'his skin-tight Nightwing costume' - I think Dick needs to learn how to help himself as he helps other people. Unlike Cyborg, he has a hand in his own victimisation, and can even remove the issue, again unlike poor Cyborg. By wearing an inherently sexual costume, he sexualises himself, and makes other people uncomfortable (especially me). He can't blame other people for what he does to himself. Well, he can, but that says something very bad about the character. I would say he likes the attention, much like anyone else who wears such outfits. He reminds me of Vegeta, as well as a character I write, who both wear slin tight spandex, but who are necessarily very haughty characters, and exhibitionists.
I found this contrast between him and Cyborg, to be very interesting, and I will certainly use what I have learnt here in other stories featuring Dick.
I'm going to have to politely disagree with your comment. There's no such thing as a self-made victim because someone who chooses to hurt others does that of their own volition.
Nightwing has notoriously been treated as a sexual object throughout several of his comic runs, from people touching him without permission to actual rape. He never asked for any of it.
As per your remark on his costume, almost all DC heroes wear skin-tight material to aid their powers/abilities. For example; the Flash wears a tight costume to aid in aerodynamics when he runs. Tempest also wears a similarly tight costume to help glide through the water. I can go on and on.
Dick wears a tight costume because he needs to be able to move freely when he performs acrobatics, which is one of his greatest feats. His costume is also made of Nomex and Kevlar, which gives him a fire-retardant bullet-proof material. Everything is designed for his specific skills and his city. The same as any other hero.
I brought up his costume as an example of how unfairly he is treated in comparison to his fellow Titans just because of how he looks. Being in a skin-tight costume isn't inherently sexual and neither is showing skin. It's these generalisations that cause harm to others and encourage victim blaming when the blame should be put entirely on the perpetrator.
Nightwing doesn't care for such attention but gets it anyway. He's just naturally good-looking, charming, and a bit of a people pleaser. People just assume these things about him because they don't know him. They're judging a book by its cover.
And yes, those guards very much used the company policy to target Cyborg under the guise of “just doing their job.” Unfortunately, this is a part of everyday life that some people face.
May I ask what he’s supposed to wear instead? A skin tight suit makes him more aerodynamic and allows him to move freely, an important part of his fighting style. A skin tight suit is also safer. He can’t get caught on different objects or have his clothes pulled on. As someone who wrestles, we wear singlets during matches, it prevents pulling on clothing and choking people out as well as broken fingers. Even if you can see someone’s sports bra or underwear, hell I’ve even seen a girls boob come out, none of it is ment to be sexualized. It’s not meant to be something sexual and really shouldn’t be seen as such. Nightwing’s costume isn’t sexual, it’s practical and athletic. Could you make a case that the Discowing costume is sexual? Sure, but that’s not the suit being discussed here. Some people sexualize him, and he has been drawn in a very sexual manner, but that’s has nothing to do with the actual costume itself. You shouldn’t victim blame someone for what they wear. People get objectified wearing anything, and to say that it’s his fault is ignorant. He doesn’t “do it to himself” and to say that is making excuses for people with no regard for how others feel.
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Babblecat3000 on Chapter 1 Sat 01 Feb 2025 12:31PM UTC
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