14 Valentines; Second Valentine: Transgender
Over here is an excellent essay opening up the dialogue concerning transgender issues. I don't want to respond to that dialogue - I don't have much personal experience with transgender issues, so I feel it isn't my place (except to say that 'gender' is such an arbitrary term, and the binary of male/female is such a Western construct - in many societies, the gender role isn't tied to the physical characteristics of the individual; in many societies, there exist a multiplicity of genders recognized as the resonance between the spirit and the body housing the spirit).
What I am going to do, however, is provide links to a few of the webcomics I've come across that deal specifically or in part with transgender, that speak the narrative of a transgendered individual, that depict the character in some way of a transgendered individual. I feel that the best way to understand the problems surrounding our contemporary society full of gender 'norms' and 'taboos' is to deconstruct and reconstruct and continuously agonizingly talk - commnication is incredibly vital, disagreements infinitely useful, as it is from the confrontation of differences in opinion and belief that we move closer to understanding one another. But it's just as important sometimes to shut up and enjoy a good story, and maybe move closer to understanding through that listening as well. The way I've gotten to know the issues of so many things important to me now (the First World War; the Second World War; the Shoah; the First Nations displacement and exploitation; the Japanese-Canadian internment; the ongoing environmental destruction) was through fiction. Through stories being told. In a way, that's how we all learn to exist in this world: by telling stories, and having stories told to us.
So, here. Take a look, read and listen. If you have any recommendations for webcomics I may have missed, or original/fan fiction you feel does the same/a just as necessary job, I would love to get titles and links.
Khaos Komix deals with gender and identity and sexuality in all of its myriad forms. Its section on a transgendered individual (or two) is here.
Transmissions is about Alex's life as a transman, though that's not all he talks about, because that's not all he is. (No matter what he talks about, he's funny as hell.)
Venus Envy is the fictional story of Zoe, a transwoman. The webcomic starts with a few one liners and jokes, but quickly develops an engaging storyline.
From the writer/artist who brought you Boy Meets Boy and Friendly Hostility, here`s 5ideways. The focus of this story isn`t transgender, but rather a horror story. It`s a webcomic about reality tangling with the things that aren`t reality. Though the focus may not be on transgender, one of the characters is transgendered. The construction of this character, and the story this character tells and continues to live is compelling.
Happy almost Valentines!