464

Sneaking
Posted on January 16, 2015 by David M Willis
coasterdinaThe folks who own me, Hiveworks, have an online store up, and this means they've now got a few bits of new Dumbing of Age merch you can't find in my own store!  Check out these Dina coasters, for example.  They are hand-carved from wood and whatnot.  Fancy-schmancy.  There are also a few art prints, two popular choices you'd have to come see me in person to buy otherwise.  Go peruse!

464 thoughts on “Sneaking”

  1. Jen Aside

    I know! “Trisexual”!

    Like try sex, y’all?

    [I wouldn’t bisexual, that’d be hoary]

    1. Gojira

      Do you just F5 continuously to get the first post?

      1. Crazy Dina

        My guess is that she’s partron, so she writes her post ahead of time. That way, when the rest of us are clicky clackin our post out, she only has to get on the page, hit ctrl v, and hit post.

      2. Mr. Random

        It goes live at 11:01 for me, so setting a timer to renew the second on, gives the greatest chance. Refreshing so much does nothing, since the website would just refresh the strip you’re on, and not the new one.

        1. Packy

          So much effort to get the first post… 😉

        2. Deanatay

          Yeah, it seems a particularly tasteless carrot to be vying so passionately for.

        3. Robbzilla

          Tasteless carrot. Great metaphor!

        4. Crazy Dina

          Could work if Partrons also knew the title of the the next post. She would just punch in the full URL, and hit refresh until that came up.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Trysexual? I rather be sussexual. 😛

      1. gwalla

        ♫ Oh suss-sussexual, just say the word

      2. Tenn

        Please, Plas, tell me your avatar ain’t an embarrassed Korra in a maid outfit!

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          OK then, I wont tell you that may grav is an embarrassed Korra in a maid outfit even though it totally is(or was as the case may be). 😀

    3. Yotomoe

      More like pantsexual. As in “I wanna get in those pants. Sex y’all.”

      1. nothri

        Not to be confused with pansexual, which is of course a desire for intercourse with a Satyr.

        1. Ed

          Funny, I thought that would be cookware-focused paraphilia.

        2. tyersome

          Oh, check out that dish, she’s totally non-stick … if ya know what I mean …

        3. Justin

          imma Cook me some eggs in that pan

        4. Oddball

          dear god your going to cook your eggs?! whats next baking bread?!

        5. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          Yes, and then you’d have a bun in the oven…

        6. Les

          Which can happen if you’re not careful while you’re loafing around…

        7. Robbzilla

          And after baking bread… spreading the peanut buttah!

        8. John V

          They call me “Little Sizzling Belly.”

        9. FuryOfFirestorm

          No, it means someone that gets turned on by Spanish baked goods.

        10. Robbzilla

          Doesn’t everyone?

        11. Deanatay

          I’d have thought pansexual = attracted to chimps. (Chimpanzees are of genus Pan.)

        12. Plasma Mongoose

          So Lance Link Secret Chimp would like watching fetish fuel to these people then eh?

        13. Deanatay

          That video hurt my brain.

        14. Plasma Mongoose

          That’s pretty normal for kids shows from the late 60 to mid 70s.

      2. Paul

        Right. These pun cascades aren’t funny, they’re just silly. Move along now.

  2. otusasio451

    Becky’s lesbian sense is tingling.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Way better than a Spider Sense. Who wants to sense when spiders are near?

      Seriously, imagine how creeped out you’d be if you just knew how many spiders were within a hundred feet of you at all times.

      1. fogel

        Call Ninja Rick.

        1. thebombzen

          “There are seventeen spiders watching us now!”
          “How do you know?”
          “Magic”

      2. Disloyal Subject

        I can’t seem to post the full quote here, so I’ll try splitting it:
        “I panicked, freaked out. My mind went someplace else, and it found the bugs there. Not that I knew what they were, at that point. I didn’t have a sense of proportion, and with all the info my power was giving me then, my brain didn’t know how to process it all. As far as I knew, all around me, in the walls of the school, in the corners, and crawling around the filthy interior of the locker, there were thousands of these twitchy, alien, distorted things that were each shoving every tiny detail about their bodies and their fucked up biology into my head.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          It’s hard to explain what it’s like, having a new sense open up, but you can’t understand it all. Every sound that they heard was bounced back to me at a hundred times the volume, with the pitch and everything else all screwed up as if they wanted to make it as unpleasant and painful to listen to as possible. Even what they were seeing, it’s like having my eyes open after being in the dark for a long time, but the eyes weren’t attached to my body, and what they were seeing was like looking into a really dingy, grimy kaleidoscope. Thousands of them. And I didn’t know how to turn any of it off.”

        2. Disloyal Subject

          –Taylor Hebert

          Oh, that’s why it wouldn’t post. I accidentally defaulted to typing in BBCode instead of HTML on a new device…

        3. Captain Napalm

          Literally reading Pact in another tab right now; didn’t expect to see Worm references in here.

        4. neeks

          Damn you now I have something else on my “to be read” pile, do you know what you’ve done?!?!!!!

      3. Thomas64

        http://www.wastedtalent.ca/comic/your-argument-invalid

    2. Cheryl

      I think this is were Billy her bi…..(Pun)

      1. Cheryl

        tells her Bi* gezz my english

    3. Robbzilla

      Isn’t that called “Gaydar”?

  3. Spencer

    Becky. No.

    Stahp.

    1. Suitora

      Dammit. We knew this kinda shit would come from someone who looked like Danny.

      1. Suitora

        New theory: Becky has sucked Danny’s evil powers out of him. That’s why Danny is not Danning things up. Becky is…

        Must you ruin everything you touch, Willis?!

        1. Mr k

          She doesn’t seem interested in sucking guys.

