)

17 answered yes

27 answered no

Eleventh question: If you like the DFO theory, can you explain why?

Twelfth Question: If you do not like the DFO theory, can you explain why? (The fifth answer was supposed to be for the question above I think)

TW: For mentions of rape in this next answer

Thirteenth Question: Do you think there is enough evidence throughout the manga to justify DFO becoming canon?

34 said, I think there is enough evidence in the manga to justify it

10 said, No I do not think there is enough evidence to justify it

Fourteenth question: To my canon DFO theory enjoyers, if DFO becomes canon BUT it's done in a way you dislike, how would you feel about the idea of canon DFO then?

28 said, I just want DFO to be canon no matter what, but I prefer it to be done in a way Iike

7 said, If it's not done in a way that satisfies me then I don't want DFO becoming canon at all

9 said N/A

Fifteenth question: To my DFO theory believers, at this point in the manga, do you think that the theory can be made canon in a way that is satisfying?

13 said, Yes I still think Hori can pull it off in a satisfying manner

23 said, It could go either way and that makes me nervous

4 said, No we are long past the point of it being done in a satisfying manner

4 said, N/A

Sixteenth question: If you enjoy the DFO theory, how would you feel if it does not become canon?

(I reached the picture limit so I'll just type the rest out)

I’d honestly be ok if it doesn’t, this is Hori’s story not mine

I don't care. Imma still use him as a father material in fanfics. But it just just a waste of reference(starwars) and too important drama.

I'll be sad ofc, but it's hori's story and I'll respect that. Besides, there are always fanfics.

I would be dissapointed

I would at least want some meaningful Afo backstory, Izuku introspection. Also perhaps Afo and Izuku actually having a conversation before the series is over.

Indifferent. It would’ve been a bonus, but wouldn’t have taken anything too major from the story for me.

Sad :((

Good.

I wouldn't mind too much, that's what fanfiction is for lol

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sad, disappointed, my whole life was a lie. I will perceive DFO as a parallel universe

I tend to like things more for their potential than for their concrete form, so it wouldn't be any different from other things I like

Why isnt there an equivalent of this question for people who don't like the theory? (yeah there should've been my bad ya'll)

Despite being dfo theorists myself for a very long time, I’d be absolutely fine, maybe I would even gloat a bit because of how dogmatic some dfo fans became in the last few years

Honestly, it wouldn’t bother me that much. It’s a fun little tidbit to hope for, but it’s nothing that I’d stake my opinion on the series for. Like, sure, it’d be a nice bow on top to really tie together the parallels in the manga that we see seeded throughout the series between AM & Izuku vs AFO & Shiggy, but it wouldn’t be something to make-or-break the manga.

Seventeenth question: If you dislike the DFO theory, would you seriously consider dropping the manga if it becomes canon?

0 said yes I hate it so much

3 said No I'll still read it

1 said depends on how bad the damage is

40 said, N/A (didn't include it in the chart so you can see the other results more clearly)

Eighteenth question: If you dislike the idea of DFO becoming canon, have you ever at one point wanted it to become canon? (meaning you used to enjoy the thought of canon DFO but later changed your mind about it)

2 said, yes

3 said, no

39 said, N/A (didn't include it in the chart so you can see the other results more clearly)

Nineteenth question: If you dislike the DFO theory and if it became canon, do you think you could ever warm up to the idea of AFO canonically being Izuku's father?

7 said maybe it depends on how the concept is done

1 said there was no way they could ever warm up to the idea

36 said N/A (didn't include it in the chart so you can see the other results more clearly)

Twentieth question: If DFO doesn't become canon, would you prefer that Izukus father appears at the end of the manga with Izuku narrating the story to him, or that he doesnt ever appear at all?

22 said, they would prefer if he never appeared at all

14 said, they would prefer if he appeared at the end with Izuku narrating the story to him

8 said, Other

The other responses are as follows...I would prefer if he were revealed, but not that way

He left for the milk and all might steps up to the position instead

Only if hisashi was a) a villain who worked under AFO, 2) AFO had turned hisashi into a nomu, 3) was an underground hero in America, 4) worked abroad with something related to quirks. If it's not anything of what I wrote, I'd prefer him to never appear

But what if, hear me out, his dad at the end he narrating too looks a lot like AFO. Plot twist galore. LOL

I want him to appear, but him having the story told to him doesn't make sense. Like you couldn't email your kid and known the story? I feel like he would be getting updates in the background of the story. Not something we see as readers but it's happening. Too cheesy don't like the idea. But I'll expect it

I'd want an even funnier explanation for his long-term missing status

I don't feel strongly one way or other about Hisashi directly appearing. I'd be fine if he never did.

If he does show up, I want him to be an unimportant figure in his life. He abandoned them: Izuku never talks about his dad, ever; it’s only his mom that ever mentions him the one time- that’s the only reason we know he exists. If anything, I want All Might to, after his big fight with AFO, become Izuku’s canonically accepted father figure. I could make up a reason for this but honestly, I think it’s be good for both their characters if this happened.

And that is the end of our results, thank you to everyone who participated :)

#ITS DONE #took me four hours to format this whole thing and I've been in bad pain since I woke up today but yayyyy #might be some mistakes but I wanted to get this out before leaks dropped

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