Commentary from Published May 20, 2016
This was inspired by a Time article by Nancy Jo Sales ( http://time.com/americangirls/ ).
I had this one sitting in my finished bin for a month, I was waiting for the right time to publish it. What happened was with the WordPress interview I thought it wasn’t directly about depression enough to be the strip that a lot of new readers would want to see as their first strip, so I kept it until things calmed down a bit. Even now I wonder if it’s the right strip to do, but as the suicide rates of young girls rises ( http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/04/22/474888854/suicide-rates-climb-in-u-s-especially-among-adolescent-girls ) … although there is no scientific link yet between the earlier hypersexualization of girls and teenage girl suicide, I am left to wonder.
In comparison to recent comics, this one was poorly received–very few likes on Tumblr and Facebook, and generated very little conversation about the subject. I expected some backlash but received none. It’s a bit disappointing, maybe I didn’t hit the target I wanted to, or perhaps it just didn’t resonate as well. Or perhaps the depression connection wasn’t there in the reader’s mind like it was in mine. I don’t know. But that’s the nature of this work, it occasionally fails, and forces me to reexamine what I do to hopefully make more poignant strips in the future.
I had this one sitting in my finished bin for a month, I was waiting for the right time to publish it. What happened was with the WordPress interview I thought it wasn’t directly about depression enough to be the strip that a lot of new readers would want to see as their first strip, so I kept it until things calmed down a bit. Even now I wonder if it’s the right strip to do, but as the suicide rates of young girls rises ( http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/04/22/474888854/suicide-rates-climb-in-u-s-especially-among-adolescent-girls ) … although there is no scientific link yet between the earlier hypersexualization of girls and teenage girl suicide, I am left to wonder.
In comparison to recent comics, this one was poorly received–very few likes on Tumblr and Facebook, and generated very little conversation about the subject. I expected some backlash but received none. It’s a bit disappointing, maybe I didn’t hit the target I wanted to, or perhaps it just didn’t resonate as well. Or perhaps the depression connection wasn’t there in the reader’s mind like it was in mine. I don’t know. But that’s the nature of this work, it occasionally fails, and forces me to reexamine what I do to hopefully make more poignant strips in the future.
http://time.com/americangirls/
I agree with your comic, but I don’t agree with the article. It’s super slut-shaming.
It’s best that if there’s an accusation to be made, it simply isn’t enough to make the accusation, an explanation of why the accusation was made is also necessary. We live in a world where we can make accusations without backing them up — look at Donald Trump for an extreme example. Let’s not just throw up an accusation, let’s talk about why we believe this way, and the latter is more important and can open up communication and discussion.
Okay, I feel like it’s slut-shaming because of the tone in which is discusses teenage girls and their mothers in shorts and tank tops – it sexualised them by talking about how much cleavage is being shown, implies that this is inherently a bad thing, and dismisses the choice feminism argument later in the article out of hand. The implication is not only that you should restrict what your teen is wearing (as if that will stop them from feeling pressure to be sexualised) but that you, as an adult, wearing clothing the author considers sexualised is wrong because you’re setting a bad example.
Hence, this demonizes women choosing to wear the clothes they want to wear because of their perceived sexuality – slut shaming.
If you like the article that’s great, I’m not trying to say it’s an awful article and should be dismissed entirely, but it’s coming from a very personally biased viewpoint and presents the author’s the anecdotal evidence (her visiting schools and talking to teenagers) as objectively empirical evidence and also seems to lack sources for figures cited. There are other issues with the facts presented but I think you get the point.
So if women are not socially forced to exhibitionism in the name of acceptance, its slut shaming? And you are supposed to be a feminist? :/
Well first, when you use words like “implies” you’re bringing your own biases into it. I think it’s important to focus on the words being used, what is actually said, rather than talking about what you think it implies. I caught the “cleavage-bearing” as a description, as the point was not that what was being worn was bad (it stresses this later in the article) but whether it was due to personal choice or whether there was outside pressure involved to dress this way. I got out of the article that it didn’t criticize the way people dress but it criticized outside pressures to dress in a particular way. It continually reinforces the idea that *pressure* towards women to dress in a particular way is wrong, not the actual dress itself. That’s where the comic comes from. But that’s my bias as well, we read what we want to read out of these articles. But the author never says that the way people dress is wrong.
