Cartoon: Dragscrolling

First of all, I’m so happy to introduce my new collaborator Nadine Scholtes. Her official bio:

Nadine Scholtes (born 1992) is an illustrator and comic book artist based in Luxembourg. She has been drawing her whole life, but her studies in Art began when she was 16 years old at Lycée des Arts et Métiers, and years later made her bachelor’s degree in Communication Design at Hochschule Trier.

Nadine writes:

I enjoyed drawing the expressions, how she becomes more frustrated by every panel. I chose to draw this comic because it makes my blood boil how people treat and judge lgbtq+ people and you can only imagine how they are at home. And don’t think that animals don’t judge you, my cats do so by my every move.

I love Nadine’s art in this strip – the solid-looking backgrounds, the cat (the CAT!), the believable outfit, and most of all the evolving expressions. Even if I hadn’t written it, this would be a strip I love to look at.

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Does anyone have a good idea for what I should name this strip? My first thought for a title was “Dragscrolling” but is that too obscure? If you have a thought, please leave a comment.

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To be fair, it’s not only anti-queer people who get their time sucked away by doomscrolling. Lots of people do it, from every political group. It gives us a false sense of control, of knowing what’s out there; it gives us a dopamine rush; it gives us a social reward if we’re the first one to report (whatever the outrage is) on our social networks.

But it matters what you’re doomscrolling for. It’s one thing to doomscroll looking for the latest Trump embarrassment; it’s quite another to doomscroll for photos of marginalized groups to mock.

GCs (stands for “gender criticals,” the name TERFs have given themselves) are constantly searching for two things: men in unconvincing drag (even if it’s deliberately unconvincing), and trans women who – at least in the curated photos GCs choose – don’t “pass” as cisgender women. (The GC, of course, don’t distinguish between these two very different things.)

The photos, when found, are circulated on GC social boards and media. Often accompanied, without any conscious irony, by complaints that “they’re shoving their lifestyle down our throats!”

The effect of all this is to prescribe a restrictive idea of gender. Women are only allowed to look a certain way; those who don’t look feminine enough for GCs’ arbitrary standards are mocked and disdained. There’s even been a bunch of times that GCs (and their allies the Christian right) have circulated photos of cis women who aren’t what GCs consider feminine, calling them “men in dresses.”

That this is coming from people who call themselves gender critical is laughable. What they are is gender police.

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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has seven panels, all showing the same thing: A woman, seated at a desk in what looks like an apartment, clicking a mouse as she looks at her computer. Her blonde hair is held out of her face by a purple hairband, and she’s wearing a dark blue blouse with pink trim shaped like flower petals, and capri jeans.

PANEL 1

From behind, we see the woman looking at her monitor as she clicks her mouse (SFX: click click click). An orange and white cat sits on the floor, patting her leg with a paw to try and get attention. A window behind her shows daylight.

WOMAN (thought): There’s always a new one up…

PANEL 2

The woman leans her face on one hand, looking a bit frustrated and still manipulating her mouse (SFX: scroll scroll scroll). The cat is climbing up the chair, and the window behind her is getting darker.

WOMAN (thought): Where IS it?

PANEL 3

The woman continues to search (SFX:click scroll click), while the cat sits on the desk, tapping her on her arm with one paw.

WOMAN (thought): C’mon… I’ll find one somewhere.

PANEL 4

The woman leans forward a little, still looking annoyed. The cat, also annoyed, glares at her. It’s even darker outside.

WOMAN (thought): I’ll check the newsgroup.

PANEL 5

The woman rubs a hand through her hair, now looking not just frustrated but a little  mad as she keeps searching (SFX: scroll scroll scoll click). Her cat, unnoticed, jumps off the desk.

PANEL 6

The camera zooms in closer as the woman, fully angry now, pounds her fist on the desk. Behind her, we can see that it’s full dark and there are stars in the sky.

PANEL 7

This panel is larger than the other panels. The woman pushes her chair back, pointing a finger at the screen, and yells angrily. In the foreground, the cat walks away but looks back at her resentfully.

WOMAN: AHA! A picture of a MAN in a DRESS! WHY must they SHOVE it in my face?

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Dragscrolling | Barry Deutsch on Patreon