Editing X-Men (section)

===Reflecting social issues===
The conflict between mutants and normal humans is often compared to real-world conflicts experienced by minority groups in [[America]] such as [[African Americans]], various religious or non-religious groups, [[ethnic minorities]], [[autistic]] individuals, the [[LGBT community|LGBTQ community]], etc.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Kelley J. |last2=Lucal |first2=Betsy |date=January 1999 |title=Tapping into parallel universes: using superhero comic books in sociology courses |journal=Teaching Sociology |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=60–66 |doi= 10.2307/1319247|jstor=1319247 | issn = 0092-055X }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Survival: the survival of the human race |last=Shuckburgh |first=Emily |author-link=Emily Shuckburgh |year=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-71020-6 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t1Gsqgt8GoQC |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> It has been remarked that attitudes towards mutants do not make sense in the context of the Marvel Universe, since non-mutants with similar powers are rarely regarded with fear; ''X-Men'' editor [[Ann Nocenti]] remarked that "I think that's literary, really – because there is no difference between Colossus and [[Human Torch|the Torch]]. If a guy comes into my office in flames, or a guy comes into my office and turns to steel, I'm going to have the same reaction. It doesn't really matter that I know their origins. ... as a book, ''The X-Men'' has always represented something different – their powers arrive at puberty, making them analogous to the changes you go through at adolescence – whether they're special, or out of control, or setting you apart – the misfit identity theme."<ref>{{cite news | first = Patrick Daniel | last = O'Neill | date = October 1986 | title = Ann Nocenti | work = [[Comics Interview]] | issue = 39 | pages = 58–59 | publisher = [[Fictioneer Books]]}}</ref> Also on an individual level, a number of X-Men serve a [[metaphor]]ical function as their powers illustrate points about the nature of the outsider.

{{quote box | quote=The X-Men are hated, feared and despised collectively by humanity for no other reason than that they are mutants. So what we have here, intended or not, is a book that is about racism, bigotry and prejudice.|source= —''Uncanny X-Men'' writer [[Chris Claremont]], 1981 | width=20em | align=right}}

* [[Racism]]: Although this was not initially the case, [[Professor X]] has come to be compared to [[civil rights movement]] leader [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and [[Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto]] to the more militant [[Malcolm X]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sequart.org/magazine/3201/x-men-is-not-an-allegory-of-racial-tolerance/ |title=X-Men is Not an Allegory of Racial Tolerance |author=Darius, Julan  |date=September 25, 2002 |work=Sequart Research & Literacy Organization |access-date=August 1, 2011}}</ref><ref name="X-Men as J Men">{{cite journal |last1=Baron |first1=Lawrence |year=2003 |title=X-Men as J Men: The Jewish Subtext of a Comic Book Movie |journal=[[Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies]] |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=44–52 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |doi= 10.1353/sho.2003.0075|s2cid=143511281 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/shofar/v022/22.1baron02.html |access-date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://inhome.rediff.com/movies/2006/may/26xmen.htm |title=Mutants aren't what they used to be |author=Sen, Raja  |date=May 26, 2006 |work=[[Rediff.com]] |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> (Magneto, in the [[X-Men (film)|first film]], quotes Malcolm X with the line "[[By any means necessary]].") X-Men comic books have often portrayed mutants as victims of [[Riot|mob violence]], evoking images of the [[lynching]] of African Americans in the age before the [[civil rights movement]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Marvelous Myths: Marvel Superheroes and Everyday Faith |last=Dalton |first=Russell |year=2011 |publisher=[[Chalice Press]] |isbn=978-0-8272-2338-7 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh-BGBfea9EC&pg=PA89 |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> Sentinels and anti-mutant hate groups such as [[Friends of Humanity]], Humanity's Last Stand, the [[Church of Humanity (comics)|Church of Humanity]], and [[William Stryker|Stryker's]] [[Purifiers (Marvel Comics)|Purifiers]] are thought to often represent oppressive forces like the [[Ku Klux Klan]] giving a form to denial of civil rights and amendments.<ref name="Prejudice lessons from the Xavier Institute">{{cite book |title=The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration |chapter=Prejudice lessons from the Xavier Institute |last=Lyubansky |first=Mikhail  |year=2008 |publisher=[[Benbella Books]] |isbn=978-1-933771-31-1 |pages=75–90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdXhjmRFCIwC |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref>

