Avenger's One-shots and Preferences

A Bold Stance Part 4

Final Part of this arc. Enjoy.

"Okay," Tony begins as he paces back and forth in his office while you go over some notes, "So we may have a bit of a set back. No big deal, it happens. Now how do we turn it around? Come on, (y/n/n), help me out here."

"Help you out with what exactly?" You raise an eyebrow. Ever since Firestein made those accusation against the Avengers in the previous chapter, you and Tony have been trying to come up with ways to counter said arguments...well Tony was anyway. You would if you didn't kinda sorta agree with the man's statements.

"How do we counter Firestein's claims?" Tony says like it's obvious, "How do we try to prove that the Avengers aren't what he says we are, that we are, definitely a friend and ally to women?" "Well uh...are you though?" you point out. "What exactly do you mean by that?" Tony frowns. "Well Firestein, as awful as he says, he may kinda sorta have a point," you explain, "I mean out of the  six original Avengers, only one of them was a woman...and as the numbers doubled we only had maybe one  or two more women join the team. So...maybe the numbers aren't exactly in your favor here in terms of female representation?"

"Okay, so maybe we could do better with the numbers," Tony admits, "But the ladies we do have on the team are looked up by women and girls of all ages around the world as means of inspiration right?" "Yeah I guess so," you nod, "...maybe to some women." "What now?" "Well..." you continue, "You know I love Nat and Wanda and Carol...but you are aware they kinda fit in the same mold...in terms of race and body type?"
"I'm not quite following." "Okay not to beat around the bush, but for the team in general...they could do a better job with diversity in general, especially with new superheroes popping up like Spectrum, Ms. Marvel or Miss America." "...Okay fair point," Tony concedes, "But, uh, okay how about we spin it this way? The women on this team feel empowered as their position also gives them a chance to uh, freely express their sexuality?"

"Huh?" you frown. "I mean, Firestein accused the team when he brought up Natasha's choice of costume and how it 'satisfies the objectifying male gaze,'" Tony explains, "but what if that isn't the case at all. What if Nat's choice of attire is her way of expressing her sexuality confidently and without respite of judgement, because we don't judge women's bodies and choice of clothing on this team." "I guess you could put it that way," you somewhat agree, "But contextually, when you look at the big picture, Nat's choices may have had less to do with her sexual agency and more to do with surviving her upbringing in the Red Room as the ultimate femme fetal, as someone who was trained from an early age to perform and be sexually appealing, specifically to male officers or other men in power."

"...well when you put it that way, it sounds depressing," Tony sasses. "Yeah, well that's usually the reality of the way things are," you say somberly, "the choices we make, the things we do, as women, they just don't occur in a vacuum. I mean when it comes to even making simple choices like shaving our legs, wearing makeup, or just trying to act like 'one of the guys', most of the time, it's ultimately us having to cave into societal pressure just to survive. I could actually write so many articles and research papers on the subject of choice feminism alone and its false promises, but really how many people would ever actually read them? Not the ones who could make a real difference that's for sure." 

"And it just got worse," Tony interjects, "Come on, (y/n), I thought feminism was the reason we were doing this in the first place. Isn't that the whole point of why we're trying to take down Firestein while at the same time toppling the patriarchy? Help me out here, I mean not moments ago we were getting somewhere and having fun too." 

"This isn't fun for me!" you exclaim, "In case you haven't noticed, I AM a woman. It is not a hobby or a pet interest of mine, it's my life. Not that I expect you to understand, genius billionaire playboy. You get to walk in, cash in one hand and a woman in the other, and everyone cheers you and calls you a stud. I try to do any of those things, I get labeled a bitch or a slut and/or receive death threats. You don't know what it's like, having to constantly be aware of my surroundings especially when walking home alone late at night, having to make sure no one slipped anything in my drink, or having to deal with random guys catcalling me on the street in the middle of the day. You don't know what it's like meeting new people, especially men and wonder 'hey they seem nice, I really hope they won't kill me because you know...male entitlement!'"