Here is my analysis of my thoughts and explanation of my confusion:
“Then you’re still…?” still what?
“Nah, guys are stupid. I am not one of them anymore” one of who?
“Then why do you have boobs now?!” oh so AMAB on estrogen
If “still what” is men then they are no longer one of men, which then doesn’t make sense for me why she would be confused about them having boobs.
If “still what” is trans then it made sense as in: You’re still trans? Nah, I’ve decided the label is not for me.
P: What gave you that idea? (Visibly having boobs)
S: Then you’re still… [a guy]?
P: Nah, guys are stupid. I’m not one of them anymore. [My transition isn’t about dysphoria or a desire for femininity, it’s about politics (namely, disdain for men).]
S: [Oh, you’re agender/gender-apathetic.] But then why do you have BOOBS now?
P: …I just thought they’d be neat!
Panthera is implying that fae doesn’t care about gender norms, identity, or expression, and has only adopted this body and language for reasons of ideology and values: Men and women are both gross and stupid, but boobs are neat. By the end of the comic, Susie is beginning to understand Panthera’s irreverant response to gender as a cultural construct and wants to experiment with doing the same. Gender can be a playground if you’re brave enough, and Panthera has never wanted for courage or obstinance.
Fae honestly would care a great deal about gender norms and formalities. But only for the purpose of using them to screw with people and steal their name and fuck with them.
That’s kinda the best part of all this to me. Fae are the perfect embodiment of caring enough about gender to not care about gender.
thanks a lot. It turns out that I was reading it as a collection of 6 separate occasions with time in between rather than one consecutive ordered conversation. I shall accept embarrassing myself on Lemmy and I wish you will bless us with even more comics in the future.
I figured it was something like “still transitioning,” something like that. I agree that part’s a little difficult to parse, but I think Susie’s exasperation makes it work.
When Susie sees Panthera, she notices faer boobs and assumes Calvin has transitioned to being a girl.
Panthera explains the band name which doesn’t fit Susie’s assumption so she remarks “But… you’re a girl!”, hoping to get an explanation.
Panthera in typical Panthera/Calvin fashion doesn’t give a clear answer but a flippant “What gave you that idea?” which Susie interprets as a no.
Being accustomed to binary genders, Susie sees only one other option and tries to confirm “Then you’re still [a boy]?” but gets cut off.
Now, Susie is completely confused and apparently can’t think of a third option besides male and female. In her confusion she circles back to the one thing she can be sure about: the person in front of her has boobs. She asks about that.
Panthera still doesn’t give a clear answer to what fae identifies as, prompting Susie to spell it out: “Well, what do I call you then?”
When presented with the business card, Susie accepts the name and pronouns but still struggles with the concept.
So in short: Susie is familiar with the concept transgender people but still thinks in binary genders and can’t quite get her head around Panthera being non-binary. Hope that helps.
So you got the part from the first strip that boobs aren’t just for girls and dfyx just explained to you what the still what meant (as in “still a boy” “nah”) but then you just dismiss that and say you don’t care about the gender. Why?
Because their response doesn’t add anything. From the above conversation it’s above obvious that I’ve only explained my thought process, how I came to the conclusion that a word “them” in 1st panel likely doesn’t refer to men, and that my guess is that it refers to a word “trans”. I am asking for confirmation or different options.
My subject of question has from the start been what does a word “them” refer to, not their gender identity.
yeah, I got that part from the first strip.
Here is my analysis of my thoughts and explanation of my confusion: “Then you’re still…?” still what? “Nah, guys are stupid. I am not one of them anymore” one of who? “Then why do you have boobs now?!” oh so AMAB on estrogen
If “still what” is men then they are no longer one of men, which then doesn’t make sense for me why she would be confused about them having boobs.
If “still what” is trans then it made sense as in: You’re still trans? Nah, I’ve decided the label is not for me.
S: But… you’re a girl!
P: What gave you that idea? (Visibly having boobs)
S: Then you’re still… [a guy]?
P: Nah, guys are stupid. I’m not one of them anymore. [My transition isn’t about dysphoria or a desire for femininity, it’s about politics (namely, disdain for men).]
S: [Oh, you’re agender/gender-apathetic.] But then why do you have BOOBS now?
P: …I just thought they’d be neat!
Panthera is implying that fae doesn’t care about gender norms, identity, or expression, and has only adopted this body and language for reasons of ideology and values: Men and women are both gross and stupid, but boobs are neat. By the end of the comic, Susie is beginning to understand Panthera’s irreverant response to gender as a cultural construct and wants to experiment with doing the same. Gender can be a playground if you’re brave enough, and Panthera has never wanted for courage or obstinance.
Fae honestly would care a great deal about gender norms and formalities. But only for the purpose of using them to screw with people and steal their name and fuck with them.
That’s kinda the best part of all this to me. Fae are the perfect embodiment of caring enough about gender to not care about gender.
thanks a lot. It turns out that I was reading it as a collection of 6 separate occasions with time in between rather than one consecutive ordered conversation. I shall accept embarrassing myself on Lemmy and I wish you will bless us with even more comics in the future.
I was confused by the grammar too, thank you for going to the trouble of asking.
I figured it was something like “still transitioning,” something like that. I agree that part’s a little difficult to parse, but I think Susie’s exasperation makes it work.
Not a boy/man anymore but not a girl/woman either.
I don’t care about their gender. I was confused about meaning behind their sentences.
Okay, let me break it down step by step.
So in short: Susie is familiar with the concept transgender people but still thinks in binary genders and can’t quite get her head around Panthera being non-binary. Hope that helps.
So you got the part from the first strip that boobs aren’t just for girls and dfyx just explained to you what the still what meant (as in “still a boy” “nah”) but then you just dismiss that and say you don’t care about the gender. Why?
Because their response doesn’t add anything. From the above conversation it’s above obvious that I’ve only explained my thought process, how I came to the conclusion that a word “them” in 1st panel likely doesn’t refer to men, and that my guess is that it refers to a word “trans”. I am asking for confirmation or different options.
My subject of question has from the start been what does a word “them” refer to, not their gender identity.
“GUYS are stupid, I’m not one of THEM anymore.” it’s been explained to you in this thread and in the comic. but you dismiss the explanation