:1980s storylines involving the fictional island nation of [[Genosha]], where mutants are segregated and enslaved by an [[crime of apartheid|apartheid]] state, are widely interpreted as a reference to the contemporary situation of [[apartheid in South Africa]].<ref name="Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels |last=Booker |first=M. Keith |year=2010 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-0-313-35746-6  |page=430 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2J7DpUItEMC&pg=PA430 |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Chamber (character)|Chamber]]'' (2002) explicitly cites the [[Norman Rockwell]] painting ''[[The Problem We All Live With]]''. The miniseries portrays using the mutant context [[affirmative action in the United States|affirmative action]], [[New York National Guard|National Guard]] troops escorting a new student, sympathetic and antagonistic majority members, and majority-supremacist terrorism. Some mutants avoid confrontation and seek integration, while more militant mutants [[play the race card]], reject their [[slave name|human-given name]]s, and denounce those who do not as [[Stepin Fetchit]] and [[Uncle Tom]].<ref name="chamberv1no1">{{Cite comic |Writer=Vaughan, Brian K. |Penciller=Ferguson, Lee |Inker=Rapmund, Norm |Colorist=Villarruiba, Jose |Letterer=Sharpe, Dave |Editor=Raicht, Mike; Quesada, Joe |Story=The Hollow Man: Chapter One |url=https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/73157/chamber_2002_1 |Title=Chamber |Volume=1 |Issue=1 |Date=October 2002 |Publisher=Marvel Comics}}</ref>
* [[Antisemitism]]: Explicitly referenced in recent decades is the comparison between antimutant sentiment and antisemitism. Magneto, a [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] survivor, sees the situation of mutants as similar to those of Jews in [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="X-Men as J Men"/><ref name="X-Men and philosophy">{{cite book |title=X-Men and philosophy: astonishing insight and uncanny argument in the mutant ...|last1=Housel |first1=Rebecca |author2=Wisnewski, Jeremy |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |isbn=978-0-470-41340-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bK-ax5Ttj3wC |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> At one point he even utters the words "never again" in a 1992 episode of the ''X-Men'' animated series. The mutant slave labor camps on the island of [[Genosha]], in which numbers were burned into mutant's foreheads, show much in common with [[Nazi concentration camps]],<ref name="X-Men and philosophy"/><ref>{{cite book |title=Marvel graphic novels and related publications: an annotated guide to comics, prose novels, children's books, articles, criticism and reference works, 1965–2005 |last=Weiner |first=Robert G. |year=2008 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-2500-6 |page=309 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npIsZV7grboC |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref><ref name="TeenStuff">{{cite journal |last1=Raafat |first1=Ahmed |last2=Nasser |first2=Ali |date=May 2006 |title=Spotlight X-Men |journal=TeenStuff |issue=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfLEhSj1FSUC&pg=PT31 |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> as do the internment camps of the classic "[[Days of Future Past]]" storyline.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Reviews/X/X_Men/2000/07/14/754792.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714235837/http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Reviews/X/X_Men/2000/07/14/754792.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 14, 2012 |title=The X-Men slay Batman |author=Powell, John |date=July 14, 2000 |work=[[Jam!]] |access-date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref> In the third X-Men film, when asked by Callisto: "If you're so proud of being a mutant, then where's your mark?" Magneto shows his concentration camp tattoo, while mentioning that he will never let another needle touch his skin. In the prequel film ''[[X-Men: First Class]]'', a fourteen-year-old Magneto suffers [[Nazi human experimentation]] during his time in the camps and witnesses his mother's death by gunshot.
