Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
How QC and webcomics generally relate to the real USA
TRVA123:
To be fair, Claire is not out to everyone in the cast. In fact, I think only 4 characters know about her; Marten, Emily, Claire mom, and Clinton.
There could be more drama ahead, but I think Jeph is focused on a different plot thread at the moment.
Boomslang:
Additionally, Claire is clearly, based on character's reactions in comic, visually a woman. A lot of the trans issues I've seen happen to folks around me have at least partially involved the fact the trans person was not, in appearance, clearly their internal gender. Even people who aren't biased against transgender folks can have difficulty when dealing with strangers who are trans, and this is magnified when there is confusion as to whether someone is, in fact, trans. Obviously it gets worse when dealing with people who are biased (as usual). But all of that is predicated on appearance. If someone truly appears to be the gender they consider themselves, they're going to encounter very little social friction in comparison to someone who is attempting to overcome a conflict between the two.
Because Claire seems to be female to the typical person, she's simply not going to deal with as much conflict in her typical life, and since she's successfully maintained that information amongst close friends, it's hard to see how she would be treated any differently than a woman who wasn't trans by anyone around her. I could easily see folks being jealous of how 'easy' her transition has been compared to their own (that might well have been expressed in the forum already and I simply missed the whole shebang).
Neko_Ali:
Honestly, as a trans woman and someone who reads a lot of trans focused stories, I am happy with Claire's story. A lot of other stories with trans main characters focus on the troubles and trials of being transgender in a society that looks down on us. And those are fine, those are stories that need to be tell. However they can get pretty depressing. Here we have a character who transitioned early and is accepted without question by her peers. That's a nice, positive story. And honestly those are stories that I would like to see more of, they are pretty rare. Stories where being trans is just one aspect of their character, rather than the driving force behind most of the plot lines. The troubles of being a transgender person haven't been avoided... Claire and Clinton's discussions about her safety. Claire and Marten talking about it when she first came out, and then when they started dating. I find that both the importance of her being trans is appropriate to the tone of the comic and the character.
Aziraphale:
--- Quote from: gprimr1 on 03 Feb 2015, 08:59 ---I think Clare's story got off a little easy. That was the closest I've ever come to wondering if Jeff has an agenda.
I wouldn't mind seeing a story arc were a character has some trouble with acceptance.
--- End quote ---
Sometimes the challenges in storytelling -- as well as the better, more nuanced characters -- come when you play against those expectations, though. As Neko mentions, there are plenty of stories day to day (including the four trans* individuals murdered so far in 2015 just in the US, incidentally) about the difficulties of transitioning and being accepted. While I assume (I can't speak from experience on this one) that both of those things are significant concerns to many, if not most, trans people, I would also assume that trans individuals' inner lives and their outer manifestations are so much more than that. I don't know that the decision thus far to mostly elide the transition part of Claire's story represents an "agenda" as such, but I think it actually leaves the door further open to allowing Claire to shine for all that she is, and I'd posit that her trans-ness (the same as Neko's or anyone else's, if I may be so bold) is just one small piece of a much larger and more variegated puzzle.
DSL:
--- Quote from: gprimr1 on 03 Feb 2015, 08:59 ---I think Clare's story got off a little easy. That was the closest I've ever come to wondering if Jeff has an agenda.
I wouldn't mind seeing a story arc were a character has some trouble with acceptance.
--- End quote ---
Well, there's May.
As to Claire, I like the fact that her trans* status isn't the be-all and end-all of her character. Fascinating take on the subject came from TV writer David Gerrold (the Star Trek Tribble guy) who made the case for adjectives, not nouns: Someone isblack, is gay, is whatever instead of a black, a gay, a whatever. Subtle, but it slides in the idea that a person's given characteristic isn't always the most important characteristic.
As for an "agenda," I take at face value what Jeph said is his agenda: People are not perfect, they will screw up, no one is right or wrong all the time, and they should try to get along anyway.
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