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Comics and gender
Chatterbox: Down to Earth
Comics and gender
Comics and gender and all that jazz.
Yes. I am aware of the mild confusion I'm causing here on the CB. And, instead of using my words, I started drawing a comic to explain.
It's called "Lose Ends." I don't know why. I just liked the title.
Really the first thing I should have done when I started to feel uncomfortable should've been to talk to the magicial queen in her castle in the woods or whatever just happened. I drew it but I'm not really sure.
So yes. I'm a girl. I drew a 10 page comic to tell you all that.
I've wanted to tell everyone for awhile now (a year maybe? More?) but I HAVEN'T until now. So there we go!
I could tell you all how it happened that I posted under Theo and Lexi and remained genderless (or something) for all this time, but that would be a rather boring tale. Also, I'm not going to stop posting as Theo. That's my CB name. And, as one of the Admins pointed out, Theo can be short for Theodora. (I like to think it's short for Theodosia, but there's me being weird with my Victorian steampunk names and whatnot.) Plus, if I didn't change what Theo stood for, it wouldn't be in the true spirt of the Candleman! (Which is how I orginally got my screenname. In the first CANDLEMAN book, Theo was short for Theobald, but in the second it changed to Theodore. IF I remember correctly and I might be wrong.)
COMMERICAL BREAK! I'm writing a comic (per usual) but it's online! I've mentioned it a few times, it's called "Magician and Rabbit." I THINK if you search "Magician and Rabbit" in google, it pops up. It's also written under the name "Theo W" so that's cool. GO READ IT NOW.
Anyhow, I hope none of you are really mad at me for this. I made some bad decisons when I was twelve, I'll admit it. There isn't much more left for me to say here... but I'm glad I made this thread. Drawing the comic was like going to therapy, but posting it on a thread was like taking a lid off a bottle that becomes sealed tighter and tighter the more you let it sit.
The lid is off. The secrets are out. Take it or leave it.
Yours truly,
Theo W
submitted by Theo W., age 13, Dark, Dreary Places
(July 21, 2014 - 11:02 am)
(July 21, 2014 - 11:02 am)
Thank you very much for telling us, Theo. I'm glad you had the courage to come out and tell us about yourself. To be honest, Red and I knew for a long while now (we went looking for your artwork because it's really good! I like it.) so I hope you don't mind. I don't think anyone will treat you differently. It's silly and pointless to treat people here differently because of genders.
I hope you don't mind if I take this opportunity to say that I'm a boy. When I first joined the Chatterbox, I was very self-concious of the fact that there were very few boys on the CB and kind of paranoid (read: "very paranoid") of what you would consider imagined enemies that could track me down and hurt me. So I pretended to be a girl, but without truly disclosing my gender so I couldn't say to be lying. I'm sorry for my petty annoyingness back then. I don't so much care anymore, so... yeah. I'm a dude.
(July 21, 2014 - 1:07 pm)
I'm glad, too--it was like I was keeping myself in a cage and I finally let myself out. I don't mind at all--I figure I'm pretty easy to find in the internet. Also, thanks! I work hard on drawing, and while I can't say it's perfect, it's cool to know that people like it! Mostly I think I was worried about people being angry at me for hiding it all this time, but it doesn't seem that anyone is.
Paranoia is probably what made me create Lexi, that and the fact that Theo is usually a boy's name. We're all paranoid sometimes--don't worry about it!
(July 23, 2014 - 2:44 pm)
That comic was awesome! And a really cool idea! Of course I'm not mad! I always thought you were a girl.
(July 21, 2014 - 1:13 pm)
Thanks, Ivy!
(July 23, 2014 - 2:47 pm)
Casually topping this gorgeous thing.
