Inking a comic about the glorious variety that is life. Published weekly from Aotearoa 🇳🇿 New Zealand

She


Triangle-person is sitting on an armchair, reading the newspaper called "Daily news". The heading on the front page says "New governor". The last page says "Ball is round" and depicts two triangle-people and a ball.

On the next image, we are looking over the shoulder of the Triangle-person, as they are reading about the new governor. The image shows a Triangle-person with thick eye-lashes, subtitled "Ann Triangel". The reader says: "Oh, he is a she!"

On the final image the Triangle-person is again shown from the front, lowering the newspaper and saying to us: "I like shes!"

Triangle-person is sitting on an armchair, reading the newspaper called “Daily news”. The heading on the front page says “New governor”. The last page says “Ball is round” and depicts two triangle-people and a ball.

On the next image, we are looking over the shoulder of the Triangle-person, as they are reading about the new governor. The image shows a Triangle-person with thick eye-lashes, subtitled “Ann Triangel”. The reader says: “Oh, he is a she!”

On the final image the Triangle-person is again shown from the front, lowering the newspaper and saying to us: “I like shes!”

The whole thing is actually a quip from my youngest daughter when she was just a couple of years old.

I think it perfectly captures the language stereotyping: a governor is by default a male, and it’s a surprise when “he” turns out to be a “she”. It’s a brilliant time-capsule of our current society - we have biases, but we choose to be nevertheless happy about the ongoing change.

As a side-note I am aware of the stereotyping present in giving females thick eye-lashes, while the “regular” Triangle has no distinguishing features.

However, these days I don’t think the default Triangle is neccessarily masculine or feminine. This is quite fitting - the Triangle was conceived as a stand-in for an ego (a “me”) which doesn’t have a gender or sex.

Now, when a masculine quality is called for I give the Triangle a moustache.

#society