        2. Suitora

          Evil powers.

          Danny’s bisexuality is for great justice.

  4. Suitora

    Ooh, I regret voting for Becky now… All hail Dina!

    1. Anderhail

      It just means that Joyce actually was the best adjusted.

    2. Crazy Dina

      All.Hail.Dina@Gmail.com to be precise! 😀

      1. Opus the Poet

        I clicked the link and sent a “Hello” message, still no reply…

        1. Crazy Dina

          DUDE! GIVE ME A CHANCE TO GET ON! (also, anyone who sends material over the content rating of this comic will be immediately blocked.)

      2. Crazy Dina

        Now with more Dina^.^ Feel free to shoot me an email, even if it’s just to see the vacation responder message! 😀

    3. Viktoria

      She’s from the same background as Joyce, did you really think she was going to be less freaky? Being a member of one minority doesn’t automatically make you a good person, sadly.

      1. Suitora

        Hindsight is 20/20, all right? 😛

        I anticipate a plot development where, Joyce, becomes a BAMF and sets her straight.

        1. tyersome

          No seriously (I apologize in advance if I’m being overly serious), if ignorance precludes being good we are all so incredibly unredeemable that we might as well all give up. This kind of absolutist thinking is a huge part of what is wrong with fundies of all kinds.

          Also, I think being set straight is something Becky is trying to avoid.

        2. Ed

          Ba-dum-tsh! (For the second part of your comment. The first part makes sense.)

        3. Suitora

          Where in my comment did I say that? “Joyce setting her straight” pretty much excludes the idea she’s unredeemable.

        4. tyersome

          Not just you, but …
          “Dammit. We knew this kinda shit would come from someone who looked like Danny.”
          “New theory: Becky has sucked Danny’s evil powers out of him. That’s why Danny is not Danning things up. Becky is…
          Must you ruin everything you touch, Willis?!”

          I do understand that this is (one of many) incredibly sensitive subjects and that people are really invested in seeing their own personal … queernesses (I’m sure there must be a better word)… portrayed and celebrated … … but I feel that people reading something (written by a recovered/ing fundie) getting so incredibly judgmental about anyone deviating from their idea of perfection is a little … shortsighted … and seriously off-putting to people with good intentions who haven’t been sensitized to whatever issue is currently under discussion …

        5. Stgerlachus

          I agree with this so much. There’s a huge difference between intolerance and ignorance (willful ignorance is difference of course). You can be unfamiliar with a subject without being intolerant of it, and calling everyone who hasn’t experienced a certain subject intolerant only prevents personal growth.

          In the most nerdy of ways I would explain it as the difference between newbies and n00bs. A newbie doesn’t know how the game works yet but wants to learn, a n00b has no interest in truly understanding the game. The same concept applies to real life.

        6. tyersome

          Thank you! That was <a href="" title="succinct"much clearer and more to the point than my semi-coherent late-night rambling …

        7. Robbzilla

          Agree 100%. I made the mistake of using the word “transgendered” instead of “transgender” and was told to check my CIS privilege (Among many other things not as nice) when talking on Facebook to a transgender person. The trolls on her page were pretty crappy to me. She, on the other hand, took the time to explain not only why it wasn’t a desirable word to use, but also defended me because we had had a few exchanges in the past and she knew it was ignorance, not intolerance.

          Believe me, I never used “transgendered” again.

        8. The Colonel

          Nothing wrong with being serious. I mean, no one enjoys a good joke more than I do. Except my wife and some of our friends. And of course Captain Johnson. Come to think of it, most people enjoy a good joke more than I do. But that’s not the point.

      2. JetstreamGW

        Ignorance doesn’t automatically make you a BAD person.

        1. Paul

          But it sure helps/

    4. That Damn Rat

      You know I don’t really get why people think Becky is the greatest character ever, but even I’ve got say cut her some slack, she’s still got her lesbian training wheels on and has much yet to learn.

      1. Suitora

        NEVER!

      2. grantimusmaximus

        agreed.

        1. That Damn Rat

          agreed with who?

        2. grantimusmaximus

          With you! (sorry, guess it got confusing)

      3. Nono

        You can be straight/gay/lesbian/bisexual and still treat bisexuals like normal people. If you’d said she’s still got her non-sheltered training wheels on, maybe.

        1. Stgerlachus

          Yeah I don’t see how her sexual orientation has anything to do with her lack of exposure to the real world. Now her upbringing sure. And I’m confident she’ll bounce back from this soon (though she’ll never be better than Dina!).

        2. Freemage

          To Becky, bisexuality is an “unknown unknown”–she’s not merely ignorant of how it works, she’s not even aware that there’s something there that you can be ignorant of.

          And bi-erasure isn’t just part of fundie teachings, though it’s strong there. It happens a lot in modern pop culture, too. I distinctly recall a shock jock here in Chicago who insisted there was no such thing back in the nineties–he literally boiled it down to whether or not you performed oral sex on men. If yes, then you were a straight woman/gay man; if not, then vice-versa.

          Ignorance comes in many flavors, like the world’s worst Baskin-Robbins.

      4. leadsynth

        I also agree! Dina FTW. Although Dina also has lots of learnin’ to do.

    5. Yotomoe

      I don’t know why you guys keep mispelling”Sierra”.

      1. Deanatay

        It’s such a confusing word! It’s not spelled (‘D-O-R-O-T-H-Y’) anything like it sounds (‘BEH-KEE’).

  5. Plasma Mongoose

    Becky is BIased? For Shame!

    1. Yotomoe

      Becky is Blazed? Puff puff pass, girl. Share some of that shit.

      1. The Wizard

        Everyone knows Billie is about that 420!

      2. Kris

        WTF Beck’s was holding this whole time? Drop a connect girl!

