So, here’s a 6 page preview of my latest adventure. A comic called
“Marjorie of the Weirdlings”, that will be premiering the weekend of
October 28th at MEGACON TAMPA!
But now onto the content of page
6. This is the page that establishes Marjory as transgender. The page I
expect to get some poop over.
When designing the character, I
realized early on that she had to be trans. I was putting a LOT of my
childhood frustrations, identity and anger issues on the page wrapped in
an otherwise fun, magical adventure. But I quickly realized that
Marjorie was me. But a me that was able to come out and live as she knew
she should decades before me.
I agonized over the exact verbiage
she should use in her narrative. I wanted her descriptions to avoid
specific labels or politically correct press release speak. She's a 13
year old transgender girl, not a political activist. Nor am I trying to
have her description fit into any one sub groups agenda by using
specific buzz word definitions.
Ultimately, I wanted her
description to seem fitting for a kid that knows what she is but has a
hard time finding the words to express that. So I used the verbiage that
felt natural to ME when I was thinking about myself at that age.
I
understand that there are some folks that will take issue with her
describing herself as being born with "boy Parts" as that is not the
currently accepted terminology. It implies that the shape of our
genitals is automatically gendered. I GET all of that. But for the life
of me, I couldn't justify having that kind of philosophical tightrope
walking coming out of this characters proverbial mouth.
When I
was still struggling with myself in this, I wasn't thinking in such
terms. I still partly don't. I, as a 41 year old trans woman, don't
think of what is between my legs as female anatomy regardless of my ever
strengthening gender identity. I have decades of reinforcement in the
opposite direction to overcome. So, for me, I wanted Marjorie's thoughts
to mirror my own from he point of view of a very young person trying to
express very mature concepts. I felt that her thoughts and experiences in this area needed to be honest.
So, if her specific verbiage upsets
you, I am sorry. But I had to be honest as a writer and write truthfully
for my character. Life is a never ending journey of self-discovery and
this character is on that same journey.
If the book finds an
audience and continues past this first issue, then I will have the time
to explore this aspect of her and allow those ideas to evolve. But I do
hope you can understand why I'm expressing this concept as I am choosing
to.
