So in order to prove that I’m actually doing my masters – I thought I’d show you a info comic that’s going at the start of the book. The idea of it is that it’s a super simple queer 101, it’s pretty flawed still but here it is anyway:
Also! My friend works for Amnesty International – and they’re having a wicked fundraiser, if any Auckland artist folks want to be involved:
Amnesty International Fundraising Event:
We are organising a live street art day followed by an auction to celebrate our 50th Birthday.
We have titled the event “The Art of Freedom – taking it to the streets” and it stems from the idea that change starts from ordinary people speaking out from the streets in protest of human rights violations around the world. We are hoping to use the connection between Amnesty’s action against injustices and the questioning nature of street art to spread awareness of Amnesty International while celebrating our 50th year of defending human rights. We have also done a lot of campaigning on behalf of artists who have been unfairly punished for using their freedom of expression and would like the event to highlight the importance of this right in creating change for the better.
The event itself will be split into two days. The first will be live street art painting, were artists from Disruptiv and Cracked Ink will create works in St Kevin’s Arcade to raise awareness for Amnesty and generate interest for the exhibition. This will take place on Thursday June the 9th between 11am and 2pm. The second event is the exhibition that will include the works from the live painting as well as pieces from artists around New Zealand. Already we have several works that have been donated, including ones from ATom 1746, James R Ford and Seekayem. Oi You!, the national street art competition are on board, helping us with promotion and sending us prints to add to the collection.
If you would be willing to help by donating a piece, participating in the live painting or simply suggesting the idea to other artists who might be interested we would appreciate it greatly.
For more info email Rachel at:
events(DOT)intern (AT) amnesty (DOT) org (DOT) nz
It seems a little weird that you floated asexual off the sexuality spectrum but stuck agender/nongendered/neutrois in the middle of the gender spectrum?
ooh yeh, that’s an awesome point – thankyou for pointing that out, it’d make more sense to float those terms as well, so they’re not stuck between the binary. Thankyou.
np, it just niggled at me 🙂 It’s a great comic otherwise!
that is a really awesome comic. I love all of your comics because they are so honest and heartfelt and super cool and all that other jazz and this one is just so cool to me because I’m in school studying social work focusing on human diversity and social justice with a focus on sexuality and gender… so this is great. and perfect. and wonderful.
thanks.
Oh yay! Thanks so much, and that’s so great to hear that it’s helpful too!
more awesome work!
Another little niggle. I’m not sure how I feel about the asexual person saying that they’re ‘not into anyone’. I know it’s on the sexual attraction continuum, so it’s in that context, but it’s maybe not super obvious? I’m not asexual myself, but I know asexual people in romantic relationships, or who ARE really ‘into’ people… just they don’t want to have sex with them.
Sorry if that’s too niggly/not right! Really love this comic. I got into the ‘what does queer mean’ argument on the weekend at a party. It was a jolt! I’m used to people who already understand what the terms mean, or haven’t the foggiest. This person thought ‘queer’ meant ‘homosexual’ and that was it – and had never heard that sex and gender were different. Thankfully, they were also nice and interested and we both learnt things!
Ooh yes, I did think about that but couldn’t quite think of a phrase to make it work. Maybe I just need to add a couple of extra panels in there to explain it. Because I try to break down the ‘romantic’ attraction, ‘physical attraction’ etc. etc. stuff at the start – so I could just add a little bit more in there to have that reflected in the asexual bit – so it’s not just one little sentence that oversimplifies. I could have little continuums for romantic attraction and stuff to indicate the differences.
Thank you sooo much for letting me know. I’m really keen to hear about bits that didn’t sit right with people.
Yeah, it’s a tricky one! Like every sexuality, I guess. Identities are complex. Maybe something boringly literal like ‘I’m not sexually attracted to anyone!’ Not sure, as I said I’m not asexual and it seems like a broad umbrella, I’m not sure how to avoid excluding someone, at some point, without expanding and qualifying that like you said.
I think it is a fantastic comic! I would, in my niggly way, suggest finding a different phrase for “western paradigm.” Although it is an awesome phrase, it does stand out in overly-theoretical way when the rest of the comic is so simple (yet not to the point of being banal) and understandable. Perhaps just using “western culture(s)”? Otherwise, F.A.B!
Sweet thanks Neal! Yeh ‘Western Paradigm’ does sound needlessly academic, and I definitely worked hard to try and take the academic-sounding stuff out of most of it. So yeh, maybe just ‘culture’ works better – cheers! Hopefully by the time it goes through a few more drafts it’ll be more solid!
