Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2887-2891 (2-6 February 2015)
AprilArcus:
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 08 Feb 2015, 16:55 ---It is also [a relationship] that imposed on him a duty to be open-minded in a way that was not foreshadowed in the first couple of thousand strips.
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What?
hedgie:
There are good reasons that Marten simply said that Claire was beautiful. He's no wordsmith. He's awkward as hell, even though he has a large comfort-zone. All he knows right now is that that he's into her, she's into him, and they care for each other very much. As readers, what do we need to know beside him and Claire breaking out of the comfy space and into new territory? Nothing, save what we see. This ship has been a while in building, and is probably strong, even if icebergs end up showing up along the road.
Is it cold in here?:
--- Quote from: AprilArcus on 08 Feb 2015, 20:25 ---
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 08 Feb 2015, 16:55 ---It is also [a relationship] that imposed on him a duty to be open-minded in a way that was not foreshadowed in the first couple of thousand strips.
--- End quote ---
What?
--- End quote ---
We didn't know that he was going to be trans-positive. Now he has to be, both to be a decent human being and to return Claire's love.
AprilArcus:
Strip 1024 makes it absolutely clear that Marten doesn't have a problem sleeping with penis-havers, he has a problem sleeping with men. In other words, his particular flavor of straightness has nothing to do with genitals and everything to do with gender presentation. Claire x Marten may seem to be forced for a lot of reasons, but contradicting Marten's on-panel statements about his sexuality is absolutely not one of them.
Silverzippo:
--- Quote from: ReindeerFlotilla on 08 Feb 2015, 19:45 ---
--- Quote from: Silverzippo on 08 Feb 2015, 18:25 ---Someone wrote that their sexuality is none of our business, which I absolutely do not understand. They're fictional characters, there for us to discuss and relate to. Unless they are direct representations of real people that Jeph knows, there is no harm in asking about any of it.
Discouraging debate seems very counter productive to me.
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Claire's private parts are fictional. It is the policy of this board that they aren't open for discussion. Claire is, to our knowledge, not a representation of any real person.
There are reasons Claire's equipment list is topic non-grata. I'm not going into them. But those reasons do apply to discussions relating to why a person's sexual orientation is what it is. They probably apply more deeply, but I've only been talking about that part of it, so that's the part I'm going to stick with.
There's a long and storied history of terrible things being done because people believe sexuality can be traced back to root cause. That belief is a bad thing.
I see no issue is wonder IF Marten is straight or bi or something else, at least until Marten unequivocally chooses a label. At that point I see no isse in wondering and discussing what that label means to Marten. But I see a fairly large issue in trying to define why Marten is whatever Marten is, unless Marten opens the door for that discussion.
Why give a fictional character that level of agency? Practice. How you treat a fictional character influences how you treat real people. We aren't talking about something as black and white as murder. Most of us know that killing the video game character is not practice for killing real people. Most of us have strong counter urges against murdering people. But respecting the sexuality of others doesn't have the same level of internal rejection. It's not something we practice. Given that the majority of (basically) heterosexual people is so vast, many of us will not get a lot of real world practice. But fiction let's us meet different kinds of people than we might otherwise. It's just good policy to practice on them.
Especially when that fiction puts you in a forum of fans, because odds are people who are like those fictional people will be party to your discussions. Whether people who are trans "should" take discussion of Claire's equipment personally or not is beside the point. They are here, and they do. The same applies to anyone else who might find one of the characters representative.
--- End quote ---
Alright, board policy is board policy. Thank you for the explanation.
I find some of your reasoning flawed:
It bears the assumption that certain people deserve unmitigated respect regardless of their character and only based on certain aspects of them (gender, sexuality, race, political orientation or what have you), to the point where it can discourage something as simple as asking a question.
It breeds ignorance, which is the biggest problem we have when it comes to discrimination. It discourages personal responsibility and it promotes treating people like victims, which is ultimately detrimental to people with low self esteem.
I will afford people common courtesy, but I will not grant them the luxury of special privilege based on potentially hurt feelings. This is unacceptable to me and a shallow, worthless gesture that ultimately pays them no respect.
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On a lighter note, it seems the continuation of the comic lays most of my questions to rest.
I'd like to thank the people who responded to me and answered the few questions I had, but I'll move on. Skimming some of the content I've realized that this forum is not for me :)
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