Superman Writer Knows How To Deal With Hate
The reveal of a bisexual Superman brought both praise and ridicule, including death threats, from comic book audiences since the November release of “Superman: Son of Kal-El #5”. But the story's writer, Tom Taylor, found the perfect way to respond to readers expressing hate toward the Man of Steel's sexuality.
According to PinkNews, Taylor has made a habit of making donations to Australian LGBTQ Youth advocacy group Minus18 in the name of those that have sent him death threats over the new Superman book. The Melbourne-based writer shared one such instance on Twitter last week, including the donation receipt in the name of “Miroslav from Facebook.”
“Like so many before you, I made a donation to Minus18 in your name,” Taylor shared. His display inspired at least one more person to continue the trend, with a Twitter user saying he would make a donation to The Trevor Project in Miroslav's name.
Rap Group Brockhampton Announces “Indefinite Hiatus”
Hip Hop stable Brockhampton appears to be going their separate ways, at least for the time being, according to a Friday Instagram post. The group stated that they “will be taking an indefinite hiatus as a group” following scheduled performances at Coachella and the O2 Brixton Academy in London. The group canceled all remaining tour dates and will refund ticket holders for those shows.
“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being on this journey with us. We would not be here without our fans,” the group's statement read. “We hope we've been able to inspire you as much as you have us these past eight years. We are bonded and grateful to you for life.”
Originally formed in 2014 as Alive Since Forever, Brockhampton rose to prominence with its “Saturation” trio of albums in 2017. The group also factored heavily into the growth of open discussion of LGBTQ identities in hip hop thanks to group leader Kevin Abstract. “I don't want to be a ‘queer rapper.' I just want to be a rapper,” he said during a 2018 appearance on BBC Radio 1. “I have to exist in a homophobic space in order to make change and that homophobic space would be the hip hop community. So me just existing and being myself is making change and making things easier for other young queer kids.”
“I want to be me and express that and break new ground along the way,” Abstract continued. “Hip hop's all about expression. That's why I got into it.” Abstract himself posted a note to Brockhampton fans via Twitter one day before the hiatus announcement dropped. “Brockhampton fans, I love you. You gave me everything,” Abstract wrote.
Out G4 Host Sounds Off On Sexualization Of Network's Female Hosts
Out G4 host and popular esports broadcaster Indiana “Froskurinn” Black ripped into viewers of the resurrected video games-focused TV channel last week, calling out the audience's sexist treatment of the network's female on-air talents, including saying Black wasn't as “bangable” as previous female G4 hosts.
“In joining G4 I was ecstatic to be part of something I grew up watching as a child, but every time G4 is brought up in various channels, even in this YouTube channel – we have the chat in front of us I can see you – without a doubt there will be backlash because I'm not as ‘bangable' as previous hosts,” Black said during the Jan. 11 broadcast of the network's top show Xplay. “It's somehow been expected that you can talk about how much you jerked off to women as a compliment. It's not a compliment. It's dehumanizing and it's weird.”
Black's comments highlight a common criticism of the treatment of G4's female on-air talents dating back to the network's previous existence from 2002 to 2014. As Kotaku points out, previous G4 hosts Morgan Webb and Olivia Munn were overtly sexualized multiple times by both the shows they hosted and the network's mostly young male audience during their time with the network. They also faced harassment from viewers for being “fake gamer girls.”
“Women do not exist to be nice on the eyes for you. Morgan Webb, Olivia Munn, did not exist to be nice on the eyes for you,” Black continued. The former League of Legends broadcaster joined the network when it relaunched in Nov. 2021, and stated that she won't stand for the harassment that plagued women during G4's previous iteration to continue in the network's new form.
When you're in our DMs or in those YouTube comments or in Twitch chat right now, those reactionary threads thinking I'm somehow ruining your current Xplay experience because you can't objectify me how you previously did to Morgan, or that I'm somehow less qualified to speak on something but you can't quite put your finger on why even though I'm reading the exact same script as [Xplay co-host] Adam [Sessler], but you have no problem when he's part of it, you're letting your unconscious biases ruin my day and you're gatekeeping the gaming space.
Indiana “Froskurinn” Black
Her fellow G4 hosts praised her comments and the official G4 Twitter account posted the video saying “we stand with Froskurinn and the women in the space.”
Bisexual Superman: Previously on Towleroad
Image courtesy of DC Comics
