The visual evolution of Harley Quinn

When my daughter told me that she wanted to dress as Harley Quinn for Halloween, she showed me the PG-13 picture below rather than allowing me to do a Google Image search.

Smart girl, because I was very, very unhappy with what I saw when I did the image search (after agreeing to the costume).

With a few subtle changes, HQ goes from PG-13 to soft-core p@rn.  Guess which image is more prevalent on the internet?

At least that is better than the version in the computer game, which is plain p@rn.

H/T (hat tip) to Sarah, this is for her post about the evolution of Harley Quinn. Why does HQ's outfit get skimpier and skimpier over time while her boyfriend, the Joker's, stays pretty constant?

Also, read Boing Boing and the Hawkeye Initiative for more responses on the same theme.

This hyper-sexualization of female figures in comic books and computer games alarms and discourages me, on so many levels.  How can pointing out the misogyny of these portrayals be portrayed as an attack on men?

Portrayals such as these are attacks upon women!  Pointing out the hyper-sexualization and victimization of women in computer games is truth-telling.  How can the Gamergate crew twist this around so that they are the victims?

These pathetic excuses for human beings cry foul: Boo-hoo, women are taking our fun (violent misogyny) away from us.  I know, let's threaten and harass them on line and in real life.

They even sent a SWAT team to the home of the mother of one critic of on-line culture.  That's not harassment, that's terrorism.

Read Vox and the Daily Beast's coverage of Gamergate's tactics to shut down a discussion about the problems of gamer culture and how to make online games a safer place for women.