I thought I’d try a mixed media submission for the Threadless Loves Threadless competition. A little change of pace from the clean vectorized designs I usually submit. Unfortunately the limited color palette made it impossible for me to use a lot of the techniques and materials (watercolor, fabrics, etc) that I would have liked to use.

Shirt placement

A bit stereotypical in her weakness, but I quite like it anyway
$5

i love it as an illustration but i see it in a magazine, not on a shirt. it's a bit complex for one glance.

completely sexist "0"

It's Nice, But Not For A T-Shirt.

While her weakness is shopping for shoes I don't see that as sexist. I mean it was a guy and his weakness was big breasted women or baseball games.. we wouldn't find that sexist .. mmhmm.

This is way too complex for a t-shirt but for some reason I really fucking love it.

what a variety of styles

the scribble fire and smoke among the more
controlled styles made me giggle

I think the design is fun Fun FUN !

I just wish the lady was already decked out
in her superhero gear as if the shoes distracted
her away from her attempt to deal with all the
situations at hand.

really good, and different too. maybe drop the apostrophe in 'shuriken's' though... don't need that bad boy, and no fool be wearin a shirt with bad grammar. other than that, 5 beans.
(and yes i realise that this comment is all in bad grammar)

Rock.

That's a little unfair, oceanna. The woman is being portrayed as a super hero.


Thanks for catching that, sammyb.

With the title, I thought she was the villain, shopping for kryptonite shoes after a hard day of crime. I like my way better.

so many different styles.. but nice job buddy

This is Like Beck, but with design and not music.

im with redsugar..

very cool design!!! id like it for a poster though, and not my chest.

...yes... as a superhero, she is (the female counter part to successful male characters, such as superman and batman, as eluded to in the title and imagery) who is failing to be heroic due to her superficial and materialistic tendencies.

how is that not sexist?

Would you have also cried sexist if I had instead depicted a man neglecting his superhero obligations, because he was too busy watching a sporting event on TV? I doubt it.

The title and the spotlight (common words/images associated with superheroes) are only used to convey that the woman is a super hero. It is in no way comparing her, a fictional character in a fictional world that I have created, to Superman and Batman.

If I truly were claiming that women are inferior, as you are alleging that I am, I never would have portrayed one in the role of a superhero. A role commonly associated with strength and courage.

I like it, but im not so keen on the text...

"If I truly were claiming that women are inferior, as you are alleging that I am, I never would have portrayed one in the role of a superhero.”

You did not portray her as a superhero; you have shown a woman failing to succeed in a predominantly male position and then blamed the failure on gender flaws.

The issue at hand is that this "strength and courage" is implied to have been over-ridden in the depicted circumstances due the character's sex.
You are presenting a character that is void of such qualities due to selfishness and vanity.
This becomes a gender- based issue because the "common words/images associated with superheroes" you have chosen are associated with male characters thus driving home that fact this position is generally a male one. By default, you have created juxtaposition. Whether or not intentionally done, you have created a gender based comparison which has been pushed into full force by negative gender stereotyping.

"Would you have also cried sexist if I had instead depicted a man neglecting his superhero obligations, because he was too busy watching a sporting event on TV? I doubt it."

I would have "cried sexist" if:
...the male character had been placed in a noble female role.
...And the fact that the noble duties were feminine was reinforced by allusion
... And the failure to fulfill the role had bee attributed not being female

You see, what you have done is like placing a black man in the place of a highly regarded white man and then depicting his downfall and blaming it on a black stereotype.
Would you argue that you are not being racist because you place a black man in a highly regarded position?

I love it. I'm a girl. And a feminist. And I can see the humor in it. Very well done.

I am also a feminist and I also see the humor in it. I think that some people are reading way, way, way too far into it. It is human. Not sexist. $5 and I would buy.

love it. and some people are a bit uptight, aren't they?

Ouch. Your black and white comment brings back memories of my chocolate milk submission that began not unsimilar to this, where a poster read far too much into a simple illustration and found it racist. That argument rambled on unproductively for quit a few posts, and I have no desire for that to happen again. So I’m going to try and make this my last post on this subject.

The signal in the background is an obvious distress call. It not only shows that our heroine has done her job before, but has done it so well that the city has come to rely on her. Half-off shoe sales are not a common occurrence. At least I don’t believe they are. This was intended to show a single occurrence not a reoccurring theme. It would be like if my local bookstore had a half-off sale. I’m sure I’d neglect all my responsibilities to spend the day there.

That’s it.

I’d like to thank everyone else for their positive comments.

Have a lovely day.

I like the way in which you rendered this concept, and I would buy it.

I just don't like how the superheroine's blouse looks smocked -- is she expecting? I don't particularly like empire-waisted tops *shrugs*

*quite

To clarify, my above post wasn’t claiming that you were turning this racist. I was only saying that I didn’t want it to drag on like it did in the other thread.


And no she’s not meant to be pregnant, millie. :)

I like it. 5$

Wow, I love this

Sexist?!! bwhahaha, idiots, I love how versatile you are Leroy. 5

Apostrophes are for the posessive, not the plural.

I agree with some others i like the idea but not on a shirt

Isn't that teh funny!? A woman as a superhero, and her kryptonite, are you ready? No, really, this is a real knee-slapper. Her kryptonite, oh my god, this is sooo funny! Her kryptonite is shopping for shoes!