  6. Kernanator

    It’s funny because this happens constantly.

    No, wait, it’s the other word.

    1. Suitora

      Hey, at least they’re going to address it like Glee never did.

      At least I think that’s the case… Willis ain’t a biphobe/panphobe, is he?

      1. Crazy Dina

        He owns a porn site for all kinds of weird relationships.
        I think that would be the first use if irony that actually fits the definition.

        1. A5PECT

          You’re thinking of Josh Lesnick, the owner of Slipshine.

          None of Willis’ sites host pornography (outside of previews of Slipshine material).

        2. Crazy Dina

          Oh… umm… I’m not very inporned soo… I just knew he did slipshine and thought he owed it like he does butttaco.org

        3. kagato23

          Nope, he’s a contributing artist, as it were. Slipshine is basically a collection of several authors doing several things. You can go to their main page to see what they have without having to pay, but there are some naked bits there, if that’s not your thing.

        4. Disloyal Subject

          The FAQ I just linked below, however, is chaste aside from a thumbnail at the top left.

        5. Crazy Dina

          WAY not my thing. Of course, I’m not one for relationships beyond romantic in general… (and if you’re doing chocolates, they BETTER be slave free. >.<)

        6. kagato23

          Whelp, you’ll have to do with short explanations then. 🙂 But from the sound of things, that’s about all your looking for so yeah. Willis is apparently a pretty large chunk of the viewerbase there now (namely, those of us interested in porn and/or official doa rule 34), but he’s not in charge. Josh Lesnick is a guy who’s done a few webcomics both sfw and nsfw, and ended up setting up that site for himself and some other artists which has grown larger since.

        7. Crazy Dina

          That’s pretty much all I need. Just enough to explain it when it comes up, not enough to trigger a DinaXFaz responce. *shutters*

        8. Disloyal Subject

          Nope. Slipshine’s been going strong for longer than DoA, in fact.

        9. leadsynth

          You thought Willis OWNED all of Slipshine? Oh man. I think Willis would be proud that people think this.

        10. David M Willis

          I’m a Pornlord, not a Pornemperor!

          (Pornperor?)

        11. Crazy Dina

          And I would know the difference because?

        12. Vincent

          Or as I internally call him, the guy who made Wendy.

          … God I’m old.

        13. Vincent

          (I mentally link Willis with Roomies, despite first seeing It’s Walky!, I went back to read through Roomies and prefered it.)

      2. Em

        No he isn’t. He has already confirmed bisexuality of characters, so I doubt he is a perpetrator of bi-erasure. I think he is probably accepting of pan people as well.

      3. Kiapdx

        This is a prelude to Becky being called out on her ignorance and pointing out that just because you are one letter of the LGBTQ+ grouping, doesn’t make you an authority.

    2. Kamino Neko

      It kind of is funny because it’s true…and because we know Becks is gonna get her mind blown. >_>

    3. StClair

      “Hilarious”?

    4. caesaria82

      It really does happen constantly. I mean, not that people don’t know the word bisexuality, but that people, like…. don’t ‘believe’ in it (like I’m a unicorn or Santa Claus) or say that it’s a choice or that you can decide who you’re attracted to, yadda yadda. People say some shit, man.

      1. juan

        sexuality is fluid the closest we get to understanding it in my opinion is the kinsey scale 0 being straight 3 being bi 6 being a homosexual with x meaning im not sexually atracted to any sex

        1. OpticianOfUrza

          The numbers in between are still different shades of bi. One doesn’t need to be equally attracted to men and women to be bi.

        2. tinfoil theory

          I was wondering where asexuality fit on that chart.

          Maybe it should be a vector with (♀,♂) axes indicating attraction, or would that be insufficiently inclusive?

        3. Robbzilla

          I don’t even TRY to classify sexuality. I just accept that not everyone likes the same thing, and that it’s OK for that to be the case. (I’m very libertarian. Do what you want with consenting adult(s), and don’t harm someone else and I effectively have little to no opinion of it and absolutely NO right to judge. That being said, if you have real affection for the other person(s), then go for it. I’m just not going to worry about a label. And if you’re happy alone, then so be that too. If you’re just too much of a wuss to go up and talk to that attractive person over there that you’ve been drooling over for an hour, you might get some crap from me though… You’ve been warned! 😀

        4. Crazy Dina

          Sadly, that seems the simplest and least ignorant of all scales. Wonder where I can get one 😛 But seriously, this concept is only complicated with words, charts, and graphs. The moment you remove all of that and just let it be, it seems to fit into a 0-1 bit function (0 being turned off, and 1 being turned on, if you know what I mean. 0.^)

        5. blegh

          nah there’s no chart. the kinsey scale was created to categorize behavior, not orientation. sexual orientation is not a number. some sexualities are fluid. some aren’t. use the labels ur comfortable with & respect others’, that’s really all there is to it.

        6. IAmDeltaS

          The Kinsey scale has a category “X” for “non-sexual.”

          Which means I’m one of the X-men, of course.

        7. Kiapdx

          Except that’s not what the Kinsey scale is? It’s just meant for describing your sexual/romantic past, not for defining your sexuality.

  7. Gangler

    Well, I suppose we should just be glad she managed to learn about Lesbianism under those conditions.

  8. Zaidyer

    “Is there even a word for that? Because I want Joyce to be that word. I want it so much.“

    1. grantimusmaximus

      If this gets us closer to Becky referring to genitalia as “giblets” again, I’m all for it. Because it’s adorkable.

  9. Opus the Poet

    “Bisexual erasure” is a thing.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Thanks for the new term which I have never heard of until just now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexual_erasure

      1. Kris

        Wow! Did not know that one.

