Oracle! - Contains not entirely work safe pics

Time to talk Babs! She is a wonder that has been on my mind for awhile now. Most people who are familiar with my cosplay know that Barbara Gordon is probably my favorite character to play - and specifically when she is in her wheelchair. In a few weeks I'll be posing as her along with a Harley and an Ivy for a Gotham City Sirens drawing session. Should be tons of fun!

But why Babs, why as Oracle? At first I really didn't know why I was so drawn to her. I was introduced to her character through Nightwing while talking to other geeks. I became fascinated by the idea of a hero who can't run on the rooftops anymore. So I began to research more into her, doing google searchs and even pulling up a couple of fan fics that I can't even remember anymore. The more I learned, and continue to learn about her, the more fascinated I grow with her.

In her beginnings, she had trouble getting 'the boys' to take her seriously. And I can understand where they were coming from a bit - she didn't exactly have the normal hero backstory of "avenging dead family members" or "I have super awesome powers, I must use them to help humanity". She had dressed up for a party and happened to be in the right place at the right time to help 'save' Bruce Wayne from a kidnapping attempt. After that I guess fighting crime seemed like the hip thing for a young girl to be doing.

Still, regardless of how she got started, she did display ability and deterimination. And though it had to grate on her nerves to have her place in the world questioned because of her gender, she pushes through it though (something I'm sure I will get into more detail with later as I acquire more and more old comics!). All seems well and then Killing Joke happens. So now we have a young woman who fought to be accepted on the rooftops and she is bound to a wheelchair and fighting to still make a difference because it is what she does.
This is where we get into just why I'm so incredibly fascinated with Barbara Gordon and why Oracle is, ultimately, my favorite character to play. It's because the wheelchair and Joker don't stop her. Not to get too heavy on you but the last time I looked at the stats one in four American women have been molested or harassed at some point in their life. It's happened to me on multiple ocassions, it's happened to several of my friends, and it's rough no matter how 'minor' the harassment was.

One of the things that happens in The Killing Joke that I don't see a lot of male readers picking up on is the fact that Joker sexually violates Barbara. If he rapes her or not is up for debate, though I think he did or had someone else do it. What isn't up for debate are these:

Regardless of how much he touched her, stripping her naked and taking pictures against her will is sexual assault. It's not a happy, fun-time thing.

My point here isn't that Joker is an evil monster. Who did it and why is pretty irrelevant to my point. Because regardless of who did this to her and why, she didn't let it stop her. This is a big deal. Because in the media we women don't get to see a lot of strong women who go "F*ck you, you don't get to win. You don't have the power here." At least outside of Lifetime and I can't stand that junk. I want to see women like Barbara.
It helps to have role models when something like this has happened to you. Someone that you can pattern your behavior after, something that you can shoot for. Not to make yourself into copy of them, be they a real person or a fictional character, but something to guide your first shaky steps while your head is swimming from life's sucker punch to the gut. Someone that you can look at and go "they have been here too, look what happened to them and look at where they are now - it's going to be all right". When it comes to not letting the attacker win, I'd say Barbara takes the cake.

Refusing to stay at home and feel sorry for herself, she pushes on. Barbara figures out how to help transition the hero world into the modern age of hacking and information gathering. And the icing on the cake? The woman doesn't seem to lack for interested male company. Of course Grayson is my favorite but there are others. Tedd Kord flirts with her, she gets sent free food by a cute cook, it's really quite wonderful to see a woman being flirted with, being actively chased who isn't 'perfect'. During my brief time in the wheelchair for cosplay, my eyes have been significantly opened regarding how a person in a wheelchair is viewed. That has only increased my love and respect for Barbara as Oracle - but more on my cosplay experiences as her later! If you get me started on that, I don't tend to shut up for awhile. XD

In the end, for me, Babs seems to come into herself in this role. She is no longer a Bat sidekick, a knock-off of the Dark Knight but her own person. This woman doesn't just survive her assault, she makes into a chance to grow stronger and better. Neither the chair or the sexual assault define her. She isn't perfect and and her journey isn't done, yet that seems to add to her appeal rather than take away from it - I still get to watch her finish this trek. That's why I get so jazzed about Oracle.

Now... a freebie of my two favorite DC lovers that I found on Google ages ago. Cause I'm just mushy like that.  ;-)