Opinions on featured content and why it bothers me

[carloswebcomic]

The thing is, it directly affects us all. Some of us are directly impacted when the topic of teen preg shows up, no matter it's because we've been there, know someone who's been there, or fear it could happen to us or someone we know. All of us are impacted when such a story can influence kids, who are the future of society, and may end up thinking that getting pregnant at 15-16 is a good way to be popular, or an ok thing, and who cares about the babies even?

Okay, but have you read the story and do you have supporting evidence that it actually glorifies teenage pregnancy?

You say you failed to see the satire. Could that be a fault in your part instead of the story?

[noxfox]

I could only see screenshots of what was accessible without paying, but I believe that should be enough to judge the story --if not, then it's the authors' fault, not mine. It's not impossible to make an introduction that reflects the story without having to be NSFW or putting a paywall straight away if that's what you want to do. And considering the number of people who also fail to see the satire, I'd rather fault the story. Of course, we may all be biased because the topic is itchy to us, but then again, that's something a good author foresees and addresses.

Besides, the media itself is very poor for what it's going for. As I said before, tapisodes are more alike to WIP, and WIPs are hard to judge. It's very difficult to get the right feeling out of a script. In this regard, again, that's something the authors should have foreseen too and taken in consideration.

Basically, there's only so much responsibility an author can reject before admitting that, maybe, they screwed up in some places.

[BlueWindyHood]

Actually, I did read it, it does effect me, and it IS a problem.

I'm a person who was traumatized by an unexpected pregnancy by way of rape by an abusive boyfriend, who then abandoned me, while living in a highly conservative, very Christian household, while still a young person. I was threatened with homelessness (specifically being sent to live with the father, who wanted nothing to do with me anymore because by then he was bored, so I would have had no home.)

What's the story about, hmm? A young woman getting pregnant and being shamed by a conservative Christian family and community, presented in such a way that its the young woman's 'fault', and angled in such a way that its 'intended to be humorous satire'. Wow. That hits home in the most uncomfortable ways, and is genuinely sickening. Guess who's spent the last couple of days swinging back and forth between panic attacks and seething rage? This guy. Its not funny. Not for me, not for the other young people who've been through it, or had friends or family go through it, or are the product of it.

On top of that "natural birth reigns supreme and popularity is measured in babyshowers" a paraphrase, but still. What the ever loving fuck. For reference, here's some screenshots I took of parts that I found particularly upsetting.

Not included: an image featuring a 16 year old engaged in a sexual act, a depiction of which is ILLEGAL in the us. The screen cap will not be posted publicly by me, but Michael has it and knows exactly the one I'm talking about I'm sure.

[carloswebcomic]

Basically, there's only so much responsibility an author can reject before admitting that, maybe, they screwed up in some places.

Perhaps, but unless they're a professional doing client work, an author has no obligation to work to anyone's standard other than his/her own.

[carloswebcomic]

I'm a person who was traumatized by an unexpected pregnancy by way of rape by an abusive boyfriend, who then abandoned me, while living in a highly conservative, very Christian household, while still a young person. I was threatened with homelessness (specifically being sent to live with the father, who wanted nothing to do with me anymore because by then he was bored, so I would have had no home.)

I'm sorry that you had to go through that as I can imagine that it must have been horrendous and very difficult, but I fail to see the glorification of teen pregnancy in the story.

What I do see though is the lack of damnation and finger pointing. It seems like it delivers a story in a matter of fact way with little judgement.

Maybe it's because I don't live in the US (I assume you live there) and Christian Conservatives are not a thing here.

[JessJackdaw]

After regretfully taking a look at it, it seems it's one of Tapastic's premium comics. It's hard to judge from only two pages, and the rest require keys.

Personally, it reads like a typical fetish comic. Does it glorify teen pregnancy? Well I'll let you decide.

Every female character (four, in the first two pages) so far is pregnant. Most don't seem concerned save one that expresses her disblief that she got pregnant. Author expresses the reason why as they didn't know the difference between a "condom and a condominium" at the end of the second page. Girls live in a white conservative town with highly religious moral system. Authority figure English teacher expresses sex is like being a stick of gum, "if you get chewed too many times who's gonna want to chew you after that?"

So ahh... yap. I mean I don't want to get too far into my opinion on the matter. I'm just going to leave that there and let you guys decide for yourselves.

[carloswebcomic]

Every female character (four, in the first two pages) so far is pregnant. Most don't seem concerned save one that expresses her disblief that she got pregnant. Author expresses the reason why as they didn't know the difference between a "condom and a condominium" at the end of the second page. Girls live in a white conservative town with highly religious moral system. Authority figure English teacher expresses sex is like being a stick of gum, "if you get chewed too many times who's gonna want to chew you after that?"

I still fail to see the glorification. What it looks like to me is the depiction of the direct result of poor sex education due to a highly conservative society that believes "what they don't know can't hurt them".
What you've quoted there sure sounds like satire to me.
Hey, I could be wrong and everyone else could be right, but that's just the way it looks to me.

[BlueWindyHood]

You might want to look at one of those screenshots again. They display it pretty well. Or maybe its that you didn't grow up with Christian Conservatives and don't have a foundation for the understanding of Christian Conservative parental guilt trips, but its there.

