Yesterday I sent an email to the creator of the Brown comic that was the basis of my discussion on how the transgendered community requires the same protection from hate speech as the rest of humanity in Britain. I sent the following email, in which I got straight to the crux of the problem I have with vile and misogynist depictions of what trans people go through on an all to regular basis.
Hello.
I came across one of your comics, ‘Brown, in the Jan 2013 issue of The Stool Pigeon and I’m forced to write to ask whether the gross misrepresentation of gender reassignment, as well as making light of sexual assault, was intentional or simply a by-product of ignorance of the subject.
One in twelve people who undergo, or intend to undergo, gender reassignment are murdered every year and depictions such as those in ‘Brown’ help to reinforce a culture that dehumanises, and leads to the death of, transgendered people.
In short: what the hell were you thinking? Seriously. As one artist to another, wasn’t there a better way to put across your message?
Regards,
Zoë
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Zoë J Robinson, BSc (Dunelm), LLB (Hons)(Open)
Freelance writer and artist
Website: www.zoerobinson.com
e-mail: zoe@zoerobinson.com
I wasn’t expecting much in the way of a response. What I got wasn’t much in the way of a response. What I got was this:
Hi there Zoe,
thanks for your email. Where to start with it? Let’s see..I’m curious as to why you felt the need to list your qualifications after your name. I’ve got a load too, but I’d never write them at the end of the end of an email to prove that I’m intelligent. It gives me an inkling that you’re precisely the type of person that would never, in a million years, get the absurd humour in my work. It’s just not made for you – you won’t understand it, and I’m certain it’d be a waste of my time to attempt to explain it. I’ve looked at your work, and this proves my theory. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t ever attempt to interfere with your work, try and ban it, or ask you ‘what the hell were you thinking?’, even though I find it highly offensive in its banality, poor execution, and general lameness. We’re just very different, but live and let live, I say.
So basically ‘as one artist to another’ is utterly meaningless to me -I have nothing in common with you, and politely refuse to justify my work to you.
Best Wishes,
Krent
My goodness, I feel as if I should be shocked and cowed! Here I was making a legitimate complaint about hate speech and all that time I was forgetting that art completely loses all meaning – and all potential to be disgusting, offensive and a further reinforcement of the dehumanisation of the transgendered community – the moment that someone “doesn’t understand it”. How silly of me! It’s almost as if I hadn’t been working as a cartoonist for the last sixteen years!
Does that man honestly think “it’s not for you” is a reasonable excuse for publishing sexual assault, racism and defamatory depictions of transsexuality in an international newspaper? I doubt it. It’s one of those go-to excuses that people grab at when they have no reasonable defence for their actions. It’s one step up from calling in your Mum for help against the bigger kids when they won’t let you play with them.
Typical schoolyard crap, in other words.
As for his excuse of the comic being absurdist, it’s not. There’s nothing this has in common with the philosophies of Kierkegaard. If you want to see absurdism in comics, The Life of Nob T. Mouse is a lot closer to it. I studied absurdism, dadaism and surrealism for art class, so nobody can come trying the “oh it’s absurdist”, “oh it’s surreal”, “oh it’s edgy” excuse with me and expect to get away with it, it won’t wash.
He doesn’t warrant a response because he’s avoided every part of my complaint against his filth – and he tried to take a swipe at me while he was at it. That’s to be expected, of course. When you strike out at someone, justified or not, you’ve got to expect them to at least try to strike back.
Nevertheless, here is my response.
Krent,
I take it you’re referring to my signature, which is something most people in the freelance world have automatically appended to their messages in order to ensure who they are talking to has their contact details. My qualifications are in my signature because, as a writer as well as a cartoonist, it is necessary to demonstrate knowledge in order to get work.
Still, I don’t expect someone whose immediate response to a legitimate question is to insult to recognise that. Rest assured that complaints have been filed with the PCC, and the magazine that published you.
Regards,
Zoë
–
Zoë J Robinson, BSc (Dunelm), LLB (Hons)(Open)
Freelance writer and artist
Website: www.zoerobinson.com
e-mail: zoe@zoerobinson.com
The signature thing will be instantly recognisable to anyone who’s spent time dealing with emails to and from professionals in any walk of life. It’s basic stuff, the business card of the Internet. To try to take a swipe at someone for that is just stupid but never mind. Stupid is clearly what we’re dealing with here.
So, as with the faux-liberals of the world who turn out to be vicious, spiteful creatures the moment you scratch the surface, the same can be said of the so-called ‘edgy’ comic artists of the indie scene. To be brutally honest, I wasn’t expecting anything else. He was crass in print, and he’s crass in person.
All I’m left feeling is a sense of wonderment that he was able to hold back his ignorance and rage long enough to get any work in print in the first place. It still doesn’t change the fact that his hate-fuelled transphobia should never have been published.
