The useful TTABlog posted a bit about the rejection of an opposition by Archie Comics here. The opposition (to ARCHÉ for various cosmetics) seemed properly rejected; what I noted was the commentary: "Now I know next to nothing about this subject, but I am surprised at the suggestion that, in this electronic day and age, there are still girls out there who subscribe to comic books."

I don't know about subscriptions as opposed to store purchases, and I have no idea how well Archie is doing in the battle with manga for girlish readers, but I do know a lot of women who've read comics for a long time. (By the way, Friends of Lulu is an organization devoted to promoting greater female comics readership.)

The TTAB said, "Opposer has put nothing into the record to establish what percentage of girls 6-14 who subscribe to comic books also are potential purchasers of cosmetics." Now, this could be standard after-the-fact pile-on reasoning to support a conclusion the Board already reached, but I wonder if there's a bit of comics discrimination going on here as well, as if we geeky girls weren't likely to wear makeup too. In the context of Archie Comics, most of my exposure to which came in the Christian bookstore back in Madison, Wisconsin when I was a kid, I find that supposition particularly amusing. Archie isn't exactly at the forefront of separatist feminism. Betty and Veronica wear plenty of makeup -- but I'm guessing they won't be wearing ARCHÉ.