[carloswebcomic]

You might want to look at one of those screenshots again. They display it pretty well. Or maybe its that you didn't grow up with Christian Conservatives and don't have a foundation for the understanding of Christian Conservative parental guilt trips, but its there.

I don't live in the US, so the whole Christian conservative thing is a mystery to me. I don't get it and I don't have much interest in finding out.

[BlueWindyHood]

And its not even satire. We literally get told that. I have a friend who's sex ed class showed them a pancake, limp-wristedly threw blueberries at it and called that fertilization. US sex ed is deplorable, and difficult to satirize because its so out there already.

[BlueWindyHood]

If you're not interested in finding out then maybe don't chime in.

[Zikul]

You forget, just like a piece of published work has the right to exist (unless it breaks against what free press and free speech speak for), people also have the freedom of speech, and press, to express concers and opinions. It's when we start robbing people of this freedom that we can truly start speaking of censorship.

Public lynching is something else altogether - this is people being critical about something that was not only put in public media. I myself got an email trying to sell me this garbage, despite the fact that I'm not even on the app - it's also one of the reasons I unsubscribed to the tapastic news letter. I'm no longer interested in getting this content in my inbox, and the fact that tapastic staff is directly financially supporting and commissioning this content, has further solidified my decision to not get the app, as well as discouraged me from ever submitting any of my novels to them - I don't want my work associated with this kind of content, it doesn't feel professional.

[carloswebcomic]

If you're not interested in finding out then maybe don't chime in.

Right, so I need to be interested in American Christian conservatives in to be able to speak my mind now?

And its not even satire. We literally get told that. I have a friend who's sex ed class showed them a pancake, limp-wristedly threw blueberries at it and called that fertilization. US sex ed is deplorable, and difficult to satirize because its so out there already.

But that's satire. Satire is making fun of something by exposing how ridiculous it is.

[J.Z.Castillo]

@carloswebcomic here's the glorification.

" Try attending Lumber Cove High, where hormones run rampant, natural births reign supreme, and popularity is measured in baby showers and ultrasound selfies."

We can tell that the social pyramid of this school is based on your pregnancy and the events leading up to the birth. If that is not glorification, damn, I have no clue what is.

[BlueWindyHood]

Satire only works if it's more extreme than what exists. There's literally no way to satirize US sex ed, Carlos.

[Zikul]

You say you have never featured BDSM, but that's because you don't know what BDSM is - there have been stories with BDSM themes that were not upfront about it, that you've featured, and there are some in the Popular section too. Just because something doesn't have the awareness of what it is (nor the knowledge or research to properly present it), doesn't mean that that isn't what it is - just look at Fifty Shades of Grey. I know people get up in arms over that one, but I'm just saying - I know in my town, two people actually died due to getting into BDSM solely based on that work, and that's just so, so tragic.

[noxfox]

Perhaps, but unless they're a professional doing client work, an author has no obligation to work to anyone's standard other than his/her own.

Tun dun dun, they ARE a professional doing client work:

Jacquie Walters and Taylor Cox are currently Staff Writers on Amazon's "The Kicks." Prior to that, they wrote freelance episodes for Dorothy of Oz and Clarence for Cartoon Network. They also wrote animated and live action content for DreamworksTV featured on Netflix, Verizon, and AwesomenessTV. Additionally, they are both on Main Stage sketch teams (iO West and Second City) and their work has been featured on Huffington Post Comedy, BuzzFeed, MTV, Cosmopolitan, Thought Catalog, Right This Minute, and more! Taylor is a junior curling champion and Jacquie is a trained opera singer. We'll let you decide who was bullied more in Middle School.

And even then you don't need to be a pro to be responsible. It's way too easy to throw a can of worms and say "I thought you liked cans of worms".

I still fail to see the glorification.

Well, maybe you should consider that you're the one faulty this time? I grew up in Europe, in an atheist family who was pretty open-minded, and that doesn't prevent me from seeing that the representation in this comic clearly looks like fetish. And fetish is glorification.
@mrjonzap highlighted it very well. When it's about popularity, it's glorification.
And as @BlueWindyHood put it, it was indeed extremely awkward to satirize something that already looks like a terrible bad joke. I'm still very unsure what came through the mind of the authors (I did try to contact one of them to inquire further when the newsletter was released, but she never answered)

[BlueWindyHood]

Except it IS a big deal in the long run, because eight years later I still have nightmares and flashbacks, and people still say "it doesn't matter anymore it happened forever ago!". Fun fact about trauma: it doesn't go away or get better just because time marches on.

[Zikul]

"It really isn't a big deal in the long is it?"

You don't think that's a bit of a low blow when it comes to debating, adressing someone in particular who have had traumatic experiences? There's no way they wouldn't get defensive against such an insensitive and directed comment, there's only one way they could answer to it.

If this is just you voicing your opinion clumsily (which I hope), then so be it - but if you're trying to start an argument with someone who is in a weakened and defensive mindset, then I really have nothing more to say to you.

[TomSawyer]

eight years later I still have nightmares and flashbacks

I'm not talking about you personally
I'm talking about whatever is in the content

I really have nothing more to say to you

I'm not debating anything

I'm not even really interested in this
Can you please relax. This site is suppose to be friendly