I was looking forward to reading Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta (1988) as an example of dystopian fiction, my current favorite genre. The story takes place in a fascist England after the rest of human civilization has been wiped out in WWIII, but the greatest tragedy of Moore's dystopia, at least in my opinion, is what this new world order is like for its female inhabitants.
"As a geeky kind of girl," writes the anonymous author of Remember the Ladies, a wordpress blog aptly titled Tyranny of the Petticoat, (http://tyrannyofthepetticoat.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/v-for-vendetta-everything-thats-wong-about-women-in-comics/) "I tend to approach comics with caution, afraid of how they treat women. And the classic graphic novel [V for Vendetta] has done nothing to assuage these fears." The bloggess goes on to say that Moore's first longform work with original characters is "everything that's wrong with women in comics." While not a huge comic reader myself--The Walking Dead graphic novels are about the only such works I've read as an adult--I'd have to say that I agree with at least the assertion that Moore stomps the female gender into the dirt in V for Vendetta.
The reader first meets Evey Hammond, V's female sidekick and eventual replacement, when she is wrongfully detained by the secret police: officers called Fingermen. The Fingermen are preparing to sexually assault Evey, when she is rescued by V, a faceless terrorist in a Guy Fawkes mask. V's pursuit of two goals: revenge on those who imprisoned and experimented on him, and bringing down the government will now include the torture of Evey.
"All the women in this comic are hypersexualized to an absurd degree, and made into permanent and willing victims," writes the author of Remember the Ladies, V for Vendetta: Everything that's wrong about women in comics. But none so much as Evey. The methods that V uses to bring Evey to herself, at least that's the motive I saw for Alan Moore's treatment of the character, are unforgivable. "I'm a baby," Evey says to V in one panel of the comic. "I know I'm stupid." The goal behind Evey's torture seems to be for Evey to discover who she really is. "What was done to V was monstrous, and it created a monster." (Remember the Ladies) Once V has broken Evey, he's able to rebuild her as he chooses. It's infuriating to me that in the graphic novel Evey forgives V and never considers leaving this man that has abused and abandoned her. I did find some satisfaction that the film version of Evey isn't as dismissive of V's torture and refuses to offer forgiveness.
Isaac Butler of The Hooded Utilitarian writes in a post called V for Vile, "[V for Vendetta] manages to be brazenly misogynist, horrifically violent, and thuddingly dull all at the same time." (http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2012/09/v-for-vile/) I don't know if I would call the story dull: the panels are beautifully drawn and I enjoyed some of the thought-provoking sequences about individual and political freedom, but it is definitely misogynistic. As Remember the Ladies puts it: "Evy is V's dog. He picks her up when she's wandering the streets. He gives her a bed and some food, pats her head and doesn't tell her shit. When she starts to ask the wrong questions, he abandons her like a puppy. When he takes her back, against her will, he punishes her in order to train her."
The dystopian world of V for Vendetta is violent and harsh, particularly for the women...and especially for Evey Hammond who is repeatedly brutalized. If she didn't thank her capture profusely for his bad behavior, I might be able to forgive her and her creator Alan Moore. As it is, I detest them both, and I'm only half kidding.
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