Comic Strip: “It's not SIMPLY the place, it’s the MALES in it...”

“HOMES” DON’T RAPE & MURDER, MEN & BOYS DO

I’m supposed to be working on another comic series I created, but I got distracted lol. I even set a goal to complete one strip a month, with so many of the ideas trapped in my sketchbook, still waiting to be fully drawn out. I have a brain that goes from running a mile a minute with hyperfocus to barely chugging along and unable to focus on anything. I have loads of ideas, endless unfinished projects, and so many dreams that I struggle to realize because I’m scatter-brained. I’ve been given all the fancy diagnoses for these struggles, but I choose not to use them anymore.

Sometimes I get lost in my unpaid labor like this Substack and ignore my need to focus on my paid work. The truth is I would rather do this unpaid labor than my paid labor. But the things I love to do are very hard to earn money from. It’s the eternal struggle of the feminist artist in a world that overvalues male-dominated labor and undervalues female-dominated labor. It’s what pushed me to leave in-person community organizing because I grew tired of the low wages despite the tremendous amount of intelligence and labor the work requires. And I actually made it to some of the better-paying organizer positions. What especially angered me once I started working more in male-dominated fields like technology was witnessing countless men earn top dollar while barely working. Even in those spaces, I have to work harder to be seen as worthy because of my femaleness. Do you relate to any of this in your labor field? Please share your stories in the comments.

📚 Resources to Explore:

• Femicides in 2023: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides | Publication | UN Women – Headquarters

• Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences

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