Surviving the World A Photocomic Education by Dante Shepherd

Lesson #919 - Willful Logic

UPDATED: There have been a number of concerns raised about what I meant by "gender" in the comic. So let me try to explain my perspective as simply as possible: I have always viewed "gender" as being an overly simplistic linguistic construct that doesn't have any form of identity tied into it, while "sexuality" is much more fluid state of mind that covers identity and ambiguity. While others define "sexuality" strictly based on attraction, I've always taken the approach that it's a term that covers identity better than "gender" ever could. When you have this viewpoint, "gender" doesn't really have much significance to it, since all identity ties into "sexuality".

This is a different approach (as I've come to learn over the past day) than a ton of other people take (perhaps you're one of them?). So while I've always accepted that because identity can never be tied into gender, and as such gender is just a basic system that continues to exist because of language, this runs completely opposite of everyone who views gender as a broad ambiguous system while sexuality strictly ties into attraction. To them, gender is incredibly meaningful. And it wasn't my intention to slight this approach at all - it was just me working from a different dictionary.

In some ways, this is like informing an American that everyone else has been calling soccer "football" for a much longer time than American football has existed. My terminology is somewhat backward, and apparently I'm pretty late to the game in a more common usage.

So I hope the comic makes more sense knowing what's been my perspective - I'll continue to disagree that sexuality is strictly defined by attraction, but that's another issue entirely - and I'll try to be clearer what I mean in the future. I hope there's no further offense taken, because none was certainly meant. There's no point in making STW if the point I'm trying to make is obscured by my difficult-to-comprehend approach to the subject.

Everything that follows underneath this paragraph is as I originally posted it - it probably makes a lot less sense now if it ever made any, but I'd rather not try to make it seem like I was hiding it. OK. Update over.

Just because the gender symbol for a dynamiquad is a dragon does not mean it is the hip definition to apply to yourself, kids. Let your imagination run free with the idea, I guess, but don't give it control.

Anyway, don't hate the science, boys and girls. The guys in the labcoats aren't happy to be reporting it, either.