This will be the last thing l say publicly about my piece on sexual harassment that went viral on Tuesday. First, thank you to everyone who was supportive, either by sharing it, commenting on it or emailing me. If I haven’t emailed you back already, I will soon! I just need time to sort everything out.
I just wanted to address one more thing that was a common question I received. A few people wondered why I take offense to seemingly innocuous remarks about my physical appearance vs my cartoon character. I guess I didn’t make it clear enough, but I’ll elaborate a little. First, I don’t think telling a woman she’s pretty (or anyone they’re attractive) is always bad, and sometimes it’s great, of course. I’m a girl, I want to be pretty, and I’m flattered when someone I know says I am. The keywords in there are “SOMEONE I KNOW.” The remarks I addressed were from strangers, specifically those who emailed me to tell me they liked my work but were surprised when they saw me and thought I was attractive. The underlying suggestion in a remark like that is they expected me to be unattractive, as if since I write about ugly things, I should be ugly, which is just a silly and pointless assumption.
But what annoys me even more is that talking about someone’s physical appearance takes away from their work, which is what they care the most about, and want others to care about as well. So if you like someone’s creative work, compliment that, and keep in mind that their work is 100% a product of their brain, not the flesh attached to the outside of it.
I hope that clears it up a little for those who asked. I don’t think there is anything wrong with telling someone they’re attractive, as long as it’s under the right circumstance.
And again, thanks so much to everyone who was supportive, and even to those who had constructive criticism, I really appreciate it. Not all criticism was helpful though, some of it was just confusing and/or funny. I won’t continue talking about this issue publicly to this extent, but I encourage everyone to if they have anything to say.
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