Thursday, November 24, 2016

Bad Metaphor



Tonight’s issue brings up another important aspect of Trumpism, which is Sexism. Trumpism is basically all the crappiest isms rolled into one tidy package.

I mentioned the sexual assault comments Trump made, and women posting their reaction to it specially because it blew me away. I knew that we have some problems with sexual assault in our country, but I had no idea it was so pervasive. The fact that it is really disgusts me, and this attitude towards women is something we as a society should roundly reject.

I spend a lot of time with conservatives. Many of my friends are conservative. Just last week I was at the bar with one of my conservative buddies and he starting talking about how guys today are too sensitive. He talked about how a man shouldn’t be open with his feelings. Almost all of my conservative buddies supported Ted Cruz and I have heard them espouse many conservative viewpoints. I mention this because I have never heard anything from them resembling Donald Trump’s “locker room talk”. Not once. The things Donald Trump has said are completely unacceptable. Not just his pussy grabbing comment. It is also unacceptable when he suggests that women who experience workplace harassment should just toughen up.

I am planning for this to be the first of several comics which are against sexism and pro Feminist. I find myself at a weird place. My views have evolved considerably since 2012, when Rick, the Crytozoologist ended its first run. While I fully support equality, I find it hard to label myself a Feminist. I see my relation to Feminism as I see my relation to the Democratic Party. I am on the same side politically as the Democratic Party, but my ideas don’t sync up enough to them for me to feel comfortable labeling myself a Democrat. At the same time, I find myself swinging for the Democrats quite a bit. I criticize the adversaries of Democrats more often than I criticize them. My criticism towards Democrats is more friendly. I also openly voted for Hillary Clinton. I let all my conservative friends know who I planned to vote for. I feel the same way about Feminism.

Where I disagree with some Feminists is on things like chivalry. I open doors for women, actually, I open doors for men, too. If someone is carrying something heavy, I open the door for them. I think chivalry should be expanded, not done away with. If we are going to change something, it should be changed to make it more kind.

On the subject of changing things to be more kind, I’d like to mention the double standard for male leaders and female ones. Many people have pointed out that if a male leader acts aggressive, he’s just taking command, whereas a female leader is being a bitch. That’s true, and its bullshit. I think, however, that the answer to that conundrum is just to condemn the male leaders as well. I don’t know when it became a favorable attribute to be a tyrant, but it should stop. It is part of a creeping authoritarian strain of thought which is infecting our society, and that we should do away with it. My ideal leader is firm, quiet, competent, calm, and fair.

I remember when Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate. I asked my mother, a die hard Feminist, if she thought it was horrible that finally a woman had gotten onto a major party’s ticket for president only for it to be Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin acts just as ridiculous as a male politician. Hillary Clinton exhibited some of the same difficulties wielding power as men always have. Women aren’t inherently nicer than men, they just haven’t historically had opportunities to be horrible. (Although I can name a few examples of that of the top of my head.) The problem is that human beings in general are terrible when you give them power over others. We have to fix that, which means changing the thinking for both male and female leaders.

The other thing I would fault some Feminists for is denying gender exists. I do believe gender is more complicated than the traditional binary way of measuring it, but it does exist. There is scientific evidence for the fact that gender exists. The biology between men and women functions in different ways. I don’t think in the long run those differences are great enough to prevent either gender from achieving something of which the other is capable. Much more important than any inherent abilities we possess is the choices we make in life. I’m sure many women can beat men in a fight just by virtue of the fact that they exercise and take good care of their bodies.

I’ll probably make some comics about these things in the future. I will continue to lambaste Donald Trump for his sexist words, and more importantly, his sexist policies. For now, the important thing is that I oppose what he said. I think it is bullshit that half of our population has to put up with such nonsense from the other half.

In production notes, I made the models for Dayton and Lillian for this comic. I also made the backyard of Dayton’s House. I imagine Dayton doing a lot of things outdoors, so this will be a major set. Doing these models was not nearly as hard as doing the Rick, John, and their house.

Come back Sunday for more of our Filibuster against the election of Donald Trump.

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