Thursday, October 28, 2010

Cranky Feminist Comics Reader

"Once you hit that, all other girls seem flat". I know I'm just a fat humorless feminist (like many QC readers told me when I last dared complain about size issues in this comic). But honestly. There are so many offensive layers to this. In the QC universe, Faye is the only buxom girl, so possibly the others feel flat because they ARE. None of the other QC girls have even realistically small boobs, so this might actually be the problem. Faye is about average, with an hourglass figure - not fat, or really even chubby. On the other hand, not all guys like big breasts. Not all girls like being objectified, either.

Once upon a time in another blog, I criticized the depiction of Faye as the only "chubby" girl in QC and the way her body is constantly played for jokes - not hatefully, but it's an issue and it marks her as different. I was ridiculed at the QC forums (where I chose not to respond) and flamed at my blog for about two weeks. Feisty readership. Jacques responded - possibly without reading my blog - that "every time some girl complains" about this, we apparently ignore how Faye is a SEX OBJECT. Even if she's chubby. To my mind, this does not mean equality, or respect, or realistic depiction of female bodies. But if Jacques thinks it does, that explains a lot. I know he means well, but this is what happens when an artist completely ignores issues like sexism and objectification of women. It's a hot mess.

Casual Fur Day recommends "keeping your bitch on a leash". Yes, I get it, it's about dogs. That doesn't mean it's funny or appropriate. And what about this lewd-looking publicly breastfeeding cow? Breastfeeding: all about sexual titillation! Domestic violence: funny!

"Outlandish humor" is author Mr E's own definition of his style. It looks more like "outrageous" to me. We're meant to find it funny because it's so wrong yet so true! Well, it's not true. But of course, I'm just a humorless feminist if I don't find this funny.

It's also offensive to men, of course. Hey, your son has no digestive tract, head or limbs! Oh great, less work for me. Then there are racist overtones. And ha ha fat people who eat too much, you don't even need a joke or pun really, just show how in denial they are!  It's almost so outrageous that I considered not mentioning it, because this type of reaction might be exactly what they're looking for. "Look at me, I piss people off! Woohoo! I'm cool like those South Park guys!" You know what, you're not. And when they just go out of their way to offend people - they're not either. (South Park does have good social commentary and parody sometimes though, which this comic doesn't.)

1 comment:

  1. Jeez, is it just that you're showing only the bad strips or does QC really suck balls? In one of the styles I couldn't even tell which one the "chubby girl" was meant to be without those handy textual cues. Feeeeh.

    That other comic is beneath my notice (also, I am Irish, so there's an added layer of "fuck you" from this end.)

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