So, a new statuette of MaryJane has been released by Sideshow Toys. Apparently there are a few people who are upset by this release.

Why, yes! She *is* washing her husband’s superhero costume. And it’s turning her on — you can tell by the unnatural arch in her back that displays her butt like a baboon in heat (the better to see the rip in her jeans right on her buttock) and pushes her breasts out for maximum cleavage. Ooh, housework is soooo sexy! She’s like a pornified June Cleaver. – Zuzu of Feministe[source]

MaryJane: The Stepford Wife

Now, this makes me wonder if this woman reads comic books at all, or just saw this representation and was offended.

My initial reaction to seeing this statue was to assume that MaryJane found the Spidersuit in the laundry and was laughing at Peter throwing that in there. I didn’t really think that much of it. I’m not offended by the prospect that women still do laundry for their husbands on occasion, or perhaps even make them a sandwich. I don’t think that this is a point that a statue about a well developed character is trying to make.

MaryJane is an actress and model. So, taking into account the attire of actress / model examples in the real world, I would say that this outfit is not too far off. I see young women in good shape wearing jeans like this, with low cut shirts all the time. And for awhile, the thong strap show-off was a fashion trend. It’s not like this is just getting pulled out of thin air. It’s something I would not think twice of if I saw on the street, so I don’t really care when it’s on a statue.

The source sketch

Mostly I think that the problem with this statue is just that it was a poor choice of pose, and doesn’t translate as well from the sketch to the statue as they would have liked. I don’t think the sketch even looks that bad, it’s a cute picture I think and is pretty flattering to MJ. However, the statue isn’t as flattering, or cute, it’s just kind of creepy weird. But I don’t like a lot of comic statues that come out and I think many of them suffer from the problem of poor pose choices, or bad sculpting. I mean take a look at some of the Namor statues out there. That’s just some ridiculous anatomy right there. Statues just seem to be more exaggerated and ridiculous than action figures, or the drawings even are. That’s just the nature of the medium.

Overall, I don’t see this as some slight against women. I think the fact that there are women who exist, and do laundry, is a reality in our country that no one can deny. There is still such a phenomenon as a housewife. MaryJane, however, isn’t even that. She’s a working woman who also does the Laundry during her downtime. The fact that people are so quick to get offended because a woman is depicted as domestic is strange to me. Yes, it’s sexist and unfair to limit women’s choices and pigeonhole them into that lifestyle. However, if a woman chooses to do the laundry, or chooses to be a housewife, there’s nothing inherently anti-feminist about that. All in All, I believe that it’s just supposed to be a look at MaryJane from the perspective of “What it’s like to be married to a superhero” with your standard sitcom “wah wahhh” reference.