Gabby's Playhouse: Discussing Sexism on the Internet

[mad]

So, recently Kate Beaton made some comments on Twitter about how sometimes guys that like her work will respond with comments she finds creepy/uncomfortable/offensive.

Gabby's Playhouse then did a webcomic entitled "How Every Single Discussion About Sexism and Woman-Type Stuff on the Internet (and real life) Has Ever Happened And Ever Will Happen, Always, Forever, Until the Earth Finally Falls Into The Sun. (Or until the patriarchy is finally dismantled.)"




[Source.]

I don't quite get that last panel, but the rest of it is kinda recognizable.

Comments

(frozen) Re: Counterpoint

[lencannon]

counter-counterpoint: supernatural fans kind of terrify me.

[mad]

ELECT KATE BEATON!

(frozen)

[liara_shadowsong]

Ooh, sounds fascinating. I may have to research Wu Zhao if I ever find them time in between studying for my exams for grad school. Your icon on this post is very nice, too. The self-drawn one I use as my default (this one) feels so... artistically pale... in comparison. Then again, I am only a self-taught amateur, and still pretty psyched that I can draw as well as I can... :)

[lieut_kettch]

On Kate Beaton's posts:

I know saying you wanna have someone's babies somewhat implies that you'll need to have sex with them, but I think the point is not that you find them sexually attractive, but that you think their DNA is awesome and it'd only upgrade your family's genepool if his or her DNA were somehow incorporated into it. The sex part doesn't really factor in.

I'm a straight male, and I've often said I'd want a male comic writer or artist's man-babies.

[falseaesop]

I agree, saying something like that would be creepy as all hell. I have never said anything like that, but I have seen both men and women make statements like that, even here on this community.

[laddical]

Please double check the names of posters before you assume the words of one for the other. I was not the one who wrote that; all I did was respond to your question.

[khamelea]

I think that the title of the comic itself is a clear enough indication of the hyperbolic tone that it's intentionally adopting.

(frozen) Re: Counterpoint

[mad]

Also, comic creators are usually really easy to contact. Actors and celebrities, not so much.

[halialkers]

Except that your comment did not come across as referring to a subgroup of people possibly seeing it as such, it came across as your being the spokesperson for all men, who are all lumped into one category. The miscommunication arises from this.

(frozen) Re: Counterpoint

[valtyr]

Well, yeah, stuff between friends/acquaintances is always going to be different. There are people you can tackle-hug hello, and then there's strangers...

And if you're in the acquaintance stage, it's easy to get it wrong and do something that makes the other person uncomfortable. In which case, ideally, the doer will apologize (rather than complaing about how the uncomfortable person is oversensitive) because hey, they misjudged. It happens, and unless you honked their boob (Ellison) it'll probably pass over with no real fuss.

[nezchan]

But she's already the Mayor of Awesometown!

[halialkers]

But you object to a comic that addresses what too often happens if someone objects to that kind of comment? One does not follow from the other.

[liara_shadowsong]

Maybe the gay men were just off-panel? Or they decided to stay out of this particular instance? And anyone of either sex with a logic force field will not listen to logic from anyone, opposite sex or their own; I bet the only people commenting there were the handful that happened to need another minute to catch on to the presence of said field. :P

[mad]

But the "I want to breed with you" aspect is creepy too. Why not say "I wish I could clone your brain" or something? Why babies?

Personally, I've never really been too bothered by the "want to have your babies" line, but then again I've mostly only ever come across it as being said by girls/women.

[valtyr]

Oh, my apologies; I'd thought it was odd you made two top-level comments. In that case, limit my response to:

"As I said to halialkers below, it doesn't say that the Y chromosome has a monopoly on assholishness. It says that mainstream discussions on sexism tend to involve a lot of loud male assholes telling a lot of women what is and is not sexist. Which is true. Which has just happened."

[liara_shadowsong]

What about on Krypton? [/completely missing the point]

[laddical]

Please be clear that I am not falseaesop and he is not me and I don't share the opinion he asserted, I merely tried to answer valtyr's question.

[pizoxuat]

If you tell a creator what you like about their work, you give them both the compliment and feedback that they might find useful in their continuing work. If you say "I want to have your babies" you might give them the heebie-jeebies about some stranger wanting to fuck them or steal their genetic material.

[valtyr]

followed by all men following a I AM SPARTICUS call to ignorance.

all men

WHERE.

[mullon]

Okay, but only if you leave your opinions at the door.

[retro_nouveau]

Literally out loud! XD

[lencannon]

Our New Canadian President

[mad]

SHE CAN BE MAYOR OF EVERYTHING!

[falseaesop]

*sigh* Alright, you want to talk about fear? I ended up really screwed up because of a relationship alright? I dated a girl, she got very clingy, I broke up with her and she started stalking me. I mean seriously stalking me. Following me around town, looking in my windows at night, calling me all the time even though I made it clear the relationship was over.

I am a big strong man, a foot taller than her, and even though she had military service I have no doubt in a physical confrontation I could have hurt her... but I never touched her, never. I am not a violent person, I walk away from confrontation.... but still stopped going places because I didn't to run into her. Because she'd try to talk, I'd try to leave, she'd start throwing a fit and I was powerless FUCKING POWERLESS to do anything about it. Could I have hit her? Yes, but that'd be wrong so what could I do? Nothing, fucking nothing, nothing but try to sneak around my own life to avoid her. I changed numbers, I fucking moved, but she still kept showing up.

The police were no help, they seemed amused by the whole thing, big strong guy who is worried about this small woman. Years I put up with this shit fucking YEARS. I haven't been in a relationship for six years, even though I've had women ask ME out... because I have trust issues out the fucking wazoo from this shit. I live alone, I avoid the movie theatres because she works at them and I never know which one she's going to be at because even now 8 years later she still fuckign corners me and tells me "She loves me". So yes for the past six years I've been to scared of intamacy to let anyone get close to me, I haven't had sex in six years. The only close friends I have are the ones I had before that relationship because I don't fucking trust people anymore.

So yeah, please tell me about fear.

D'oh:

[halialkers]

Fail on my part, I apologize for the mistake.