Women in Refrigerators

Simone received numerous e-mail responses from comic book fans and professionals. Some responses were neutral and others were positive.[8] Additionally, arguments on the merits of the list were published on comic-book fan sites in early 1999.

Simone published many of the responses she received on the website.[8]

Several comic book creators indicated that the list caused them to pause and think about the stories they were creating. Often these responses contained arguments for or against the use of death or injury of female characters as a plot device. A list of some responses from comic book professionals is included at the site.[9] Marz's reply stated (in part) "To me the real difference is less male–female than main character-supporting character. In most cases, main characters, "title" characters who support their own books, are male. ... the supporting characters are the ones who suffer the more permanent and shattering tragedies. And a lot of supporting characters are female."[10]

In response to fans who argued that male characters are also often killed, content editor John Bartol wrote "Dead Men Defrosting", an article arguing that when male heroes are killed or altered, they are more typically returned to their status quo. According to Bartol's claim, after most female characters are altered they are "never allowed, as male heroes usually are, the chance to return to their original heroic states. And that's where we begin to see the difference."[11]

Discussing the site in his book Dangerous Curves: Action Heroes, Gender, Fetishism and Popular Culture, Bowling Green State University professor Jeffrey A. Brown noted that while male comic book heroes have tended to die heroically and be magically brought back from the dead afterwards, female characters have been likelier to be casually but irreparably wounded or killed, often in a sexualized fashion. To support his claim, he cited the Joker shattering the original Batgirl's spine just for fun, resulting in her being written as a wheelchair user for over a decade. He also cites the torture and murder of Stephanie Brown by the villain Black Mask.[12]

In 2000, several national newspapers ran articles that referenced the site, generating discussion on the topic of sexism in pop culture and the comic-book industry.[13] Some universities also list the content of Women in Refrigerators as related to analysis and critique of pop culture.[14][15]

Within the comics medium, during the DC event Blackest Night in 2009, Alexandra DeWitt was one of many deceased characters temporarily brought back to life as part of the Black Lantern Corps. While she appeared briefly, she was seen inside a refrigerator construct at all times.[16]

Deadtown, an upcoming television series from Amazon Studios, an adaptation of the Catherynne M. Valente novel The Refrigerator Monologues, centers upon five recently deceased women who meet in Deadtown, a purgatory where they discover that their entire lives were merely in service to the superhero men, resulting in each of their deaths once they provided emotional backstory for the men.[17]