Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick is a dystopian sci-fi graphic novel about a planet that women who are considered “non-compliant” are shipped off to as prisoners. Non-compliant refers to any women who talk back, do not convey traditional beauty standards (small features, thin frame, etc.), or those you would consider a bad mother. Women, in this dystopian future, are all fearful of offending or stepping over the line because the risk of incarceration on Bitch Planet are so high. Anyone, even other women, can accuse someone of having an attitude or defying the society’s “norms” and be sent off to this other planet.
An example of what the society views is a “compliant” woman.
The storyline shows how this dystopian society “others” women that defy standards that are placed upon them. It is also interesting to note that in the story, there is a panel of men, called the Council of Fathers, that control what happens in the prison. They see firsthand what the women go through and they end up making decisions on how the women are treated, what they can do in the prison, and who they interact with. I believe it is a nod to how women are often “othered” in our society as well, especially by governmental entities, and how when the women stood up against the men working and controlling the prison system, they could put up a fighting chance.
At the end of Book one, the sporting event Megaton that the prisoners are forced to participate in leads to a death of one of their own. Throughout the first book, you see the rage that the women feel about being sent to this planet and being forced by society to act a certain way their whole life. In this scene, however, you see the walls come down and they all mourn the loss of their friend. It brings them closer, and I think it is what keeps them fighting so hard to take down the Council and the militant ruling against women and their minds and bodies.