This is awesome. It’s nice to see a straightforward, positive set of definitions – and the fact that it’s a comic is an added bonus!
Thanks!
Love it!
Love it!
Yay! Hope you’re awesome!
Haha, of course there’s a roller derby girl in there. Very nice!
Indeed! Roller derby girls are a MUST! As are segways.
most excellent! Words come in a mere second compared to your comic strip to explain such diverse wonderfulness. Maybe I should carry a copy with me and just hand it out rather than trying to say anything myself – any mention of the word queer (which I can’t help but drop in) just throws those unwilling to look past their boxes. I think pictures maybe a more constructive approach, or at least another tool for the box!
PS. where are the necks or am I not meant to have one? Seems to be a subtle reinforcement of a mind/body split… or I could be reading far too much into it and not being respectful of your artistic freedom to show bodies of choice 😉
I have nooooo idea why I thought the little characters would be sans necks – I thought it would be cute. But it also is kinda creepy too. Perhaps I am saying something about being openminded? Oh no, if that was the case they’d have big sections missing from their heads. I’m not sure…. probably the mind/body thing. Damn.
PS See you all soon! I can hardly wait!
Big thumbs up. Sometimes I feel like the explaining of things is often overshadowed by arguing so this was refreshing and I approve! 😀
yay! Thanks! Agreed, arguing can get tiresome, even though it can also be helpful too. And I’m sure there’s plenty in this guide to argue with too, but, still, it’s a start!
Grand! What a great thing to bookmark and show to people with questions 😀
Sheila is spelt E before I 🙂
Ohhh thanks!! Will change it for the final draft
Sam, this is fancy-tastic. I’m totally going to use it for class next semester (inevitably I’ll be teaching *something* that will involve queer concepts… and if not, I’ll cram it in anyway). Thanks man, this is a great teaching resource.
Oooh wonderful!! I’ll make sure to update it when I reach the final draft stage
Awesome. Especially as it turns out I’m tutoring in ‘Media, Gender and Sexuality’….
Yusss!! Wish I could sit on on those tutes, I bet it’d be awesome!
I feel like I should print this out and hand it to everyone that talks to me, saying it’s a prerequisite. I think this should be taught in elementary schools. This is the first “guide” I’ve ever read that didn’t confuse gender and sex terms or gender and sexuality terms. AMAZING.
Ha yay! Glad you like it!
Hi Sam!!
I really loved this info comic – it’s simply phrased yet precise, fun yet informative. I was wondering if I could have your permission to print this out and hang it up in the room my school’s QSA (Queer Straight Alliance) meets.
If not, that’s fine, but I just wanted to ask! I’ve been following your blog closely since I came out and I introduced it to a bunch of friends – trans and not trans 🙂 You’re very loved.
PS Don’t you love how we’re not called a GSA? We decided to rename ourselves with a Q to include everyone 🙂
Oh woah, I’d be super honored that you’d wanna use it! It’d be awesome to pop my name and website at the bottom, if that’d be cool with you too? What school are ya at?
I love love love the idea of a QSA – as opposed to a GSA – sounds like that’s a much more inclusive space. Awesome!
Oh for sure! In big letters, even! 😀 It’s a pretty big school in Toronto. We hold our QSA in a room designated as a Positive Space, a place where teens can come and hang out, do work, get health/sexuality info, or just chill. We really need some more posters up and this would be just wonderful! We were actually featured in the news recently and won an award given to Toronto’s top Q/GSAs.
The school year’s over as of tomorrow though, haha. I’ll print these out in September! I already know they’ll brighten up the room! 🙂
I love it! Keep up the great work!
Hi,
I came across this via the Dude website and I think your comic is awesome! I was wondering how you would feel about me sharing a link to this page on our Student Union LGBT facebook page? I wanted to ask before posting. Cheers!
Yes – share away!! Just out of curiosity (and so I know where in the world people read the comic) which student union are you part of ?
Thanks! University of Nottingham, England 🙂
I’m not sure if you’ve seen it but The Gender Book (http://www.thegenderbook.com/) is a hand drawn gender 101 written by some people in the US. It’s currently an e-book and they’re making edits, working towards paper printing. It’s really awesome! But I also really like yours. ^_^
I lovvvve the gender book!!
I hate the BMI! In my first year of Uni my friend and I saw the new uni doc, she took our BMIs, told my friend she was obese (she wasn’t) and practically accused me of having anorexia (I don’t). I always come out underweight using the BMI and I eat more than my three-stone-heavier boyfriend. It’s absolute bullshit.
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