Creator Justin Hubbell on the origins of this comic, as well as a little history behind his art:
I’ve been a professional cartoonist for a little under a year but I’ve been making comics since I was a child. In college my focus shifted from creating works of fiction to producing autobiographical narratives and political cartoons. Ultimately I want my work to be an educating force for young people. I want to make overwhelming concepts like racism, sexism, transphobia, abuse etc accessible, and I believe that comics can provide that much needed middle ground or “first step” towards not only learning but helping.
This is part one of a three part series that takes a look at masculinity within the “gamer community.” Part of that online gamer masculinity (as in day to day life) requires that players assert themselves as men. Just one of the methods used in such an assertion is bullying or “trolling”. You can see countless videos of this online where players will torment other players, but by far the most bullied demographic are female gamers, who are subject to bullying AND misogyny.
A cartoonist that fights prejudice by portraying male gamers as fat, lazy, ugly, dirty, unshaven, nerdy* slobs who masturbate a lot**. Nice.
*Note the glasses
**All the tissues on the floor
If he portrayed the gamer as a skinny, beautiful, clean, shaven, dumb(?) hardworking dude who doesn’t masturbate at all I still believe someone would complain.
@Alex. Use your search engine. There is thousands of reviews of ‘feminist’ studies and counter studies, proving they are full of missinformation, misdirect and outright lies. If you can’t find them its becuase you don’t want to see them.
Lots of whiny men in the comments here tonight. HOW DARE YOU MAKE THIS MEAN COMIC ABOUT MEN?
The comic isn’t about men; it’s about a particular type of man who acts in a particular way towards women. If you can’t tell the difference between the target of the comic and men in general, then I direct you to the words of Toney Jackson: “You know the type, yeah, you probably do. And if you don’t know it then it’s probably you.”
First off. We know you are a fembot. You start with a sentence trying to shame dissenting opinion.
Second – IF its a comic about a particular man, why isn’t it being directed at that man instead of men in general (or in this case fat men)? Then you finish off with the ‘wise words’ of someone know one cares about in a hope to close with a bit more shaming.
Directed to men in general/fat men? How should a cartoonist draw a man that isn’t seen as “men in general” by you? And do you know what fucking irony is? The irony is that he is fat himself… he can’t she what the emale looks like, she can’t also see him, so he can use any type of bullshit to try to harass her.
I have to wonder if playing off the fat slobby gamers stereotype is really in keeping with your goal of creating accessible conversation.
“but by far the most bullied demographic are female gamers,”
So you’re doing your part for equality by shitting on nerdy-looking or otherwise unattractive men and boys. Scratch a feminist man, find a bully.
Yep. Be interesting to see how badly the chief editors at GMP need to shit on men. Are they going to publish parts two and three?
Oh don’t worry about that John. You see when bullying, harassment, insulting, shaming, and teasing are done in the name of feminism its actually justified.
He’s shitting on misogynist trolls, not on all nerdy-looking guys.
Great. But don’t you have anything more substantive to add to the discourse other than name-calling?
Any female gamer worth her salt will know how to fight douchebaggery with smartassitude:
“Yes, I’ve got PMS. Putting up with Macho Shit.”
“I’ve got PMS and GPS: I’m a bitch and I will find you.”
“I’ve got a PhD in PMS: I know a million ways to fuck your shit up.”
“Yeah, it must be embarrassing to get your ass kicked by a girl.”
That’s all cool, and many female gamers actually destroy these misogynistic trolls. The thing is, they STILL attack women for their femaleness, gay guys for being gay, etc. That has to stop.
What Barry and trey1963 said.
I think people really need to get off of this, “The shaming that I’m going is okay because its for a good cause.” train.
Unless we are now saying that someone who would do a similar comic making fun of women because of how they treat geeky guys is okay (probably not, mostly likely the very people that would laugh at a comic making fun of guys would turn around and cry misogyny if they found such a coming making fun of women).
This comic does not make fun of men. It makes fun of a particular kind of man who does a particular kind of thing to women.
If that’s the case then why is the guy fat?
And its not just this one comic either whenever its time to go after these types the depiction is almost always a fat white guy as if only fat white guys do this kind of stuff.