      2. Opus the Poet

        Yes, I am that old, to know such a thing exists.

      3. Scoops

        Is there another Erasure that you need to distinguish?

        1. StClair

          Yes, always.

        2. That Damn Rat

          You, you may have all of my internets.

        3. JW

          Taking your question seriously for a moment, there’s also poly erasure, a.k.a. “There’s no P in QUILTBAG”.

      4. Kelly

        You read DOA and never heard that before? I thought for sure it has been discussed in the comments. And aren’t you on tumblr too? It is all over the place on there.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          While I am indeed on tumblr, I don’t actually spend very much time on tumblr, most of my online time is spent in places like YouTube, webcomics, manga scanlations, the ‘boorus and Crunchyroll.

      5. Vincent

        And I’m just over here getting annoyed that people would deny the existence of something that’s not immediately noticeable everywhere they go.

        Sure, _I’m_ not a polyamorous asexual (polyromantic?) but I wouldn’t say it’s outside of the realm of possibility.

        And I’m way too lazy to build a belief system based on my own, flawed observations.

    2. caesaria82

      It sure is.

      ~welcome to the background radiation of my life~

      1. bleeters

        Pretty much.

      2. dreadedseamonster

        Ah yes, I know it all too well.

    3. Yotomoe

      That sounds like a really overpowered super power.

    4. SUGauthor

      Well yeah, he has to set up Danny’s story somehow don’t they?

    5. That Damn Rat

      It is, but I think it’s rather kneejerk and unfair to start accusing Becky of this. She comes from a very black and white good vs evil background, and it will probably take a while to fully disabuse her of that notion and make her realise the real world is a messy place where things don’t fit neatly into little boxes.

      1. tyersome

        … exactly … and ‘worse’ yet, even the ones the do seem to fit neatly into your boxes will occasionally crawl out of them …
        …
        (… I can’t believe I’m passing up an opportunity for innuendo …)

      2. Ranthog

        Becky’s ignorance isn’t really the thing I cringed at. Gaps in her knowledge are about as surprising as Joyce not knowing something like this.

        What did Becky do when Billie opened up to her and was honest about what she feels? Becky totally dismissed Billie’s feelings as being valid and having any worth, and called her a liar.

        Its that very last dialog box that she gets her into trouble here.

        1. tyersome

          To me this seems like a very honest depiction of someone who has rigid ideas of about how things are reacts to information that breaks the ‘walls’ keeping things organized … its much easier for her to accept jumping onto what she’s been taught is the ‘wrong’ side of the wall than to grok the idea that there is no wall … it could be interpreted as offensive, dismissive, critical etc. … … but it may well not be … … in my experience assuming that offense is intended does not help (a lesson I relearn on a painfully frequent basis) …

        2. MindLink

          No, actually she didn’t, not even close. As far as Becky knows, there IS no bi, therefore she can not disrespect or dismiss Billies feelings as she doesn’t even know that they are talking about something real, she didn’t call her a lyer, she thinks Billie is just messing with her. Based on the information Becky has, she has good right to think so

      3. Halloween Jack

        This, exactly. If anyone’s really guilty of bisexual erasure, it’s the members of the LGBT community who for decades tried to get rid of the B by enforcing their own very special brand of homonormativity and guilt-tripping bi people by claiming that they were trying to assume het privilege. One lil’ baby dyke who came out literally yesterday (in strip time) from a background that was literally designed to keep her ignorant about many of the options available to her and everyone else is absolutely not the problem.

    6. Robbzilla

      Wasn’t that a band in the 80’s?

  10. arank11

    Long ago, prophets told of the day when Becky would have a character flaw. They were laughed at and exiled from the towns in which they preached. The prophets are now the ones laughing, telling us to kiss their collective ass now that we know they were right. Whodda thunk it?

    1. arank11

      Why am I Dina all of a sudden? My Gravatar is supposed to be John C. Mcginley!

      1. Crazy Dina

        YOU GOT A RANDOM DINA!?!?! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I’VE BEEN TRYING TO DO THAT?!?!

        Also, come back in about ten minutes. It takes a bit to actually assign you the gravatar.

      2. Cholma

        Did you post under the wrong email address? That will do it.

      3. Random832

        Did Gravatars change again?

        1. Deanatay

          Mine’s still Roz, has been for a while.

    2. timemonkey

      Becky has several flaws, people are just so busy going OMG LESBIAN!!!!! that they’re ignoring them.

      1. Kelly

        I was going “OMG BECKY!” before it was known she was a lesbian.

      2. lipstick_suckerpunch

        Im not a huge fan of Becky. Shes kind of obnoxious and has some serious personal space issues.

  11. Kk

    I am not at all surprised that Becky doesn’t know what the word bisexual means.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Becky probably thinks that “buysexual” is someone who prefers hookers.

      1. JessWitt

        Sounds like shopaholic-ism when spelled that way.

        1. Yotomoe

          I don’t get shopaholic. What the hell is shopahol?

        2. Kris

          Shopahol: The greasy distilled essence of shopping left behind by over eager customers during major close out sales and discount events such as Black Friday. It’s major components are sweat, streetrage, one day only discount vouchers, and that small bit of pee that falls out of you when you get body checked by the sixty year obese woman pushing over small children for a 299 flatscreen.

        3. JWLM

          And can you get shopahol poisoning? How does one treat it?

          Inquiring minds want to know!

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          Someone who gets off whenever the prices are at least 50% off.

        5. tyersome

          ah ha … so it should be spelt bisectual … little wonder everyone’s so confused!

  12. HMRC4EVR

    So Billie just admitted to someone she’s into women, even if only ‘sometimes’?

    Seems like that’s a rather casual admission considering she’s trying to keep her relationship with Ruth a secret.

