Making It Hot: OK in my book

So there's a new cover stirring up controversy on the interweb Occasional Superheroine blog, this time from Titans #5, a stand-alone story called "Date Night" that's due out in August.



Val took issue with the cover, comparing it to porn and generally seeming kind of disgusted by it.

Now, I am in no way going to attempt to defend Judd Winick as a writer, or some of his more ridiculous stories on Teen Titans Outsiders; I'm dealing solely with this image, which (spoiler alert) I happen to like. Mostly? Because it's hot.

I say as a matter of larger context that I understand -- don't always agree with, but understand -- why some female fans get upset about images where they feel like women are portrayed as sex objects. But even setting that debate aside, there's a whole rainbow of suggestive or sexual imagery out there, and it isn't all de facto demeaning to women. That's because sex is not de facto demeaning to women. Superhero comics haven't been for kids for some time now, so I don't see anything wrong with using this type of more adult imagery In a book for grown-ups.

Singling this particular cover out for criticism makes no sense to me, not least of all because, as a heterosexual woman, I would much rather see a picture of a male/female couple making it hot than a scantily-clad woman presented as the sole object of desire. This isn't the usual hot babe pinup art that we get on the rack (no pun intended) every Wednesday -- it's equal opportunity cheesecake. It's an appealing picture of two very attractive people making out, which makes it sexy in a much more inclusive way than a lot of imagery in comics. So I'm not sure where the basis for offense is, unless it's simply the raw sexuality of the image.

Which makes me wonder: what are some people are really getting upset about in these semi-regular controversies about cheesecake: the sexual exploitation of women, or just... sex?