Am I a Queer Woman Looking Through the Male Gaze?

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Panel 1

(Belissa, older sister to high-school-aged lesbian Lucia, enters Lucia’s room. Lucia is hard at work gluing paper to a presentation poster in the corner.)

Belissa: Hey, what ya up to, sis?

Lucia: Oh, just putting some finishing touches on my…

Panel 2

(Lucia gestures proudly to her project, which has printed-out pictures of various female celebrities and characters.)

Lucia: Shrine To Ultimate Hotties!!

Panel 3

(Belissa looks weirded out, and Lucia is startled by her response.)

Belissa: Uh, don’t you think that’s a bit objectifying to women?

Panel 4

(Belissa shrugs and heads nonchalantly out the door. Meanwhile, Lucia looks seriously disturbed.)

Belissa: Whatevs, not my place to judge. We’re ordering pizza. Lemme know if you want anything.

Panel 5

(Lucia starts thinking to herself in a panic.)

Lucia: Oh no. What if she’s right? What if I’m just a predatory lesbian who’s oppressing women whenever I think somebody is sexy?

Panel 6

(Tearfully, Lucia goes to throw her shrine in the trash.)

Lucia: Goodbye, you angels!

Text: Stop right there!

Panel 7

(Lucia listens to the voice coming from the text.)

Text: Did you know that there is a difference between sexual attraction and sexual objectification?

Lucia: Really?

Panel 8

(Split panel. On one side, there’s Lucia blushing at another girl who’s talking with her. On the other side, there are piles of magazines with women’s lips, cleavage, butts, and headlines like “Ten Things Guys Want.”)

Text: Sexual Attraction is about feeling desire towards another person.

Text: Sexual Objectification is viewing that person solely as a sex object for another person’s use.

Panel 9

(A businessman driving to work smirks at a billboard of a faceless woman in her underwear.)

Text: Our society loves objectifying women specifically, since it allows the straight men at the top constant access to women’s bodies.

Text: Objectification for straight male enjoyment is called “the male gaze” – but others can do it too.

Panel 10

(A woman swiftly walks down the street while guys catcall her.)

Text: It’s one thing to think a stranger is hot.

It’s another to shout it across the street at her while she is clearly busy.

Catcallers: Hey! Hey! Hey!

Panel 11

(Lucia looking at a pin-up of a lady on her laptop.)

Text: It’s one thing to appreciate a cute pin-up.

Panel 12

(A group of superheroes posing. All the men are fully clothed and ready for battle. All the women are posing sexily under the men.)

Text: It’s another to always draw women as pin-ups and men as action heroes.

Panel 13

(A forum page for leaking celebrity nudes)

Text: It’s one thing to crush on female celebrities.

It’s another to treat their bodies as public property or get angry when they dress casual.

Username 1: Yo I got Emma Watson nudes!!

Username 2: Haha dude, post em.

Username 3: lmfao teach that bitch a lesson

Username 1: (posting a blurred out image labeled NSFW) Here it is:

Panel 14

(Lucia contemplates and talks to the text box)

Lucia: And it’s important not to mix these things up, cuz otherwise we’re saying aggression towards women is natural?

Text: Exactly! Rape culture thrives on confusing attraction with objectification.

Panel 15

(Lucia picks up her shrine from the trash and hugs it)

Lucia: So I can keep my Hotties Shrine?

Text: Sure! Just as long as you remember that they are all people and treat them with respect.

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M. Slade is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism. He is New York-based cartoonist and illustrator. Aside from creating artwork for EF, he also has a weekly webcomic about his experiences realizing he’s a trans man: Adventures In Genderland. M.Slade also works as Co-Head Editor for the Independent Publishing Section of ComicsVerse.com, and you can find his articles here. In his spare time, he can be found nerding out about video games and cartoons, or crying while petting his cat. You can check out his website here or his Tumblr here. Check out his EF comics here.