    1. Dean

      Billie is fine with people knowing she’s bisexual. It’s just her relationship with Ruth that’s on the down-low.

    2. Suitora

      But her past relationship with Alice isn’t really a secret. Walky knew about it.

    3. Gangler

      I mean, if she’d said she liked guys sometimes I don’t think people would immediately assume she was fucking The Dean.

    4. Gigafreak

      Nookie is a “sometimes” food

  13. Boomwolf

    Someone get this dame a dictionary.

  14. Malta

    Bi-Force! Go!

    1. Gigafreak

      You can’t spell “Billie” without “Bi”

      1. Lawzlo

        I’d bi that for a dollar!

        1. Jess

          How about a nickle?

        2. Boomwolf

          Bi jove, I hope we haven’t taken this joke too far.

  15. AHR

    Hah. Granted this will really only be amusing if the B-word is every actually used, but I’m personally hoping for Billie to finally drop it at some point.

  16. Xailenrath

    aaaand this is me, walking the other way. i’ll be at the dessert bar ’til this blows over.

  17. Very Good Karma

    Oh wow, and I though I might be overreacting about Becky being a jerk to Joyce. If she can actually be judgmental of other’s sexuality under her circumstances then Becky is starting to look like not nearly so nice a person as she was introduced as. So far she’s disrespected two people’s sexualities; let’s see if she’ll go for a hat trick!

    1. Dean

      Be fair, Becky comes from a home-schooled conservative Christian background. She doesn’t understand her ignorance.

    2. Ed

      I think she’s just ignorant about bisexuality. I’m not sure her home-schooling and religious background would have taught her that bisexuals existed; heck, even in “the real world” there are people who think bisexuals don’t really exist.

      I did find her constant advances on Joyce annoying, though. But I guess I do cut her a lot of slack due to her new and unfamiliar situation.

    3. Luzahn

      I mean here it seems she’s legitimately unaware that bisexuality was an option, rather than judging someone for that.

      Plus, the usual time to process the concept applies. Becky’s sorta just blurting out the first thing that comes to mind here.

      1. tyersome

        Important life lesson: shocked surprise ≠ condemnation.

      2. Random832

        > I mean here it seems she’s legitimately unaware that bisexuality was an option, rather than judging someone for that.

        If she was talking about it in the abstract, that’s one thing, but she’s talking to someone who is, who just said she is, and saying “No, you’re not.”

    4. Halloween Jack

      Just as there is a whole spectrum of preference between straight and gay, there’s a whole spectrum of niceness between jerk and cool. I’d cut some slack for someone who got kicked out of school last week for smoochin’ on her roommate and literally only has the clothes she was wearing when she left.

  18. JessWitt

    Oh Becky, Becky, Becky, the “B” in LGBTQ does not stand for you specifically.

    1. LiaHansen

      No, clearly it stands for “Billie”

      1. JessWitt

        B-I-N-G-O!

    2. Yotomoe

      I didn’t even know there was a Q. Keep trying to add letters on me so I look foolish. I’m onto you!

      1. caesaria82

        It’s actually often LGBTQIA now. The letters aren’t added for shits and giggles, y’know, they do represent something 😉

        1. Leorale

          My personal favourite is LMNOP. Let’s take over the whole alphabet!
          (Also if you’re trying to keep the acronym short, LGBTQ+ or LGBTQ* are meant to include many ppl.)

        2. curiousgeorgie

          Ella Minnow Pea?

          (great book, by the way)

      2. Opus the Poet

        It was QUILTBAG a few years ago until they added another “A” so that Asexuals and Allies would have their own letters.

        1. Portmanteaust

          What does the U stand for?

        2. Leorale

          I occasionally see it as Unsure, but more often it just goes with the Q for Queer or Questioning.

        3. A4lbi

          …allies?

        4. caesaria82

          Seriously, I hate when people read the ‘a’ as allies. Straight allies are amazing and great and we need them, but the acronym is literally not a place where they need to be. Because, c’mon, straight people are everywhere already, let us have our own thing for once.

          It’s for ‘asexual’, because you can be asexual and homo- or bi- or panromantic or trans*, etc etc. so asexual actually belongs. Whereas ‘allies’ really, really doesn’t.

        5. Ranthog

          Except the A is often explicitly for allies, especially in certain forms. So they aren’t at all wrong to read it like that.

          It is important to be inclusive of all members of the community, and that would include allies. Some of them are even born into it as the kids of someone who falls under a different letter. I don’t see what it hurts to include everyone.

        6. caesaria82

          Yeah no, I disagree with that completely. You say it’s important to be inclusive of all members and that’s literally what I’m saying, all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Which straight people are not members of.
          In a *perfect world* of course there wouldn’t be a need for different communities, because we would all be one and our differences would be embraced and celebrated rather than lead to the exclusion of certain people. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Identity is important. Identity as a queer person is important. It’s important to me. It’s important to me that the LGBTQ+ community exists. As a place for LGBTQ+ people. Straight people already have enough spaces in society where they can be amongst themselves, they don’t need to invade ours.

          Idk. Might just be my personal thing. But I really, really hate ‘a is for allies’.

        7. IAmDeltaS

          I feel you there. It annoys me when people insist the A is for allies, mostly because they use that as an excuse to take the A away from asexuals and erase us even more.

        8. Greg

          From what I have seen, A has NEVER been used as to represent allies in LGBTQIA+ acronyms. In some cases, it’s actually resulted in Asexual Erasure, as people thing the A stands for Allies and don’t even consider Asexual folks.

          Allies shouldn’t be part of the acronym. They don’t share half the persecution that LGBTQIA+ peeps do even when speaking up for them.