* [[Multiculturalism|Diversity]]: Characters within the X-Men mythos hail from a wide variety of nationalities. These characters also reflect religious, ethnic or sexual minorities. Examples include Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, Magneto and [[Sabra (character)|Sabra]] who are [[Jews|of Jewish descent]]. [[Dust (character)|Dust]], [[Kamala Khan|Ms. Marvel]], and [[M (Marvel Comics)|M]] who are [[Muslim]], [[Nightcrawler (character)|Nightcrawler]] who is a devout [[Catholic]]. [[Thunderbird (Neal Shaara)|Neal Shaara/Thunderbird]] who is [[Hinduism|Hindu]]. Jubilee is [[Chinese American]], [[Gambit (Marvel Comics)|Gambit]] is born to [[Cajun]] parents from [[New Orleans]] and [[Rogue (Marvel Comics)|Rogue]] is from Caledecott County, [[Mississippi]] both of whom are [[White Southerners|Southerners]]. Warpath and his brother, the Thunderbird, are [[Apache|Native Americans of Apache descent]]. [[Storm (Marvel Comics)|Storm]] represents two aspects of the African diaspora as her father was [[African American]] and her mother was [[Kenyan]]. [[Karma (character)|Karma]] was portrayed as a devout Catholic from [[Vietnam]], who regularly attended Mass and confession when she was introduced as a founding member of [[New Mutants|the New Mutants]].<ref>Marvel Graphic Novel #4</ref> This team also included [[Wolfsbane (character)|Wolfsbane]] (a devout [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[Presbyterian]]), [[Danielle Moonstar]] (a [[Cheyenne (ethnic group)|Native American of Cheyenne descent]]), [[Cannonball (Marvel Comics)|Cannonball]], and was later joined by [[Magma (comics)|Magma]] (a devout [[Greco-Roman]] classical religionist). Different nationalities included Wolverine, [[Aurora (comics)|Aurora]], [[Northstar (character)|Northstar]], Deadpool and [[Transonic (comics)|Transonic]] from [[Canada]]; Colossus and Magik from [[Russia]]; Banshee and [[Siryn]] from [[Ireland]]; Dust from [[Afghanistan]]; Psylocke, Wolfsbane and [[Chamber (character)|Chamber]] from the [[United Kingdom]]; Sunfire, [[Armor (Marvel Comics character)|Armor]], [[Surge (Marvel Comics)|Surge]] and [[Kenji Uedo|Zero]] from [[Japan]]; Sunspot from [[Brazil]]; M from [[Monaco]]; Nightcrawler from [[Germany]]; Sabra from [[Israel]]; [[Karima Shapandar|Omega Sentinel]], Neal Shaara, [[Kavita Rao]], [[Indra (comics)|Indra]] and [[Trinary (comics)|Trinary]] from [[India]]; [[Velocidad (comics)|Velocidad]] from [[Mexico]]; [[Oya (comics)|Oya]] from [[Nigeria]]; [[Primal (comics)|Primal]] from [[Ukraine]]; etc.<ref name="Prejudice lessons from the Xavier Institute"/><ref name="chron">{{cite web |url=https://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4023836.html |title=Comic-book characters defy stereotypes: Writers stretch appeal through diverse heroes |first=Jim |last=Beckerman |date=July 5, 2006 |work=Chron |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trushell |first1=John M. |date=August 2004 |title=American Dreams of Mutants: The X-Men—"Pulp" Fiction, Science Fiction, and Superheroes |journal=The Journal of Popular Culture |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=149–168 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.2004.00104.x}}</ref>
* [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBT themes]]: Some commentators have noted the similarities between the struggles of mutants and the [[LGBT social movements|LGBT]] community, noting the onset of special powers around [[puberty]] and the parallels between being [[closeted]] and the mutants' concealment of their powers.<ref>{{cite web | first=John | last=Hartl | title=The X-Men Come Out | work=Today.com | date=May 25, 2006 | url=https://www.today.com/popculture/x-men-come-out-wbna12956661 | access-date=June 2, 2007}}</ref> In the comics series, gay and [[bisexuality|bisexual]] characters include [[Anole (character)|Anole]], [[Bling!]], Destiny, Karma, Mystique, Psylocke, Courier, [[Northstar (character)|Northstar]] (whose marriage was depicted in the comics in 2012), [[Graymalkin]], [[Rictor]], [[Shatterstar]], Shade, the [[Ultimate Marvel|Ultimate version]] of Colossus and later Iceman after revealing that he is a mutant; the comics version of the character was then revealed to be gay in 2015. [[Transgender]] issues also come up with shapechangers like Mystique, [[Copycat (Marvel Comics)|Copycat]], and Courier who can change gender at will. It has been said that the comic books and the X-Men animated series delved into the [[AIDS]] epidemic with a long-running plot line about the [[Legacy Virus]], a seemingly incurable disease thought at first to attack only mutants (similar to the AIDS virus which at first was spread through the gay community).<ref>{{cite news |title=Lesbian Batwoman in danger of becoming stereotype |author=Wenz, John |url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/opinion/lesbian-batwoman-in-danger-of-becoming-stereotype-1.303198 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927084453/http://www.dailynebraskan.com/opinion/lesbian-batwoman-in-danger-of-becoming-stereotype-1.303198 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |newspaper=[[Daily Nebraskan]] |date=June 5, 2006 |access-date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref> In the film ''[[X-Men: First Class]],'' [[Beast (Marvel Comics)|Hank McCoy]] is asked by his CIA boss why he never disclosed his mutant identity, and his response was ''[[Don't ask, don't tell|"you didn't ask, I didn't tell"]].''
