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.