        9. Ranthog

          Well it does depend on the context as well. The A for allies isn’t always appropriate.

          However, my uni has an LGTBA group where the A is allies. (The group explicit about being inclusive of all labels.) And that sort of thing is not an uncommon or incorrect usage. I know alliance groups were my first exposure to the acronyms.

          The problem with the acronyms is that they aren’t clear. The Q can have all the same problems where people erase one of the groups it stands for. That and they get unwieldy if you try to list every last identity covered.

        10. Kelly

          I have never seen two “A”s. Only one and it means asexual

        11. Will

          I’ve actually see LGBTQIAA before. But with the second A standing for Agender, not allies.

        12. Plasma Mongoose

          If you are a Ranma 1/2 fan, A could stand for Aqua-transsexual.

        13. Plasma Mongoose

          Alternatively, the second A could be for Agalmatophilic which you could argue that SP! Malaya is an example of one.

      3. Portmanteaust

        LGBTQIA is occasionally used.

        1. JessWitt

          I, A, and U? Makes sense to me actually.

        2. Bagge

          *google, google*

          Ah, I learned something new today. Thanks!

        3. OpticianOfUrza

          I’m really starting to like GSM (Gender and sexual minorities) just to combat the insane levels of alphabet bloat the LGBT initialism has experienced over the years.

        4. 00A86B-FF00FF-FFFFFF

          “Insane”
          4 letters to 7? That’s the difference between “frog” and “dragons”. Are telling me that frogs are better than dragons?!

        5. travalanche

          you’re thinking of it wrong – “frog” is one syllable, “dragon” is two. LGBTQIA is seven. When you’re typing it’s not a huge deal, but when you say it, it can completely wreck the flow of a statement.

          That said, GSM has some flaws as well. Being a broad umbrella term has led to some kink/fetish groups trying to slide in and claim “membership.” I also once saw an argument that using the word “minorities” was co-opting the term from racial minorities, although I never saw how that argument ended up panning out.

        6. Amazistool

          Well that problem can be easily fixed by using QUILTBAG, which has only two syllables.

          Bit as someone else commented above, the letter P is missing.

          Also missing are:
          The letter O,
          the letter N and
          the letter Y!

          So what you need is a PONY-QUILTBAG!

          Four syllables and comes with nice design.

        7. Kelly

          A non-word sequence of letters is very different from a word. And even more when it isn’t at all pronounceable. We recognize words based on the whole thing, we see it as one unit, while 7 “random” letters are 7 things

      4. timemonkey

        It stands for Questioning though a lot of people falsely believe it stands for Queer.

        1. tyersome

          … really, I swear I’ve heard non-straight people use this term … … and by the power of the internet …

        2. 00A86B-FF00FF-FFFFFF

          It is used for both, and it is perfectly valid to consider it to stand for queer also, as large portions of the LGBTQIA community do.

    3. Betty Anne

      I’m going to guess Becky doesn’t know “LGBTQ,” either. If I had to take a stab at it, probably the only reason she knows “lesbian” is from hearing hate piled on others and/or her about lesbians. A handful of hateful people use both “gay” and “lesbian” to refer to men and women separately, instead of just “the gays,” which most of them fall back on. Since everything is black and white in their world, there is no “B,” “T,” or “Q,” because you’re either male or female and you either like dick or don’t like dick (because they tend to also be male-centric…patriarchal cultures do that).

      1. Betty Anne

        And yes, stick IAAU on there. If Becky doesn’t know BTQ, all the others are right out. :p

  19. Neonix

    Becky’s going to lose some fans today.

  20. Wisharts

    Wait, Joyce told Becky WHAT? I don’t even remember Joyce knowing Billie liked girls. *rolls up shirt sleeves and gets ready to do an archive binge*

    also wouldn’t this be the perfect time for Danny to pass by? (or should I say….bi)

    1. Luzahn

      I’d assume it has something to do with everybody getting curious sometimes. And the best Joyce reaction face.

    2. Shay Guy

      She did mention it!

      1. Amazistool

        And (wrongly) assumes Billie is in love with a boy. Joyce does have all the information to draw the logical conclusion that bisexuality exists, but logical conclusions are not her strong point.

    3. Gangler

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/mistakes/

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/dramahurricane/

      I think we’d all assumed the implication there went over Joyce’s head, but she caught it.

    4. Kamino Neko

      Billie herself says she thinks everybody does, and Walky told her about Billie’s relationship with Alice. She knows.

  21. Kris

    A character flaw or a bad joke?

    1. Gangler

      So far it’s been pretty clear when she’s joking. She doesn’t really seem to go for deadpan humor.

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Yeah; up ’til now she’s said these things with a grin, not a disapproving frown.

    2. Ed

      Insofar as unintentional ignorance is a character flaw.

  22. Yotomoe

    “A Bicycle? You’re messing with me now, aren’t ya!”

  23. caesaria82

    Goddammit, Becky. You were doing so well. Why you gotta be like that?

    1. Shay Guy

      She’s still as sheltered as Joyce, she just has firsthand experience with homosexuality. It’s just like “Wow, an ACTUAL atheist? Well, THAT’S just nuts.“

      1. caesaria82

        That’s completely true. And I do understand why she’s like that, really. I just wanted to use the phrase^^

  24. Sean

    Willis has to balance out the popular characters with flaws

    1. newllend

      Its the only way to not make the others look bad.

    2. MindLink

      Lack of information is not a flaw

  25. brasca1

    Why not refer her to Daisy? Might even score some points with her on the newspaper, Billie

    1. Bagge

      “Hi Daisy, could you teach me some… Journalism.”
      “A perky lesbian just for me. Why, Billie, I put you on whatever story you want!.”