* [[Communism]] and [[socialism]]: Occasionally, undercurrents of the real-life "[[Red Scare]]" are present or the events of the Red Scare in history are alluded to. Senator Robert Kelly's proposal of a Mutant Registration Act is similar to the efforts of [[United States Congress]] to try to ban [[communism]] in the United States.<ref name="TeenStuff"/> In the 2000 ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'' film, Kelly exclaims, "We must know who these mutants are and what they can do," even brandishing a "list" of known mutants (a reference to Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]]'s list of [[Communist Party USA]] members who were working in the government).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.themovieinsider.com/reviews/read.php?rid=700 | title=X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006) Movie Review – 3.0 out of 4.0 stars | work=[[The Movie Insider]] | access-date=August 14, 2010 | archive-date=May 27, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527150808/http://www.movieinsider.com/archive/4890/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Religion]]: Religion is an integral part of several X-Men storylines. It is presented as both a positive and negative force, sometimes in the same story. The comics explore [[religious fundamentalism]] through the person of William Stryker and his Purifiers, an antimutant group that emerged in the 1982 graphic novel ''[[X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills|God Loves, Man Kills]].'' The Purifiers believe that mutants are not human beings but children of the devil, and have attempted to exterminate them several times, most recently in the "Childhood's End" storyline. By contrast, religion is also central to the lives of several X-Men, such as Nightcrawler, a devout [[Catholic]], and [[Dust (character)|Dust]], a devout [[Sunni Muslim]] who wears an Islamic [[niqāb]].<ref name="chron"/>
* [[Subculture]]: In some cases, the mutants of the X-Men universe sought to create a subculture of the typical mutant society portrayed. The Morlocks, though mutants like those attending Xavier's school, hide away from society within the tunnels of New York. These Morlock tunnels serve as the backdrop for several X-Men stories, most notably ''The [[Mutant Massacre]]'' crossover. This band of mutants illustrates another dimension to the comic, that of a group that further needs to isolate itself because society won't accept it.<ref>{{cite book |title=Comic book character: unleashing the hero in us all |last=Zimmerman |first=David A. |year=2004 |publisher=[[InterVarsity Press]] |isbn=978-0-8308-3260-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/comicbookcharact0000zimm/page/78 78] |url=https://archive.org/details/comicbookcharact0000zimm |url-access=registration |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Marvel graphic novels and related publications: an annotated guide to comics, prose novels, children's books, articles, criticism and reference works, 1965–2005 |last=Weiner |first=Robert G. |year=2008 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-2500-6 |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npIsZV7grboC&pg=PA111 |access-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> In [[Grant Morrison]]'s stories of the early 2000s, mutants are portrayed as a distinct subculture with "mutant bands," mutant use of code-names as their primary form of self-identity (rather than their given birth names), and a popular mutant fashion designer who created outfits tailored to mutant [[physiology]]. The series ''[[District X#District X (comic)|District X]]'' takes place in an area of New York City called "Mutant Town."<ref name="Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels"/> These instances can also serve as analogies for the way that minority groups establish subcultures and neighborhoods of their own that distinguish them from the broader general culture. Director [[Bryan Singer]] has remarked that the X-Men franchise has served as a metaphor for acceptance of all people for their special and unique gifts. The mutant condition that is often kept secret from the world can be analogous to feelings of difference and fear usually developed in everyone during adolescence.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}
* [[Genocide]]: Genocide and its psychological aftereffects, primarily [[survivor guilt]], are recurring elements in some of the most significant X-Men story arcs. Magneto was a survivor of [[The Holocaust]] and witnessed the genocide of his people, severely scarring him emotionally and leaving him with a strong distrust of humanity. Because of this he constantly toes the line between ally and enemy of the X-Men. The iconic [[Days of Future Past]] story line saw an alternate future where Sentinels committed genocide on most of the world's mutants.<ref>''Uncanny X-Men'' Vol. 1, #141–142</ref> In Rachel Summers' original timeline, she was captured by humans and turned into a 'hound' used to hunt down other mutants to capture and kill them, leaving her extremely traumatized by the experience and knowledge that she unwittingly assisted in the genocide of her own people. Bishop's childhood consisted of him being trapped in a mutant concentration camp, leaving him so emotionally scarred as an adult that upon returning to the past he was prepared to [[X-Men: Messiah Complex|kill a baby who might have caused his future]]. When [[Cassandra Nova]] committed genocide on Genosha, the event left both [[Emma Frost]]<ref>''New X-Men'' #114–116</ref>  and [[Polaris (Marvel Comics)|Polaris]]<ref>''New X-Men'' #132</ref><ref>''Uncanny X-Men'' #429–434</ref> traumatized by survivor's guilt as they were amongst the limited few survivors. While taking some time off in Germany, [[Nightcrawler (character)|Nightcrawler]] witnessed the genocide of numerous mutants. The event left him as an emotional shell of who he used to be because of the trauma of what he witnessed until he had psychic therapy with [[Jean Grey#Time-displaced incarnation|Jean]] to help him cope.<ref>''Extraordinary X-Men'' #5</ref> Other characters who have either committed or have survived genocide include Mystique, [[Callisto (comics)|Callisto]], Apocalypse, Onslaught, [[Bastion (comics)|Bastion]], [[Mister Sinister]], Hope Summers, Cable, and the [[Phoenix Force]].