Some comments by cartoonist Kate Beaton and a cartoon by Gabby Schulz about the relationship between female cartoonists and their male fans has caused the requisite commenter shitstorm on the comics nerdblogs. Here’s the opening of the comic:
But you should read the whole thing. And then you should wonder at the terror of the masculine comics boards unleashed upon a female cartoonist who dares to suggest that they might be sexist: For example, it only takes a few comments before someone breaks out the old “Can’t we go back to a time where everything didn’t have to be so PC?“-argument. The response to that one is pretty good:
And yes, I too wish we could all go back to a time when people of privilege could use pejorative words that applied to other people with less social power as freely as they liked without anyone raising an eyebrow. Truly, that was a golden era if you were white and straight and Christian and a guy, and totally awesome because you didn’t have to think about the implications of your slurs.
Eventually, they had to close down the comments thread because “we’re having to delete more comments than we are actually letting through.” It’s unfortunate that the argument centers around one ‘compliment’—”I want to marry you and have your babies”—because there’s a billion directions this conversation could go.
Julia Wertz had a good one about this:
http://www.fartparty.org/wp-content/upload…
That shitstorm surprised me. Kate Beaton’s comment seemed totally normal and valid. I hope, for her sake, that she very quickly stopped caring about the response.
Right?
The whole point is there’s this stranger who makes drawings you like, and you want to let them know. But they’re a stranger! You don’t know quite how to say it. So you mention your genitals, and the stranger says “I’m glad you like my work, but we are strangers. Let’s not talk about our genitals, yeah?”
SCANDAL!
Whatever happened to ignoring assholes? Ignore all assholes. Unless you find tormenting them to be entertaining. In which case, try not to let their response bother you too much. Remember: YOU WILL NOT TEACH THEM ANYTHING. IGNORE THEM.