Posted In: comic
If you’re enjoying Modest Medusa please consider becoming a patron through Patreon. I really appreciate the support!
Support Modest Medusa! Help Jake make comics!
If you’re enjoying Modest Medusa please consider becoming a patron through Patreon. I really appreciate the support!
Again, this is all being recapped in her what I did on vacation report. There are probably a lot of blank stares in that classroom right now.
Oh right. I completely forgot about this framing device.
well in a context where a medusa can slide around in a classroom freely without the whole school freaking out, is this story really that far out?
I doubt anyone that has been around her for the last few months in comic time would find it that weird. at least no weirder than modest normally is.
>at least no weirder than modest normally is.
THAT is one heck of a baseline, though. Even after the better part of a school-year, everyone who doesn’t automatically either ignore her, or takes “don’t think about it” as a mantra, regarding her, probably is going to go all blue-screen and have to reboot, on a regular basis.
I’m still in suspense about how many separate report cards Modest will get, nevermind actual important issues that definitely need to be dealt with, from the School’s perspective, like the very real possibility that her hair might turn another student to stone!
More than a few, I bet! Assuming a teacher would let her go on and on and on…
At least she knows she won’t ever transform, anyway.
Hmmm things look like they might begin to get hairy
Wait… how do we now Modest *isn’t* a boy altogether?
Well she is, really. I mean, Hydra reproductive organs are in their hair, and they either have male or female organs. All Hydra look exactly the same, so the organs are really the only distinguishing feature between male and female. So Modest is a male of the species. BUT… Hydra identify as female and refer to each other as “she” and “her”. They also look recognizably female by human standards. So as far as they’re concerned, they’re all female (with the exception of possible male identifying Hydra, which we haven’t seen and if they exist are probably rare). Hydra also put a strong distinction between themselves and they’re hair (which is confusing, because most of them eventually BECOME their hair) so Modest and her sisters see themselves as girls with “girl hair” or “boy hair”. Adult Hydra may see things very differently though. It’s also totally possible (and maybe even likely) that that Hydras with humanoid bodies have n other sexual/reproductive organs besides their hair.
Anyway, you could call Modest a boy. She thinks of herself as a girl. But maybe that will change?
So when she grows up she will vote californianan progressive then? :O
(Genderfluid identification systems and what not.)
Hey, given that explanation we’re all thinking it! 😛
Well I would hope that by the time Modest is old enough to vote being genderfluid would be fully accepted and not seen as progressive.
I wouldn’t. I’d rather hope a cure for gender dysphoria is found by that time so acceptance would be unnecessary.
I’m far from an expert but I don’t think gender dysphoria and being genderfluid are the same thing.
it’l be accepted as soon as gender segregation in sports is removed.
Ugh, sports.
if sports arent your thing, then how about an end of gender segregation in hiring quotas?
Can you explain what you mean?
You can’t be the latter (genderfluid) without the former (gender dysphoria).
I obviously don’t know enough about this to really have an informed conversation. When you say “cure”, what do you mean?
if gender is fluid, then quotas based on gender are unenforceable. and visa versa.
I mean, the purpose of hiring quotas is to make sure that groups which have been unfairly discriminated against have a fair chance at being hired, right? The point is to make sure that people aren’t discriminated against because of their gender, race, religion, sexual preference, etc. This would include gender fluid individuals.
Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder, like depression or schizophrenia. A “cure” would be a way found to correct the disorder so the person would find it no longer desirable to change one’s own sexual gender, or (in the case of gender fluidity) simply identify as something other than what was bestowed at conception. My hope would be that a natural or spiritual cure would be found to relieve sufferers of the cause(s) leading to these incomprehensible desires. Being a bit of a health nut, I have sought out information and have read stories about people finding their way out of mental illness with diet, change of lifestyle, taking supplements, performing detoxification, meditation, or even just turning religious. Maybe I am too much of a nut, but my hope is in things like this.
I don’t know if that helps much to de-muddy the waters, but thanks for expressing interest in my thoughts. Love your comic!
Thanks for clarifying. Like I said, I don’t really have an informed opinion on this. i haven’t done enough research and i’m not an expert at all. I will say that I know a lot of people who are gender fluid or trans who are happy with who they are, and I feel like thats the important part. If someone is happy being gender fluid I won’t think they’d need a cure.
“i identify as GimmeDisJob, now you must hire me for quotas”.
there are already laws against discrimination both in pay and hiring in the western world, it would take making an monumental conspiracy fiction becoming real for those concerns to be valid.
It’s not a conspiracy theory that discrimination in hiring is real. I also don’t think there’s anyone out there claiming to be gender fluid just so they can take advantage of equal hiring policies.
the origin of the ‘gender fluid’ idea
https://samanthakatepsychology.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/david-reimer-possibly-the-most-unethical-study-in-psychological-history/
Regardless of the origin of the idea, there are people who identify as gender fluid and i don’t see any reason not to respect that or to question it.
I’ll grant you that cures aren’t for everyone. And I don’t want anyone to be disrespectful to those who choose to defy their biological gender “assignment”. But if a cure becomes reality, it would be nice to know it’s there in case one who has been otherwise happy with their gendering choices begins wondering if perhaps they could benefit from it.
Jesus CHRIST, Frogalog. You can’t ‘cure’ gender dysphoria, any more than you can ‘cure’ depression, anxiety, autism, or schizophrenia. Calling gender dysphoria – and the resulting gender-fluidity – a mental disorder is insulting and invalidating on several levels. Most people who are genderfluid, trans, or genderqueer are HAPPY with their choices, and they deserve the chance to be happy. And saying that a cure would be nice for someone who is ‘otherwise happy’ ‘just in case’ is still invalidating their identity, because you’re implying that there’s something wrong with who they are. Do more reading than bogus ‘psychology’ blogs and look at things from the other side. Open your mind.
Wait, what? Would that mean that Modest is (or will become) a hermaphrodite? In a sense.
No. Well, maybe?. A hermaphrodite (if I understand correctly is a person with both female and male reproductive organs. Modest’s hair snakes have male reproductive organs. We don’t know if Modest has reproductive organs of her own at all. So if if she does and if you consider she and her hair to be one creature, then I guess you could say that she’s a hermaphrodite.
Not sure if you know this, but the preferred term is Intersex. Hermaphrodite is considered a bit of a slur.
I’m betting “Yo, Modest!” belongs to Shut Up.
Uh huh.
I did not know that at the time of this writing. Thank you for clarifying.