I find it interesting that in this business of shaming misogynists the misogynists almost always look the same despite the complaints that it comes from all walks of life…
“If that’s the case then why is the guy fat?” The irony. He said the girl could only be fat (a bad thing for him and a way to shame women)… when of course he does not know what she looks like, he could pretty much also be fat or just believes being a fat guy is not “as bad” as being a fat girl. “I find it interesting that in this business of shaming misogynists the misogynists almost always look the same despite the complaints that it comes from all walks of life…” I get what your are saying… Read more »
The irony. He said the girl could only be fat (a bad thing for him and a way to shame women)… when of course he does not know what she looks like, he could pretty much also be fat or just believes being a fat guy is not “as bad” as being a fat girl. But again, most attempts at calling these guys that involve pictures the guy in question is fat. I get what your are saying here and I agree. Unfortunately, to comics and humor we usually have to use stereotypes. I wish I had an idea as… Read more »
Is this a masculine tendency or just plain ole bigotry, sexism, and ignorance? I find that it’s pre-pubescent youths who are making these statements more now-a-days. And does the basement dwelling sexist, racist gamer even exist anymore? I thought that was just a stereotype used on South Park?
“And does the basement dwelling sexist, racist gamer even exist anymore? ”
Well the sexist, anti-male commenter certainly still exists.
Sure, most of the comments of hate on the internet isn’t about misogyny, homophobia and racism against blacks. Most rape and death threats aen’t send by men – these men being the ones everyone is against.
“And does the basement dwelling sexist, racist gamer even exist anymore?”
YES
I guess this was seen as OK because shaming men is a good thing? Just unfeeling insensitive basement dwelling troglodytes that one needs to use the strongest blunt & brutal message to get through to……..nice work.
Shaming misogynist trolls is not shaming men.
These guys see themselves in misogynistic guys, because they are misogynists themselves, and believe misogyny is the natural order of things. So that is “shaming men” for them.
Guys, don’t shoot yourselves in the foot. Think practically for a moment. Forget whatever “bros before X” principles you think you’re adhering to.
Let’s say you’re attracted to women. Let’s say you are looking for a woman who shares your interests and who speaks your language. Why the hell would you alienate one of those?
Even weirder for straight cosplay guys to be mean to cosplay girls. Here’s a cute young woman who likes what you like who actually ENJOYS wearing skintight clothing and will dress like a fantasy woman of her own volition. Why are you driving her away?
Excellent questions and I’m betting that no one will reply to them because that would require self-reflection and thinking instead of knee-jerk reactions.
I’ll bite. But not before disclosing the following – I don’t know online gaming well. I don’t deny that there are women who are bullied etc. I will point out that women make fun of, ridicule and shame gamer guys for their life choices as well. The statement in the last sentence ignores half of reality(in the article). I’m no gamer but I am part of another hobby that is 99% males. I don’t want a women who shares my passion for mountain biking. Thats my thing. Just because a man likes games doesn’t mean he wants a gamer girl.… Read more »
Josh,
You know what, I hadn’t thought of that, and I think that’s a good point. I guess I should have said “IF” you’re looking for someone of the opposite sex who shares your interests.
Maybe the better advice is that if you’re driving people away, then do it on purpose, not accidentally or contrary to your own interests.
I don’t think the issue is driving away potential mates. The issue is you should respect fellow gamers and allow them to play without being abused.
Female gamers receive rape threats and all kinds of misogynistic ‘banter’, you shouldn’t treat anyone this way, whether you want to date them or not.
The problem you have Coco is trying to gender the issue by ignoring half of reality. Men are constantly shamed by their choice to video gamers. Women criticise them for being immature, losers, wimps etc. People are terrible. We attack people where we know it will hurt the most. For men its belittling their masculinity. For women its feeding on the feminist bred rape hysteria.
“you shouldn’t treat anyone this way, whether you want to date them or not.”
People report that that is a cultural norm in that sub-culture. The male gamers abuse each other at least as vehemently.
If you want to enter a sub-culture, you have to respect its norms, or just stay out. Why should it be any different depending on your genitals or socialization? One does not join a ladies’ garden club and then whine about catty banter.
Do women go into gaming expecting to be treated like ladies? Privileged much?