    2. Crazy Dina

      You know, if that relationship really hits it off, Daisy might be able to house Becky for a semester and get her enrolled for the next one on a work-study program.

  26. Taigan

    I ain’t even mad at Becky on this one. I’m just like “oh you sweet country mouse. So much for you still to learn.”

    1. grantimusmaximus

      Thank you! I’m with you on that one. The fact that she’s as far as she is along the sexual freedom train is remarkable enough. Heck, most people don’t ever quite get to the “B” in LGBT, let alone the “T.”

      Dammit, every time I think of the term LGBT I need a BLT, ASAP.

      1. StClair

        PDQ, stat!

      2. Disloyal Subject

        Mustard or pesto?
        (Mayonnaise is not an option.)

        1. Kelly

          neither. “plain and dry” as they say in the biz

    2. Kk

      Yep. She and Joyce DO come from the same background, after all, and we’ve seen how sheltered Joyce is.

    3. caesaria82

      True. Sure do hope she learns it quickly, though. (though ‘quickly’ in DOA time could be 4 years from now lol).

  27. Tess

    There’s actually a few words for that, Becky XD

  28. Eolirin

    Augh, Damn You Willis, that alt text joke was horrible!

  29. Cypherfox

    LOL! Okay, this strip made me guffaw. I guffawed. Aloud. Strange looks and everything!

    ‘Is there even a word for that?’ I dunno…catch you later…bi!

  30. Yotomoe

    My mom always told me she thinks Bi people are just gay people to her. Not even in a derogatory way. She just thought anyone who likes the same sex should be counted as gay. She also believes anyone with dark skin is basically black.

    1. JessWitt

      I’m sure that went well with the Pacific Islanders. (re: dark skin as black)

    2. The Wizard

      Actually, I know quite a few people like that, it doesn’t matter if they only experimented with someone once in your life, you’re still gay to them. As far as the black thing go, I still laugh at that…

      1. tyersome

        Yeah, a lot of people have difficulty with shades of gray … including a depressing number who post here …

        1. StClair

          To a certain extent, generalizing and labeling things is a necessary function – imagine if you had to go through life consciously evaluating whether every single object you see is a tree, car, house, person, etc, on an individual basis. (I would not be surprised if there’s been at least one brain-damage case which inflicts this, or something similar.) We need to be able to put things in boxes and model/anticipate/extrapolate their behavior, in at least general terms, in order to function. The problem is that people are lazy, and don’t want to take the time to make a new set of boxes or reevaluate the existing model when something that doesn’t fit shows up. So they try to shove it in anyway.

          (Mental image of a crate filled with green balls of various sizes, plus one green giraffe. “Eh, close enough.”)

        2. tyersome

          I completely agree – my understanding is that a major component of autism is difficulty in focusing due to a difficulty with ‘filtering’ …

          … and can I take it that the green giraffe is a boy?

        3. Stgerlachus

          That’s pretty close to the current state of the science. There’s a major line of thinking right now that Autism is caused by (or causes) a lack of pruning in the brain.

          Basically the brain consists of millions of connections and it learns which connections are most used, by removing less used connections the brain gets more effective at most tasks. For children with Autism there isn’t as much pruning. This means that information isn’t filtered automatically so much more information comes in, on the other hand it also means the brain is far more detail oriented and is less likely to make decisions based on (false) intuition.

          In essence filtering isn’t automatic, so there’s more information to process, which can lead to information overload, but also means we’re more detail oriented.

        4. MindLink

          That sounds reasonable. I score on the lower part of the autism scale myself, and I’ve never liked automatic filtering of any sort, always turn it off in any settings menu I find, so I can imagine me turning it off in my head as well. Automation may work 99% of the time, but just imagine when the 1% comes up, and you automatons sort a tiger into the cat category!

        5. tyersome

          … me distractible? … what?

          So, anyway … I’m not even sure it is always laziness … I had no idea about the whole ‘black hair thing’ before the big blow out over the subject happened in the comments here … last year? … because I grew up in Vancouver BC where I think the only black man I had ever met was my high-school physics teacher … also if I let my hair grow out I develop a pretty awesome ‘fro myself (and I’m almost as white as Jason) …

          short version: its difficult to appreciate (or sometimes even see) things totally outside our experience … and it gets harder as you get older!

        6. StClair

          difference is, I don’t see that as an actual problem so much as a transient condition, if one does incorporate exceptions / new data when they enter one’s awareness.

      2. kagato23

        The most baffling example I’ve come across in real life was a guy who argued the exact opposite. That you couldn’t be counted untill you “knew for sure” by doing something with somebody. So he was willing to acknowledge that bisexuals existed, but a kid couldn’t possibly know they were bisexual untill they’d actually done stuff with both sexes. Till then it was just a maybe.

        He was willing to go with yes, that means even the average straight teenager jerking it to porn isn’t actually straight yet. At that point I had nothing to go with but the realization that his baffling but apparently consistent worldview was no longer worth discussing.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          I’ve encountered that perspective before. I like it as well as any of the concrete ones.

        2. neeks

          So would asexual people have to meet literally every living person on the planet just to make sure they wouldn’t be down to do the do with them?

          Don’t answer that, I’m in my thirties and my doctor knows I’m ace and still thinks I might “meet a nice boy some day”.

