Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Tai's characterization

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StudentRecords:
I'm a big fan of the comic, and I don't mean this to come across as an attack, but Tai's characterizatiion has sort of caused me to put my "critical reader's" cap on in recent weeks. To qualify this comment I would like to say that one of the best things about QC in my opinion,  is that in a very subtle way it is a pretty socially progressive comic. Characters from all different racial backgrounds, interracial couples and homosexual characters have been worked into the strip in such a natural way that it would hardly ever occur to a reader that these things are absent from most mainstream, popular media sources.

With that said, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Tai has been the most prominently featured gay or lesbian in QC. And coincidentally or not, her character is hyper sexualized. Sex on the photocopier, im promptu clit-piercing trips, hitting on Penelope as soon as she walks into the library.. the list goes on. I would guess that in all of her QC appearances , the number of conversations in which Tai has NOT talked about sex  in some shape or form would be vastly outnumbered by those in which she has. Now there is nothing in itself wrong with that. I think however the stereotype of gays and lesbians as being oversexed and hypersexualized is out there, and it is a prejudiced one.

The real danger of stereotypes is that they have a way of working their way into our collective sub-conciouses sometimes without our even considering them, and that is why I thought it might be valuable to make this post. I am by no means suggesting Jeph is homophobic, or even that there is -necessarily- a problem with how Tai has been portrayed. But (without I hope,  sounding TOO professorial) I would suggest that it is important for readers of this comic and anything else to be aware of how character portrayals fit in within the wider societal context and make an effort to appraise them critically from this perspective.

Nomicakes:
I don't mean to be an ass, but perhaps you're just a little too opinionated?

It's a character in a story. I highly doubt Jeph is using it to portray gays/lesbians as "oversexed" in any way whatsoever.
She's just the overactive lesbian girl in his story. That's the character.


Oh, and might I suggest going over to our "Hi, I'm new" section? It's kinda the done thing round these parts.
Hyuck.

RobbieOC:
People read into literature all the time because of issues like this. Just cause a webcomic is a different medium doesn't mean it is any less open to criticism. Maybe even more so, since it's on the internet and it's free and lots of people have access to it, and there is a forum specifically dedicated to talking about the comic strip.

Sure, it's just a character in a comic strip, but there are people who make their living studying gay characters and themes in literature. I think the OPs point is extremely valid, to be honest. I don't, incidentally, think Jeph has hypersexualized her because she's a lesbian, but more because she's a college student. And she happens to be gay.

But, yeah, go introduce yourself!

nettatea:
I think that StudentRecords has a point. (I'm sorry I don't know your gender so I'll repeat your sn) StudRec never implied that Jeph meant anything by the portrayal, but only put the thought on the table that one should regard Tai's portrayal as as much of a divergence from the norm as one would if Tai were straight.
That said it would be unfair to request action or change by Jeph in this case..
It's just interesting to point out and maybe helpful.
I also think its telling that responses to ideas that recall political correctness, no matter how gentle or harmless, are often aggressively defensive. As if the mention that prejudices may accidentally be reinforced is an attack on one's liberties.

benji:
I think this is a valid criticism, but I would also point out that there is another way of reading the character in relation to queer theory. While Tai is highly sexual, the idea that she is over-sexualized puts an undue limitation based on a hetero-normative monogamous relationship model (how's that for sounding professorial?). There's no reason why gay relationships need to be portrayed as "just like straight relationships." There are no patriarchal lines to be preserved, and some gay people feel that this liberates them from the confines of a sexual ethics designed to preserve such lines of inheritances.

I agree that its somewhat problematic that Tai is the most predominantly queer character (though Dora's the most prominent queer character) and she's also polyamorous. It does play into stereotypes. But there's also plenty of gay people out there who feel that they shouldn't be required to make their relationships more like heterosexual relationships just because it will make the heterosexuals feel better. If Tai appeared as a character in, say, Bechdel's "Dykes to Watch Out For," she would seem to fit right in as a lesbian among many lesbians, all of whom approach life and love in different ways. The fact that she's the only lesbian who regularly appears in this comic makes her stand out more.

It is notable that the other 2 queer characters that have actually appeared (Dora and Scott) have both been monogamous. But Dora is less obviously queer (since she's currently in a relationship with Marten) and Scott hasn't appeared since Marten lost his first job, and wasn't that prominent before. I don't think this means Jeph needs to change Tai's character, or introduce some new character that will balance her out, but I think the criticism is valid and interesting.

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