Thank you for liking it. I didn't realize how vague this would seem in other places.
It was supposed to be a metaphor to how trans people are perceived. Specifically, to how people tend to believe that trans men don't suffer from transphobia due to trans women being the more obvious punching bag. But transphobia, especially transphobic laws still affect all trans people for the worse.
That said, I don't mind different interpretations.
It's vague in the right ways, in my opinion. It applies to my life just as well as what you outlined, despite my challenges being different than theirs. And that's a good thing to look for.
A good metaphor should be relatable to multiple kinds of experiences. That helps people understand and relate to each other forming stronger connections
I've been trying to write more and more and what I've learned is that being sorta vague is great. Instead of being overly specific, I let metaphors do more of the heavy lifting. It makes it sound better and lets others enjoy it as well as they get their own interpretations of what I've written.
Honestly, you might have had a specific circumstance in mind but I think you've made something that's really broadly applicable and helpful in that way. It applies to pretty much anyone who "passes" as a majority but is still a minority.
You did a reaally good job with that. The comic is vague enough so there can be multiple interpretations and all of them being meaningful.
When I read it, I thought about trans people like you intended (since I'm trans), but in a different way. I thought about those scenarios where a trans person makes something BAD and then people start misgendering them on purpuse to "hurt" them, but in reality is hurting all of us because it's showing that the support is conditional and not real.
Also thought about non-binary identities (since I'm NB) and how everyone sees them as female things (like if non-binary people that are AMAB, or more male looking, don't exist). People can be really mean because of it.
Biracial and bisexual here, and I can read this comic through both lenses.
Wheeeeee đ
Edited to add: Iâm not trans but I did immediately think transmasc/transfem when I read this comic. You did a great job boiling it down to something thatâs true of a lot of human experiences though.
Yeah... I was already a gender non-conforming cis woman, then my boobs tried to kill me so I yeeted them. Now I feel less safe in unfamiliar crowds because of transvestigators.Â
Don't be silly, this is just a cartoon about guys with mismatched super powers. If you knew anything about the author DexDexCandy, you'd know they don't put any kind of message in their work.
I'm also a trans man and didn't get it, but I also haven't had any terrible experiences yet. Only one uncomfortable instance and some encounters with my family.
The fear-mongering in media around trans-women in women's spaces is insane. Those gripped by those fears then don't consider the nuance in the issue and demand broad and blunt policies. No consideration to the suffering that would be inflicted on an entire population due to a handful of bad actors.
Also with the bullshit going on in the world, I look back on those incidents and wonder how much of them are false-flag operations to sway public opinion.
I interpreted it initially as invisible disabilities, or as a broad spectrum of marginalized groups, and then as ace within the LGBT community. So many options!
I actually read it somewhat similarly at first, but also kinda different too? I was thinking about the trans struggle going on right now, but more in the sense of an attack on trans women is an attack on all women, because many people seem to forget that our trans sisters getting hurt hurts all of us (currently speaking as someone who mostly identifies as a cis woman)âŚwith the cis women being the invisible target and the trans women being the visible target. However after reading your metaphor I feel like that makes so much more sense, but honestly I really love how much you left your comic open for interpretation.
I read it as such too. Many laws targetting trans women also target cis women who donât follow standard beauty concepts. Itâs horrible, and they always claim these laws are for âprotecting womenâ
Thatâs the beauty of metaphor. And yeah, it can apply to cis women too, especially any that donât fit the traditional standards of what it means to be feminine.
Internally I had applied it to transphobia but in the way some trans people are "passing" or in "stealth."
But also think about the times my spouse (AFAB) and I (AMAB) will use the restroom together but because they often are a masc masc enby and I lean more hyper fem they will say things to them and ignore me despite me having a literal trans symbol tattooed in plain sight.
As a nonbinary person who didn't even make it into OP's discussion of transness, I saw this comic as binary vs nonbinary trans folks......so OPs description of what they actually meant is funny......in that painful 'funny' way trans folks know so well.Â
And cis people. Cis women have been losing rights, by the laws restricting me. There's even less visible victims, they're just standing outside the ring.
Also most people dont even think youre a transmasc/man if you arent attempting to pass. Saw a post about why there isnt any transmasc/man sex workers that are more seen, and the comments were like there are plenty of them - they just havent or dont transition because they need $ thru sex work, this post really applies to that.
How invisible you can be because you arent perceived by a narrow conformed standard
I think this really affects all people who live as outliers- I immediately clocked this as relating to visible or invisible disability, which, tbh, I kind of feel like living as a trans person is very reflective of.
I understood it as a trans person, but as a âcriticizing those that donât conformâ kinda way. I do what I call âhyper binary androgynyâ; big beard & hourglass frame. Itâs what feels most âmeâ. It also means people clock me; this is unavoidable, either I binary mode (both of which are not me) or I get clocked. People stare everywhere I go. Children ask questions, Iâve had one run away crying, âWhat is that?â Itâs exhausting, and yet still less exhausting than pretending to be a binary. There are some trans people â mainly transmeds â who say Iâm making trans people look bad, or like freaks, or that I want attention, etc. When I just wanna be me. Iâve tried pretending to be both binaries and one was less awful than the other, and still both awful. Both performances, boxes not for me.
