0089 - What do your breasts say about you? - 2019.06.17

Comic!

Comment:

Are breasts feminine?

Are the character traits Lee lists off feminine?

Is Lee feminine?

No, seriously, think about it. Other than their appearance, is there any action Lee has taken or any element of Lee's character, as presented in Forward to date, that makes you think "girl" over "boy"? If they'd had a flat chest and a square jawline this whole time, would the story have felt different to you?

If breasts were neither coded masculine nor feminine in our society, but were simply an outward symbol of sexuality, would you want them? If breasts were neither coded masculine nor feminine, but were simply an outward symbol of wanting to take care of babies, would you want them? If breast size were not dependent on body fat or genes, but were always the result of a choice that their owner had made, would you feel comfortable making assumptions about that owner's character, based on their cup size?

If your appearance was a mashup of the top four fictional characters you idolize and want to emulate, what would you look like? If you had complete control over your appearance, would you want people to make assumptions about your character based on it? Would your appearance be accurate? If your friends and family that know you could assemble your appearance based on how they think of you, would it look the same?

Can emulating a character's appearance - say, wearing a Punisher skull symbol - be a political statement? If so, can such a statement be offensive, or even be so dangerous to society that it needs to be censored? (Before you say no, consider the case of wearing a swastika and toothbrush moustache, symbols that don't overtly say "kill all the Jews", but are associated with a character you've only read about in a book.) Is there a breast size or a penis length or a testicle diameter that can be considered offensive to possess? If a person of European ancestry surgically gives themselves dark skin and African facial features, is that the same thing as blackface?

...this comic raises a lot of questions.

Transcript:

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0089 - 2167/07/06/12:10 - Lee Caldavera's apartment, living room
Zoa: Look, admittedly, advertising sexual availability is the reason I have breasts, but I'm reasonably certain that, on mammals, tits exist to... inefficiently dispense dairy products.
LC: That is... really not what I use them for, no.
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Zoa: What do you use them for, then?
LC: I... I dunno. I guess I identify with characters who have breasts? Characters like Ada Richteru, or Princex Peony, or Rapunzel, or Gabrierra Fire-Wielder. Y'know... pretty people.
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Zoa: And, other than things related to their appearance or biology, what personality characteristics do those characters have in common?
LC: Uh... they're outgoing, adventurous, friendly, resilient, resourceful, gentle, brave, self-sacrificing, strong, they love making other people happy...
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Zoa: ...and those are all traits that you want to advertise that you have, are they?
LC: Exactly! How else would people know?
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