(July 21, 2014 - 4:09 pm)
That was incredible Theo! Your artwork is amazing, and I completely agree with you. Gender stereotyping is rampant, and incredibly annoying. Names can be both male and female, and it's ridiculous to pretend that you can know everything about a person due to their name. Not to mention just plain wrong. I completely understand not wanting to be treated differently based on gender, because frankly I've had to deal with it my entire life. People should be judged based on what is in their hearts and being told every day of my life that I "throw like a girl" is not the way to encourage me to excell. Not to mention everyone treats me like a porcelain doll. I thought about hiding the fact that I was a girl when I first got on chatterbox, but I'm glad I didn't. So don't worry about being alone in this. We respect you for it all the more. You said take it or leave it. So I'll take it. ( and THeo really is an awesome name)
(July 21, 2014 - 5:00 pm)
I wouldn't say I've had to deal with it much--I've always been the weird girl who does whatever she wants. I wear a dress one day and the whole world is ending. I suppose the only sort of name that would tell you everything about the person would be more of an essay than a name! Plus, people change. That's the thing--people change but names don't. Not usually, anyways. You seem like a very strong person, Fire Eyes Phoenix. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
(July 23, 2014 - 2:44 pm)
I'm happy you did tell us, Theo. You know already that it doesn't change anything with me, since we've talked about it already, but yeah. I love the comic btw. It's very well done.
(July 21, 2014 - 6:26 pm)
Thank you! It was really fun to draw, because instead of doing any character sketches, I just sat down with my marker and started drawing! Of course, that means I was still trying to figure out how to draw cloaks throughout the first five or six pages. I was about ready to give up on greytone markers, but for some reason I used them for this comic (and sucessfully!).
(July 23, 2014 - 2:45 pm)
Though I said it on Camp NaNo already, I love your Magician and Rabbit comic!! And I'm totally fine you're a girl. When I was twelve I was a bit more awkward, especially eleven. But thirteen's good :) Well, so far. (I didn't like being thirteen until a few months ago welp) Keep up those awesome comics! Maybe you could make some money :D
(July 21, 2014 - 6:42 pm)
Thank you! I keep thinking I'm getting less awkward, but really I think it just stays the same. I've made about five dollars in my life off of drawing--a t-shirt sale and a commission! A commission that I was only going to be paid 5 cents for, but they paid me a dollar. I would really like to do commissions in the future, I do like drawing things. Right now, considering where I am in my life, I don't think I have a huge desire to make money. I don't need to pay for groceries or housing or anything like that because I'm 13. I told my mother I wanted to do commissions, and she pointed out I had enough on my plate as it was--which is true!
(July 23, 2014 - 2:46 pm)
That comic was amazing! I am wicked jealous! I liked the ending, and thank you for saying what gender you are. It doesn't really matter anyway, as long as you're a good person, right? I am not good with words sometimes, so excuse me if anything sounds rude! :). And I really like names that can be for a girl or boy, so Theo is cool. Again, I am wicked jealous. I'm saying wicked because I'm from Massachusetts, so I'm saying wicked when I mean it! :) And I hope the bad decisions you made when you were younger worked out better, if they were really bad.
(July 21, 2014 - 6:57 pm)
Ah man, bad decisions always seem to come back, even if they don't seem like a bad idea at the time! I'm already mad at myself from three months ago! But there's not a lot you can do, I suppose, just keep doing whatever you did wrong until you resolve the problem. Don't worry--you don't sound rude at all, ~Blue Fairy~. Honestly, I have a hard time saying things without sound insenstive and rude simply because I can't think of the right words. "Wicked" is a cool (or wicked, if you will) word!
(July 23, 2014 - 2:45 pm)
We found Magician and Rabbit before but somehow were unable to get to the comic proper. But we read through it just now and- *mind explodes*
That art is fantastic! The comic has elements that do not seem like they were written by a thirteen year old. I'm loving this, and I will keep checking back to see more pages!
(July 21, 2014 - 7:09 pm)
Oh dear. Website glitches. Were you on a tablet device the first time it happened, by any chance? Or was it before June 2nd? *Starts running around screaming about the serval problems with the website* I just can't figure out what's wrong or how to fix it!
Thank you! People are always telling you to be a better writer, you have to read. I'd say the same it true, even more so perhaps, for comics. What I like to think when I want to push myself to improve, is that the internet doesn't care what your age is or who you are. You can be 8 or 80--a lot of people just care about the content. Thank you again (It's always cool to think people read my comic)--I'll keep writing more pages!
(July 23, 2014 - 2:44 pm)