Re-reading Claremont’s work in the context of the #MeToo movement and rape culture is challenging to say the least, revealing a portrayal of sexual violence against women that can be both progressive and regressive at times and depending on different perspectives. #xmen 1/10

**Content warning for discussions of sexual violence against women ahead.** 2/10

A rape culture is one in which sexual violence is normalized through an extensive series of sociological practices. The term emerges from 2nd wave feminist discourse of the 1970s (a field that Claremont has shown extensive familiarity with). 3/10

As a writer of a popular mass media narrative, Claremont was certainly in a position to either subvert or contribute to a broad cultural understanding of sexual violence against women (and men, of course, but not nearly so commonly). 4/10

Sexual violence against women is portrayed both explicitly and implicitly throughout the Claremont run. This can be positive in terms of generating discussion and awareness for a too-often-ignored subject or negative in terms of reducing sexual violence to a narrative trope. 5/10

Claremont can be read in either light. At times, he portrays sexual violence as tragic, cruel, and deeply affecting of the victim’s psyche. At other times, it’s a casual element of a story that does not seem to hold any long-lasting consequences or considerations. 6/10

Still at other times, his stories might even become salacious in their representation of sexual violence as part of an elaborate fantasy staging. Again, it depends a lot on the individual scene and the perspective of the individual reader. 7/10

Thinking apologetically, UXM is a superhero (violent) soap opera (sex/romance). In this light, implied sexual violence can occur quite easily. At the same time, superhero action tends to be devoid of trauma in general, with the impacts of violence routinely underconsidered. 8/10

Thinking unapologetically, a lack of consideration for the role of sexual violence against women in Western society might represent a serious point of hypocrisy in terms of UXM’s commitment to progressive representations of women. 9/10

My point here (if I actually have one) is just that the sexual politics of the run invite a critical eye to the representation of sexual violence against women. There’s a lot to discuss and the conclusions are by no means obvious, but there’s work to be done. 10/10

I should probably note that I’ve dug into this subject a bit myself in academic scholarship: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21504857.2020.1757477