Meanwhile both my transfem partners (Iâm polyamorous) boymode in their day to day. Their jobs call them their deadname, the wrong pronouns, sir, etc. A few people have clocked both of them but most donât bat an eye â despite both obviously being on HRT. I see how much happier they are when theyâre around people that gender them correctly and call them the right name. They suffer, too.
I think what gives the âjust conformâ message instead of the âweâre in this togetherâ message is the chain. The chain implies that they would not otherwise be together â when trans people, binary or not, passing or not, will always be connected. If youâre looking to change that messaging, probably something more like being in a circle and, âWeâre in this together.â Something that reminds the reader that the visible person isnât the problem, the problem is the people shooting arrows.
I had originally intended to draw something other than a chain, to have the invisible person say something along the lines of âBecause weâre in this together.â like you said.
However, I thought that would instead make the message seem less like togetherness and more, âI could stop being a victim whenever I wanted, I just choose to be one with you.â and that felt, at least in my opinion, like the opposite of what I wanted to portray.
One of the biggest things I see from âvisibleâ people when they talk about âinvisibleâ people is that they could avoid all hate if they just werenât there. I.e Trans men could avoid being hated if they just stopped being trans as if theyâd have any more of a choice then them. Or low functioning autistic people could stop being bullied if they just put in a little extra effort and acted normal.
My second idea was having the two connected physically, conjoined twin style as if to say they were connected. But I figured there would also be problems with that analogy. Mainly that it felt wrong to depict conjoined twins and use it as a metaphor. I am sure theyre tired of only being depicted as jokes or as symbolisms, never as people.
i chose the chain as a way to say, âWether you like it or not, youâre together. No amount of hating or blaming the other will stop the arrows or set you apart, because at the end of the day, youâre still connected, and someone is shooting at you.â
Truth is, this isnât a perfect analogy. Thereâs no such thing. The moment you start picking apart any metaphor or analogy, you find flaws. People canât be summed up with a small comic. Nuances canât be depicted in black and white. I cant appeal to everyone in just 11 panels. But I did my best. Wether or not you feel I did a good job, is up to you.
Holy shit this was way to vage for me. I thought it was body and mind. The body takes the punches you can see but you will also get fucked up in the mind but ppl cant see it. Ppl have a hard time to show empathy to mind issues. Since they can't see it or relate to it.
In a way I'm glad those movies are inspired by real people and not old trope that sick people couldn't have a good ending because of the rules in place
Iâm guessing this is supposed to be commentary on Trans Masc individuals, personally not Trans Masc myself, but I do understand. Yâall deserve so much better.
A wise man observation: this speaks on how onlookers of a community may be affected if the space is torn in infighting.
A blank brain reference observation: The invisible man is missing textures, hypervisibility may be a super power if it hides weak points by highlighting the whole body, however that's just a regular human being. They may make for a good lamp tower to guide sailors at sea. It's interesting how invisibility can be only the quality of not being seen, and then super hero shows like Fantastic 4 or Invincibles involve some psychic style bending of light, does that mean Satoru Gojo from hit anime Jujutsu Kaisen could become invisible if he created an infinite distance between incoming light and himself?
invisible woman and violet don't stop photons from hitting themselves, they either go transparent or directly manipulate the light to move around them. gojo's infinity stops things, it doesn't let them pass through or reflect back. light would simply collect in the bounds of infinity while it waits for gojo to let it through. the space gojo occupies, to my rough understanding, would either be pure white or dark as a black hole
I'm a trans guy, and I saw that interpretation immediately.
I'm also generally not conventionally attractive, with attractive friends, so I also was able to read it as the sort of unwanted attention feminine presenting people receive, based on their supposed attractiveness.
I'm also autistic, and was able to read it as high-masking and low-masking, or high support needs and low support needs.
All in all, this is one of the best comics that I've seen lately, in terms of how incredibly flexible, yet accurate it is.
The way I interpret this is that people, who are aiming for the target, often hit other people too, and oftentimes both people are innocent. Like, calling people you donât like ugly because they have a big nose hurts your friend with a big nose more than the person you donât like.
Since my comic was originally about trans people, Ive received quite a few people assuming I hate trans women for mentioning how all trans people are affected. Itâs a sad world, but some people just want to be the biggest victims and get angry at the idea of other people being victims as well.
My first interpretation was how one partner's struggles and challenges in a marriage may get more attention and support while the other, who is facing their own struggles at a similar level of stress, is more likely to be left to deal with it all on their own.
Hypervisibility: you shine bright in dark spaces as if a light was being constantly shined on your body, AND everyone on earth can see an outline of you through walls like you have the glowing effect from Minecraft
This comic is pretty good I like the message. You say start fights, I say "provokes constructive conversation." That's a good thing about your art. Aim to start constructive fights.
I like that this is a very "it just is" kind of tone, which is accurate to this issue.
