“Ladies Night” could have been read as a straightforward, sexist, “women love shopping” story, but Claremont imbues it with layers of irony and self-awareness that transfigure the issue into an open-ended exploration of gender roles and of women’s participation within. #xmen 1/7

The roster of Psylocke, Dazzler, Storm, and Carol/Rogue (with Jubilee in the wings), offers a spectrum of feminine-presenting characters, each with differing levels of comfort and familiarity with the rituals that Alison (the most effeminate of the team) drags them through. 2/7

Claremont is careful to call attention to their waning comfort levels, whilst also emphasizing the amount of artifice required to perform this feminine ritual. We see the women get haircuts, clothes, makeup and shoes, all before they’re truly transformed enough to “party.” 3/7

This is much in keeping with the idea of the feminine masquerade (discussed last week re: Betsy), but Claremont is careful not to easily dismiss the rituals his characters are performing, which are never truly undermined, given how much fun they have by playing along. 4/7

This speaks, perhaps, to the element of camp, the joy of performing a gender role with enough irony to destabilize the binary. In evidence of non-conformity, when the villains strike, the X-Women swiftly and efficiently destroy them, like the big damn heroes that they are. 5/7

Along the way, the cover (a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of damsels in distress in a very out-of-character manner), and a brief panel of dialogue on "play," spotlight self-awareness and interrogation of the roles explored without reiterating or naturalizing them. 6/7

The issue ends with Jubilee specifically identifying the X-Women as role models. After multiple reflections on their beauty and strength and confidence, Jubilee takes the leap to follow-them, thus ending the issue with a tacit endorsement of the X-Women. 7/7

As a kind of awesome aside, Alison provides, at one point, an eloquent and expansive monologue that connects existential philosophy to retail therapy (with an accompanying laser-light show)!