Missed a post last week, but for a (well deserved) reason!
The wife and I left the city for the first time in like 18 months to the mountains. Signal is spotty, and deadlines are looming, but we’ve found time to enjoy the fresh air and I’ve managed to peck out answers to two more F.A.Q.s!
This is a question I get asked all the time, and that I have come to low key dread. In fact, this may actually be the question most asked of people with marginalized identities.
While the question is not intended to tokenize or belittle, it feels like when people ask this question they are not interested in my specific experience so much as a kind of sound-byte to stand in for the collective experience of [insert facet of my identity].
But I can't really speak for any group, beyond saying that being BIPOC, queer, and/or a person perceived to be female makes things both more difficult/complicated and more dangerous – in publishing, and in life.
Racism and homophobia (including transphobia) in publishing in general, and in comics specifically (both industry side and reader side) is well documented, as is the rampant misogyny against people perceived to be female (cis and trans).
Having these identities opens one up to not just harassment/attack, but starts one off with a deficit of credibility, regardless of experience. BIPOC people, people perceived as women, and queer people who dare talk about being queer are often treated as if we couldn’t possibly have any skill, anything valuable to say or contribute, and in fact are diversity hires who are only there to make publishers look good/score “woke points.”
We are treated as if we are shallow facsimiles of human beings, with no feelings or value in and of ourselves.
We are treated as if our stories are meaningless, simply because we worked on them.
We regularly field abuse – harassment, death threats, attempts to dox, attempts to hack our accounts (social media and other, like bank accounts), hate raids, stalking, and sometimes physical violence for daring to exist in this space.
From the “professional side”, we are regularly tokenized, paraded around for our identities but then not given support or protection, passed over for work because we are not marketable then asked to step into project s at the last moment because the project is to [cis, white, male, hetero, whatever], refused equal pay to our peers at the same “level” career wise, and manage others emotions and microaggressions.
And then we get told to grow a thicker skin.
All that being said, my experiences are my own. I can’t stand in for anyone else, even if we share similar identities. I am extremely lucky in that, while I have had to deal with a bunch of bullshit, largely I am immediately surrounded by friends and colleagues who see me as a human being and treat me with love and respect.
But that is too much for an easily digestible sound-byte or tweet. So the answer is, in general (not always, but most of the time) it is difficult.
Note: I have not touched on other marginalized identities, such as disabilities, being neuro-divergent, having mental health conditions, having immigrated, etc. because I either don’t share in those identities (so it is not my place) or do not get asked about them. But I would wager that people with those identities share in the frustration and difficulties I talked about.
Once again that was heavy, so here are some things that I’ve enjoyed in the last week!
Manga-splaining is an incredibly charming podcast (featuring Chip Zdarsky) that is going to make me spend a lot of money on manga…
Danny Lore (the other half of Twin Speakz) has a story in an upcoming anthology from Neon Hemlock Press! Y’all should pre-order it here!
[I which I feel like a shill…]
I have a story in the upcoming prose anthology RECLAIM THE STARS out through Wednesday Books. Please pre-order it if it sounds cool to you – supply chain shortages mean once a printing sells it is gonna be a whiiiillllle before there is another!
Also, I’ll be at FiyahCon this week – here’s the panels I’ll be on!
The rest of TQS: Leah Williams and Tini Howard both have Substacks!
I also have a website where you can find more info on my work and some comic industry resources!
THANKS SO MUCH!
I’m grateful that you’ve decided to join me here, and hope to make it worth your while! This is a repetitive sign off, but only because it’s always going to be true.<3