One Simple Question About Society’s Ridiculous Biases Around Gender

February 8, 2017 / Justin Hubbell

If you could ask one question about society’s biases around gender, what would it be?

This comic gets straight to the point with one simple question. We’re living in a world with strict stereotypes about what gender is supposed to mean, discrimination and violence against trans and non-binary people, erasure of intersex people, and more.

Can we catch a break from these ridiculous pressures already?

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Text: A Common Complaint: Comic by Justin Hubbell

(Ten individual portraits of people. Each one has a different story and thinks a different word that, when read together, formulates the sentence: “Why does gender have to be such a big deal?”)

Panel 1

(Kamya – Black, cisgender, gay – reads an anti-gay flyer and appears upset.)

Kamya: Why

Panel 2

(Michelle – Latinx, questioning, pansexual – looks annoyed, having received a feminine dress as a gift that doesn’t match her “tomboy” style.)

Michelle: Does

Panel 3

(Cameron – white, transgender, questioning – looks exhausted after another difficult day in junior high school.)

Cameron: Gender

Panel 4

(Emma – Jewish, Asian-American, cisgender, bisexual – looks frazzled as she juggles a conference call with holding her crying newborn baby.)

Emma: Have

Panel 5

(Wendy – Chemehuevi, cisgender, straight – looks determined, but troubled as she participates in a walk for tribal survivors of domestic violence.)

Wendy: To

Panel 6

(Joe – mixed race, cisgender, straight – stares off into space looking disturbed as he thinks about toxic masculinity.)

Joe: Be

Panel 7

(Hay-Yun – Asian, cisgender, lesbian – looks incredibly anxious as she thinks about coming out to her family.)

Hay-Yun: Such

Panel 8

(André – Black, transgender, asexual – is trying to relax at home, but he looks stressed after being harassed in the street.)

André: A

Panel 9

(Ahmed – wearing a hearing aid, Muslim, cisgender, straight – looks worried as he thinks about how his cousin is mentally abused by their father.)

Ahmed: Big

Panel 10

(Willow – White, genderfluid, transbian – looks engrossed as they wait for the start of their trans support group.)

Willow: Deal???

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Justin Hubbell is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism. A trans genderqueer “comictivist” from upstate New York, they create comics that unpack social justice issues through personal reflection and sharing. Their work can be seen at justinhubbell.com. Please consider supporting them on Patreon! Check out their comics here.