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT IS SO FUNNY 'CAUSE WIMMENS ONLY LIKES TO SHOPS AND SHOPS, AND REALLY? HOW MANY PAIRS OF SHOES DOES A STOOPID WIMMINS NEED?

I think for the next one, you need to show a female superhero applying mascara in her rear-view mirror while engaged in a high-speed chase. Y'know, a kind of theme of slapping women around with their own silly femininity...

I couldn't care less about superheroes, but what a beautiful shirt! 5$

I agree with most of what Oceanna said, but I also think you weren't intending for the design to be at all sexist.

All men are, to some degree or another, sexist. Face it... we live in a patriarchal society and from a very early age we're taught to think along gender lines and, consequently, discriminate because of it. That sucks... and I'm a feminist too, but I only get upset when people go out of their way to be maliciously sexist about things. Obviously you weren't, so I don't think it's a big enough deal for anyone to bother getting upset about.

Anyway... I like how the design was created with mixed media, it gives it a really cool effect.

Ok, when you read through all the comments you see that art can make for wars, and that this is no group of doo-dood heads looking at these things and that this design ROCKS because of what it kicked off. Me, I think it is the smartest, most fun and most interesting thing I've yet seen on here. I honestly feel that the accusation of sexism is a bit reactionary, although some valid and intelligent points are made on both sides of the issue. Purely from a t-shirt design perspective, I like that it's sensory overload, with so much going on it is impossible to take in at a glance. Not everything needs to be reduced to a moment's intake. Bravo.

um, people read too much into things. this is a great idea, and a great tee shirt :)

"SHURIKENS"

NO APOSTROPHE NEEDED

Besides that, I love the shirt

i think i would like it more if you didn't have to include the "purse inventory," like we could see through the purse or something.

i dunno. this gave me a headache.

I luv it! but I'm a superman fan. :) Awesome work. Good design, nice colors, keep it up

COOL!! I love the newspaper/doodle stuff. and the shurikens of course. lol

add her superhero husband with a backpack by her side entranced with a tv, then eveyone will be happy/or sad.
i like it...and i like how much is going on...why do designs have to be NOT busy?
~e

i like it.

Love at first sight. Nicely done!

this shirt isn't the least bit sexist. not all men are sexist. you guys are full of shizz and need to stop over analyzing things.

'nuff said.

oh and i really like the mixed medias too.

I like it, but I feel that there is a little too much going on in this design.

a few less words maybe. but i like it alot.

maybe if she was already in her costume and the purse inventory wasn't there.

i agree with slow_learner: if she was in her suit, the payoff would be much better. great idea, though.

$5. Humorous and I like the style.

I was unaware being a superhero was exclusively a male thing, oceanna.

Some of the most powerful comic characters have been female, like the pheonix from X-Men for example.

You may be reading into it a little too much, especially because superheros are not even real. You may have had a point if she had a real job that was actually mostly male dominated. If you read comics anyway, hell if you read any fiction, most of the characters fall into some stereotype. Its characterization, and the stereotypes are used because they are well recognized and identefiable. Plus they can be used for satire, which is what this shirt does. Its nothing sexist, its just a joke. Chill.

Nice design by the way.

i'm so blown away by some people's rampant stupidity that i have to give this a $5 out of spite. well, and because i love this design. i'm also a woman, and i love shoes, and i love her outfit.

maybe if you had made her a teacher or a nurse or a housewife, bitches wouldn't be getting all riled. i'll never understand some people.

I would agree with the above comments that the design is a bit busy for a t-shirt. This business also led me to initially believe that she WAS the villian who had a)escaped from prison b)kidnapped a hapless individual c)shot some folks and d)snatched a purse, only to now enjoy the fruits of her labor. Namely a 1/2 off shoe sale.

i dont like all the words and the idea behind it but i really like the design and color usage

I think the shirt is beautiful, but would never wear it...not because I think it is "sexist" (teetering on stereotypical perhaps) or has any anti-feminist sentiment, certainly not intentional...however, despite how muhc I love the style, I would never wear a shirt that may communicate that I relate to my ultimate weakness being my love for shoes... you may lose a lot womens' business that way...not to mention I think I would immediately dislike any man for wearing this...

I truly love the visual style though...I wish the weakness were different...

I love it. I do, however, think the weakness is to typical. But the design is great.
5$

I just see this as the fire is going on, and she hasn't gotten the signal yet. I get the sense of playing with time a little bit, showing her a little bit before the signal is fired off.

I think all the sexist things are entirely delusional and i absolutely love this design. The colors and the style are great, and I'm not the type of person to say this unless I mean it because I am extremely cynical and I love it.

Even if the shoes are supposed to be the weakness, I think it's much better and less sexist than if she were occupied with a man and THAT was supposed to be her weakness...

5. and i would buy this for sure.

Ahah! I want it! 5$

shopaholic supergirl! in a way too busy to get it, - although it's pure genius 5$

cool design, but a bit sexist.

trey nice... feels very french..

I believe shuriken is a mass noun, so it doesn't get pluralized. You would say, "I have six shuriken", not "six shurikens."

Other small quip, the tshirt is definitely sexist...

not sexist- people are way to sensitive and becoming idiots- goodness I hate women- such a shame I am one...