Not gonna lie. I’ve been nervous about posting this page. Pretty much everything from here to the end of the chapter went through SO MANY rewrites. There was a lot of me debating how forward I wanted to be with the subject, or if I wanted to keep dancing around the issue. Arguably, I did a bit of both here (since Rain is clearly fighting with her feelings here, and Chanel can only speculate). But this is still a pretty huge development. I mean, I’ve been writing this comic for over two and a half years, and we’re finally getting at least a little perspective on the main character’s orientation (which is, as always, never simple).
Everyone goes through the whole gender confusion thing at some point. It's a normal part of growing up. Unfortunately some of us go through this with a lot of unnecessary garbage.
But I like how Chanel handles it though, While I still don't get the whole "Asexual" thing (because I am definitely NOT Asexual), She kind of explains herself and what Rain is kind of going through.
I think Rain has to find a time and place to go over all her feelings and sort out what her orientation is. More importantly Chanel makes a valid point just because you are different doesn't mean that you're not normal.
Yeah, me too. In an ideal world Chanel would be right--being gay doesn't make you any less a woman. But Chanel doesn't have to worry about people questioning her gender identity.
The way I once explained it to my parents: you know how women in the workplace have to work twice as hard and be twice as good to get the same amount of recognition as their male counterparts? Just *being* a woman is like that for me. If a cis girl wants to be into Dungeons & Dragons, or grow up to be an astronaut, or be attracted to other women, hooray for equality, women can do that. But if *I* do anything like that, it must mean I'm really a guy and lying about being female. The slightest hint of any interest that isn't stereotypically girly is seized upon as an excuse to question my gender.
I've actually been kind of curious as to Rain's sexuality, since it was never really mentioned before this chapter, and I have something similar going on. I'm a male, and I identify a little bit as a female, but I am most definitely attracted to women. This actually helps me a bit, so thanks.
She's literally very abnormal, statistically speaking, in the most objective sense of the word.. If homosexuality rates are the same among trans as cisgendered people, (about 7%, on average) then rain would be part of a 7% minority in the male to female transgendered population. The chances of being transgendered are 1 to 30.000, so being gay and trans would be 1 to about 430.000 (30.000/0.07=428571). Rain's almost one in half a million.(Also, if I did the math wrong or if the percentages are wrong, I apologize for that).
Being part of two or more minorities at once can be rather stressful, especially if those minorities aren't that well understood/looked down upon in society. So it's understandable for her to not like being a lesbian: not for the lesbian part, but for how it makes her life even more complicated.
Sources (Yahoo Answers, I know, but the answers were thorough and informative):
Your numbers are way off. The prevalence of transgenderism is something more like 1 in 300, and the prevalence of homosexual attraction among trans people is MUCH higher than for cis people; it is something like 30-50%, IIRC.
This is where the word "normal" becomes difficult to define. Gender roles tell us what is "expected"- but that's doesn't mean it's normal. It means that it's the most widely accepted definition, constructed by society. Just because you're in a minority, it doesn't mean that you're not "normal"- unless you define normal as "what most people do".
The Merriam-Webster defines "normal" as 1) usual or ordinary : not strange, and 2) mentally and physically healthy. If you are trying to achieve mental and physical health by transitioning, then THAT is normal. And although some people might that that's not "usual or ordinary," the truth is that people have felt gender dysphoria for years; if they are choosing not to act on it until now, it's only because society has previously been oppressive and itself, strange.
But I like how Chanel handles it though, While I still don't get the whole "Asexual" thing (because I am definitely NOT Asexual), She kind of explains herself and what Rain is kind of going through.
The way I once explained it to my parents: you know how women in the workplace have to work twice as hard and be twice as good to get the same amount of recognition as their male counterparts? Just *being* a woman is like that for me. If a cis girl wants to be into Dungeons & Dragons, or grow up to be an astronaut, or be attracted to other women, hooray for equality, women can do that. But if *I* do anything like that, it must mean I'm really a guy and lying about being female. The slightest hint of any interest that isn't stereotypically girly is seized upon as an excuse to question my gender.
Doesn't help that my mom thinks I'm one of those ors.
Unfortunately, I was in drab all of those times.
Pro tip: create a linguist character, focusing on the languages of dungeon denizens. Try to chat them up.
Being part of two or more minorities at once can be rather stressful, especially if those minorities aren't that well understood/looked down upon in society. So it's understandable for her to not like being a lesbian: not for the lesbian part, but for how it makes her life even more complicated.
Sources (Yahoo Answers, I know, but the answers were thorough and informative):
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080422093846AADnydx
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110905152607AAnwqkZ
Trans lesbians aren't actually that rare.
http://www.transgenderasia.org/paper-how-many-trans-people-are-there.htm
The Merriam-Webster defines "normal" as 1) usual or ordinary : not strange, and 2) mentally and physically healthy. If you are trying to achieve mental and physical health by transitioning, then THAT is normal. And although some people might that that's not "usual or ordinary," the truth is that people have felt gender dysphoria for years; if they are choosing not to act on it until now, it's only because society has previously been oppressive and itself, strange.