Welcome to Saturday Morning Cartoons, a segment where four artists take turns delighting you with their whimsy, facts and punchlines on Saturday mornings! Our four esteemed cartoon critters are Cameron Glavin, Anna Bongiovanni, Megan Prazenica and Sarah Rosenblatt. Today’s cartoon is by Megan!
Megan’s next comic will call you on April 26th.
Megan Prazenica is an animator/artist from Pittsburgh, PA. She now lives LA and life has been interesting ever since. When Megan isn't making art comics, or video games, she can be found wrecking havoc on the ultimate frisbee field as her alter-ego, "Bacon." Catch up with her on her website, her tumblr or tweet @MeganPraz.
Megan has written 42 articles for us.
“Thank goddess I’m not straight” is totally my mantra.
I’m always puzzled by anyone — straight or queer (because it does happen with queer people too) — who spends so much effort trying to figure out the other person instead of just asking them. If there’s a value in the stereotype of over-processing among queer women, it’s that these questions are going to get asked, discussed, processed, and, hopefully, figured out, eventually, between the people concerned.
I have definitely experienced the “but you don’t understand how to relationship because you only date girls” comment. And to be honest, after too many conversations with straight lady friends that were trying to figure out Some Guy’s True Feelings and Mixed Signals and But What Is He REALLY Thinking, I’m sort of relieved that I’ve never had to deal with that. People need to use their words!
Ummmm, I have no idea what y’all are talking about. In my world lesbians are THE masters of mixed signals, obsessing over cryptic texts/tweets/brief encounters, and venting to friends and relatives about said concerns. Straight girls do this over boys, we do this over straight girls, potentially queer girls, confirmed lesbians, etc. What’s the difference? Do tell? My sister throws this shit at me and I have hella relevant advice, just sayin.
I totally agree!
This upset me a little, tbh. It makes me think of those “I’m not like other girls who wear make up and are shallow” type posts. Straight women are wonderful…let’s not stereotype them as shallow. And let’s not stereotype relationships between men and women as being more complicated and messy than queer relationships! We’re all human.
Amen. Complicated peoples knows no boundaries.
I saw it more as a comment about immature 20-something straight relationships. She calls her sister for advice, doesn’t hear what she wants to hear, so her sister is “too gay” for her ridiculousness. I know I was a complete idiot when I was in college. I shouldn’t even have said “straight” up above because I can’t speak for anyone else’s level of maturity at that age. I think many young people are ridiculous about relationships in their teens and early 20s.
I see where you’re coming from, and think it’s wrong and misogynistic to see straight women as shallow. But often, straight women are navigating an enforced patriarchy that in many ways, women dating women have the privilege to bypass, which just *does* make things simpler in some cases. This doesn’t mean that queer relationships don’t have problems, but I feel like it’s ok to acknowledge greater social pressures that really do influence things.
You make a very good point. As a bisexual woman, I have definitely experienced patriarchy complicating certain aspects of my relationships with men, true. I felt like the comic was more about the specific problem of not communicating/being clear with your partner-to me that has nothing to do with gender, but idk. I may have bristled because I’m a queer woman who can’t really jump on the “thank God i’m not straight” wagon because even though I am glad I’m not straight, that feels more like “thank God I don’t date men” in this context, which is not the same thing and isn’t something I can say.
I thought men were the ones being negatively stereotyped.
Isn’t that what makes it okay?
Yeah, I agree totally.
I feel like I get where this is coming from. Patriarchy makes straight relationships much, much more complicated than they need to be by enforcing a bunch of weird rules that don’t work. I feel like my simple, easy, happy relationship with my girlfriend is like an oasis of calm in the middle of the weird problems my straight friends have (like “my husband constantly tries to be the leader instead of respecting me”). I’m not saying lesbian or gay relationships are perfect – there are problems like domestic violence, abuse, and messed up people in all relationships – just that we at least avoid those preset cis man/cis woman together roles that fuck so badly with straight people.
patriarchy still influences homosexual relationships imho, lesbian and gay both.
hahaha the end is so good, (one of the) best part(s) of dating queer girls is stuff like that.
I have obsessed over what both women and men have thought about me. And I think that het society at large discourages any real conversation in a straight couple. Look at Cosmo mag, for example. Their whole premise is to be telepathic for your man. And then even though women are known for having feelins, we’re taught not to express them just like men are taught not to have them
Sucks tbh
Wow, I have had this interaction with my sister, word for word, more times than I can count… Incredible.
Is this straight sister comics or just little sister with a lot of learning to do comics? I felt like the link between straightness and superficiality/toy dogs and sparkles/pointless relationship drama was a little off, tbh. Maybe it hit a note particularly because I’m bi and felt like it was stereotyping male-female relationships.
I relate to this comic as an older sister talking to a youngest sister, but oddly the conversation this reminds me the most of is when my sister was actually crushing hard on a girl for the first time.
Women are told by society that communication as a problem that they need be solved. Men are encouraged to consider the problem as an irritant to be avoided.
I don’t think it’s fair to stereotype straight relationships like how it’s done here. The typical situation of one engaging in a light physical act with another and having ‘uncertainity’ about the relationship is common across all genders, races, etc. when dating. It’s called the ‘grey area’ and if you’ve never been there in dating you’ve either never dated much before or you’ve only had one relationship in your life. This comic is funny but really the ‘grey area’ translates across all types of dating, not just with straight men or women.