As an author myself, I get this same criticism levied at me quite often — it’s not what I say directly, it’s what is implied. I can’t control what people take from my work, I can only control what is actually written. I can see where you got that, but only if you add more to what the writer has written, and that’s the issue. Especially if you use words like “super slut-shaming”, I kind of expected a more direct and explicit connection.
As for the criticism that the article is anecdotal and biased, well, anyone in journalism can tell you that every article is biased. (In fact, everything we express is biased. As a person who codes I can even tell you that coding is biased, that’s how deep it goes.) And journalists often use anecdotes to give their articles a more human face. And this is Time magazine, not Nature, so lacking sources is what one would expect from these publications. This is also more field research and not an empirical study. These are criticisms that aren’t really applicable because it’s not the author’s intention. I believe the author’s intention is more to raise more questions than answer them.
It’s not whether or not I like the article, it’s just my desire to keep this page free from negativity, to keep it a safe space where people feel they can express themselves freely. If there is an accusation to be made, the reason why should accompany it. That would make the accusations feel less random, and we can all learn from the viewpoints of everyone.
“I got out of the article that it didn’t criticize the way people dress but it criticized outside pressures to dress in a particular way. It continually reinforces the idea that *pressure* towards women to dress in a particular way is wrong, not the actual dress itself. ”
This is it exactly. Well said. The article made that very clear, especially with the bit about ” ‘choice’ feminism ” at the end.
I’d be fine if she actually sourced when she started using figures like “98%”. It’s bad journalism to quote a figure without suggesting anything about it’s source.
I didn’t want an argument, I was just trying to – as you put it – express myself freely.
Time never references in APA style, and very few magazines ever do. Also, it’s an excerpt from a book, so it’s difficult to tell whether or not the source is included in the original book. However, in this case she actually DID source the information as being from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, so thanks to the power of Google and the given keywords I can give you the source. It’s at http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Documents/news-resources/statistics/2012-Plastic-Surgery-Statistics/full-plastic-surgery-statistics-report.pdf , and it’s on page 7 at the bottom.
I’m not here for an argument either, but accusations should never be made lightly.
You’re in the wrong internet areas. I’ve been interneting for 14 years (since I was 14) and as soon as I found an even slightly sexual tinge to a site or a group I walked. The result is that I write on a couple of lovely groups that both pay (UK only) and value brains over looks or sexuality.
It’s good that you found such a place but for the most part not everyone knows where to look or even if there’s a place to look for. Most people on the internet are introduced with a popular social network like Facebook which stresses personal appearance and little to no privacy.
A very good strip that I think all teenage girls should have taped up to their computer monitor. The article along with it is quite good as well. It reminded me of the Tom Wolfe novel “I Am Charlotte Simmons” which chronicled the hook-up culture of colleges circa 2004. That same destructive culture is now magnified by social media and ensnares ever younger girls, often with the approval of parents.
My wife and I only have a son, but we did raise a foster daughter from birth until she was 9 and have continued to stay in contact with her and her parents. She is graduating high school in a couple of weeks, which we will attend even though it is about 800 miles away. She has fortunately not fallen victim to Society’s ideals. It is something we worry about, but she has given us access to her social media accounts knowing that she will quickly hear from us if we see anything inappropriate.
Our son is a freshman in high school and we have discussed these same issues with him. The pressures on boys are somewhat different, but I am certain Society has thoughts on how boys can be popular.
I guess parenting is the one area of my life that I haven’t screwed up (yet).
Acceptance is not respect.
No one is respected on the Internet.
Sure we can get along, but people can turn on you so easily…
I disagree that no one is respected on the internet. There are many people who have respect — maybe not respect by everybody, but respect nonetheless. Otherwise professional communities wouldn’t be able to function.
I feel that the twist here is that the girl standing up, in the low cut dress, is really the one with depression and the message is you can never really tell.