… and there you have lots of guys missing the point and condoning violence and prejudice. Awesome. Just bully each other, go for it. But why bring racism, homophobia and sexism into it? Yes, they treat women, gay guys (or lesbians) and black people much worse than their “regular straight white dudes”. They bring prejudice. And that is not privilege when you are treated like that. It is common sense to want to be treated equally and with respect. @Josh, so you know, guys have been doing it to women for YEARS. Yes, much before the “feminist bred rape hysteria”… Read more »
Good point. On the other hand, that a-hole in the chair is essentially taking himself even further out of the dating scene and driving those women towards men like me who don’t act like that. His loss is someone else’s gain.
Antifat bigotry doesn’t become okay because it’s in the service of opposing misogyny.
Anti-male bigotry doesn’t become okay because it’s in the service of opposing misogyny. Anti-fat is the least of the problems with that comic.
A comic depicting a misogynist troll isn’t anti-male bigotry unless the gaming world isn’t crawling with misogynist trolls (hint: it is).
Sure, that’s a good thing that it wasn’t “anti-male”, though.
Another hint: the point is the irony, that invalidates the anti-fatness of the CHARACTER.
Nothing like stereotyping gamers … guy gamers at that. Hey, how about a comic about a women stereotype? Maybe a business career women who is ragging on her male and/or female subordinates? Show her as a crazed out of control maniac. Yeah, that’s the ticket ….
Oh look, a “Not All Men” apologist. If misogynist trolling is a real, prevalent problem in gaming (hint: it is) then making a comic about it is not stereotyping.
Cool so that means there’s loads of comics like this where the misogynist in question isn’t a fat white guy being depicted as lazy?
Give it up on trying to defend your generalizations.
Oh look a Feminist Hysteria ‘yesallwomen’ apologist. Keep it take your cookies and pats on the head. A day will come when your fembot overlords will toss you to the curb as well. All you will have left is cookies.
Prove us what women have to worry about is hysteria. Explain how talking about something and making it a trend equals hysteria, and how everyone talking about it can only be feminists because of course non-feminist women never face any misogyny in their lives and would never stand up for themselves. Will you prove us this with your lack os exposition to these scenarios?
Because we KNOW feminists inflate the statistics they use. We know feminist organisations run on hysteria to garner government funding (if apparent incedent rates were low they could not exist). We know idiots like Anita Sarkeesian used such hysteria to raise $150k then ‘spend it’ on making some cheap videos a 12yo could have made, using stolen footage and making fallicous arguments. We know the UNWomen us dishonets methods to come up with their 1in3 stat. We know Marry Kos used dishonest stats to come up with the 1in4 stat. We know that the bringbackourgirls raised hysteria over only half… Read more »
What are your sources?
Also, hyperbole is not your friend.
You sound hysterical.
Hysterical, generalizing, ridiculously assumptive, but also hilarious. You really seem like a very uncivilized person.
You are the one ~raising hysteria~ about the FEMINIST MONSTERSSSSS and believing people are being victims of them. Thanks for being a joke.
(cool about the “femtard” shit, byt he way, people who use retard as insult are just the worst type, thanks for letting us know who you are)
Why don’t you give us (and the cartoonist) ideas as to how to make humorous comics talking about the misogyny girl gamers receive all the time from mostly guy gamers? That would be helpful!
(I thought he was stereotyping only the misogynist guy gamers, and the irony that, well, sometimes they are exactly what they like to say to the girls just to bring them down? I know, it IS stereotypical, but how to do it without using them…)
The gag here is essentially “hypocrisy” – the guy is criticizing a girl gamer for being (he imagines) fat and ugly when in act HE is himself fat and ugly. Get it? Get it? But that’s a very badly thought-out gag. For one thing, it implies that the problem isn’t being a misogynist, it’s being a conventionally unattractive misogynist. The gag implies that it’s fine for good-looking, thin men to be misogynistic. It’s not our job as readers to tell the cartoonist how to make better cartoons. Neil Gaiman – who knows more than a little about making comics –… Read more »
I think that, with art, you can look as deeply into it as you would yourself.
When I see this cartoon, I see the “why” that you’re questioning.
Why is he saying all these horrible hateful things? Because the cartoonist has decided that his male character sees that in himself.
It talks about male body image issues and the projection of self perception. This and machismo attitudes are making boys and men into caricatures of themselves.
“For one thing, it implies that the problem isn’t being a misogynist, it’s being a conventionally unattractive misogynist. The gag implies that it’s fine for good-looking, thin men to be misogynistic.”
Well, I clearly didn’t see it at all. I don’t believe something like that should be read that far.
I understand what you say, though. You have good ideas.