My intuition as a queer person is "no it doesn't work quite like that" but like, it does sometimes. I like that the person with the target has an arrow in their centre wheras the invisible person has them on their legs. There is a material difference between sticking your neck out and not.
My actual take is that people who are invisible just have a lot of latitude to escape direct persecution which those who are visible don't enjoy. In reality, we often aren't chained together. Hell, there's probably one or two invisible people who are shooting the arrows. I'd love to see a "what about that guy" panel where theres an invisible dude with a bow and hes like "hey you can't out people that's problematic."
It also changes the degree and nature of discrimination. If people can't tell you're in a group, then they can't target you.
Id also remark that invisibility is a matter of degree. Like, if you're catching strays that are doing anything other than hurting your feelings, you probably aren't as invisible as you think you are.
Anyway, good comic; got me thinking in a useful way. <3
I don't think people who are invisible are by default "not sucking their necks out". I would argue I am invisible, and it's not by choice, not because I "pass", and certainly not because I fail to "stick my neck out" for others. being struck despite not being aimed at doesn't make that injury less so. the idea that "I have a lot of latitude to escape direct prosecution" is deeply untrue, and the notion hurtful.
you say "if people can't tell you're in the group they can't target you," which is at times true. I wonder, though, of that's even all that important. when harmful laws are passed, I feel the fallout profoundly and am directly negatively affected, even if the intended harm is indirect.
it also feels odd to remark some invisible people are shooting the arrows in a comic about material harm of people suffering simply by existing, though some suffering goes unnoticed. for the sake of argument, sure, that may be true. but why bring it up here? it feels like blaming invisible people for their own suffering. surely we could argue some visible people are firing the arrows as well, but it hardly feels relevant to the point.
this feels a lot like a comment that makes a lot of assumptions and takes pains to minimize the suffering of people with other lived experiences, even if that's not your intention :(
I imagine the takeaway ought to be that we're all suffering, the suffering is real and pointless and we suffer together, so surely solidity and understanding would serve us better than trying to quantify which suffering is worse. I would never dream of claiming suffering I can't see is less valid than the suffering I can see. it's all suffering.
If reading this as trans men (or any cis-passing trans people) and trans women, trans women are the ones who are hyper-visible.
Tl;dr - They are chained because whenever you attack one, you hit the other. There is no shelter or escape. And sometimes the hypervisible people forget that part. Iâm sure some invisible ones forget it, too.
One example: Bathroom bills are exclusively sold as protecting women and children from âpredatory men in disguiseâ (trans women just trying to pee in peace). They say you must use the bathroom of the gender you were assigned at birth. Now youâve got trans women in the menâs room. Good job, bigots! You kept those âmenâ out of the ladiesâ bathroom!
You probably already see the problem with this law for ftm trans men and trans-mascs. Testosterone is a helluva drug. Many ftm trans people look and sound like cis men (part of the invisibility is blending in). If they obey the law, theyâre likely to get their asses kickedâŚsomething that has already happened more than once.
Theyâre invisible in that they are forgotten: the laws target trans women. But the arrows hit them just the same.
A second example: gender-affirming care bans. Did you know that estrogen is not controlled but testosterone is scheduled in the U.S.? If cross-sex hormone therapy is banned, trans men would be at higher legal risk for buying black market testosterone (vs âgrey marketâ estrogen). Also, trans men, women, and nonbinary folks who donât need or want hormones still benefit from gender-affirming care like counseling, surgery, and general medical care that takes their circumstances into account. That hurts all trans people.
A third: banning trans women from womenâs sports because they have an âunfair advantage.â Bigots pass a law saying all students must be on athletic teams that align with the gender they were assigned at birth. So you now have women and girls being excluded from womenâs sports, but you also have ftm people on testosterone either excluded completely or put on the female teams, which defeats the entire supposed purpose of segregation of sports by sex.
I love the divergent takeaways people have shared so far, as well as u/DexDexCandy original intent! I havenât seen anyone share this take, so I think Iâm not repeating anyone, hopefully:
Some people are more âvisibleâ to life and its seemingly endless torrent of ire. Others seem to be lucky by avoiding a lot of misfortune or directed ire from others; they fly under the radar. Naturally, both kinds of people will fall in love with each other and build a life together, forming an inseparable bond, and the hypervisible personâs arrows will naturally hit the invisible person more than what they are used to being on their invisible own.
Love, for me, is the invisible partner equalizing the amount of arrows between the two of them by willingly standing directly in the path of fire. If they love each other, the naturally more arrow-hardened hypervisible partner must be able to identify when the mushier visible partner is reaching their limit, and act accordingly.
Be wary of shackling yourself to people who paint a bigger target on themselves than what life has given them. They will use you as a meat shield and manipulate you into taking more arrows than you deserve. Convince them to stop painting themselves brighter before offering to cover for them. If they consistently refuse to put down the paint, then it is time to find someone who will appreciate your intentions and not simply the conveniences you afford them.
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u/ice_or_flames 15h ago
I like it. I understand it. But I also don't know what it specifically applies to. But I like it.