Well I guess I should start from the beginning of my love for comic books and all things masculine. When I was little, my dad would spend more time with me than my mother so the love of cars and action figures began. This may sound odd, but when playing Barbies with your dad is your favorite thing to do, the gender stereotyped lines begin to blur.

I remember we had conversations about things, most mothers and their daughters would never talk about. My dad would take me to car shows, to swap meets, and into the automotive shop where he worked from a very young age. As I grew up I spent more time with the guys in the masculine clubs than anyone else so that when it came time to choose my peer group in middle and high school, I automatically gravitated toward the masculine world I knew and loved.

In the world of guys my knowledge of cars, engines, comics, and masculinity allowed me to fit right in.

I loved comic books because the characters could shatter the gendered expectations that I always was looked down on for breaking. I found the ability to create my own alter-ego, modeled after Poison Ivy that embodied the feminine power I saw in super villans and the masculine environment I value.

Poison Ivy's I Don't Give A Fuck Attitude gives women like me the opportunity to enjoy the power embodied by our given gender, but also maintain the power, influence, and freedom given to the male sex.

The comic scene gives women like me who identify with the masculine world a safe haven from persecution by our own sex due to the lack of femininity and a welcoming invitation into the world we love.