        3. MindLink

          Biologically, this would be true though, not for biromance, but for bisexuality, since you’d need to be in a state of sexual arousal for the yuck-inhibitors to activate and make the normally gross anatomical parts become nongross. This only happens right before and during sex, so it would be really impossible to determine your own sexuality before that. But in a controlled enviroment, a lab for instance, it would be possible to actually measure your orientation based on the hormone levels and such. This will actually activate even if you are not attracted to the person you are exposed to, as long as you are sexually compatible (orientation+genetics) Porn would in most cases suffice though, if you are a particularly visual person at least, but since it lacks the olfactory factor, which plays a large part in the whole yuck-inhibition (which is basically what orientation is, everything sexual IS disgusting, clinically speaking, as it involves both external and internal organs and bodily fluids, and is unhygenic) it is certainly not conclusive. Sexuality is incredibly complicated and interesting, I just wish people wouldn’t take it so personally, but then again I wish people wouldn’t take ANYTHING personally so there’s that…

    3. StClair

      just one drop of blood…

    4. Stgerlachus

      I think your mom (that’s weird to type…) is confused between queer and gay. Queer is everyone who’s not heterosexual, gay has a very specific meaning. Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things, it can just lead to confusion.

      1. Yotomoe

        I’m one of the people who doesn’t sweat specific labels. I’m whatever.

      2. tyersome

        Even though I’ve been familiar with the Queer part of LGBTQ for … decades … twitch … I still think of myself as queer based on my many non-sexual oddities (I’m about as boringly cis & straight as is possible) … but then I’ve learned to embrace ambiguity …

      3. Ranthog

        Queer can be used to describe someone who is not heterosexual. However, queer really isn’t a term you should be using unless it is a label someone identifies with. It can still be derogatory.

  31. grantimusmaximus

    At this point, Leslie needs to swoop in like a Fairy Godmother and interject with some sage wisdom. Either that, or a Schoolhouse Rock-esque musical number.

    1. Leorale

      “Oh I’m a bi-sex-u-ill,
      Yes I’m a bi-sex-u-ill,
      And I’m sitting here on Capital Hill…”

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Damn it. Now I’m morbidly curious to know how much Rule 34 material there is of that song, but really don’t want to see it.

      2. Kris

        Me thinks a sexual education School House Rock who help a many on this campus.

        1. Kris

          “Would”Dammit! Also…

          Vagina junction what’s your function?

          Taking in sperm and spittin out babies!

        2. neeks

          “Oh I’m just a pill, yes I’m only a pill, and i’m sitting here on uterus hill”
          “unpack your prophylactics”
          “The tale of Mr condom”
          “No more dongs”

        3. Blue

          The Capitol Steps actually did a version of that song about the Pill. Not kidding.

    2. Bagge

      Kinsey scale fairy right here</A. #SorryNotSorry

      !!Mild Shortpacked spoilers from waaaaay back!!

      1. OpticianOfUrza

        The only thing that annoys me about that is that the scale is based on attraction, not behaviour, but it’s Faz, so he gets the blame. My faith in The Willis is strong.

        1. Bagge

          Also the Kinsey scale is super old and from a time when non-hetrosexuality was described in terms of diseases (I’m so glad we don’t do things like that anymore…). It was fair for its time but is sadly outdated.

          Basically, it what you end up with when someone like Faz goes to textbooks to try to understand LGBTQIA.

        2. Amazistool

          Irony: With going to textbooks he still is ahead of Becky regarding knowledge.

          (However we do not know what textbooks are available in the Anderson librar(y|ies).

      2. Kryss LaBryn

        Poor Faz. Now I feel sorry for him.

  32. JessWitt

    Becky just got into lesbianism a month ago. It would make sense she would not know about bisexuality right off the bat.

    1. Ailorn

      ‘Cause there’s no internet in the DOA universe that instantly provides information about a vast array of subjects.

      /s

  33. The Wizard

    Nope, there is n such word.

  34. I'm in it for the tuition payments

    It was awkward when my very Christian mother told me “no one actually identifies as bisexual anymore.” It was very difficult to not reply “Wait, so I’ve been wrong all these years?”

    1. Bagge

      Sometimes life hands you the best lines but don’t let you use them. Life can be cruel like that.

  35. Romanticide

    Becky’s crash course in sexual orientation will continue to come in crashes for what it seems…

  36. alicemacher

    Adding my voice to the “Don’t be so harsh on Becky; she was evangelically homeschooled and doesn’t know better” contingent. And I say this as a bi woman married to another bi woman.

    If Becky already knew about bisexuality as a concept, and either called it evil or said it was a cop-out self-description for the sexually confused, then that’d be a bad thing. But clearly she has no idea that orientation even exists. Ignorance is only wrong when it’s willful, when you persist in maintaining it after being shown evidence to the contrary.

    1. Disloyal Subject

      Agreed; gnorance is curable. Becky seems like a smart cookie, and the rest of the cast seem willing enough to provide her a little education.

  37. nothri

    Guys, be fair. The girl only realized that being with girls was a thing that could happen to her less than three weeks ago. Its not like they hand out a pamphlet that explains everything you need to know as a new lesbian. Or anything, for that matter.

    1. showler

      No, she’s known about “the gays” and “the lesbians” for a long time. Her family was quite clear about how horrible it was. When she realized she was gay, it was a concept she was familiar with. She just had to get past the idea that it was bad.

      I’ve never really heard a fundamentalist preach about the “evils of bisexuality”. They just seem to ignore the concept altogether. Becky probably really has never heard of such a thing.

    2. Crazy Dina

      Now I am actually wondering if that is a thing that exists. Something that might be kept with human resources or counselors, or even on a shelf in the library just in case someone needs the information for the first time. I’ll have to ask the LGTB club when the college starts back up again.

      1. Amazistool

        At least it’s canon that it might exist:
        “Look, if there’s a manual, please direct me to it.”

    3. JWLM

      Oh, yes, there are several of those pamphlets: “how to be gay”, “how to be lesbian”, etc. The problem with being bi is that you only get half of your assigned pamphlet.

      The problem with being straight is that you don’t get any of it at all.

      1. Bagge

        There are plenty of material about being straight. “hymmel the humming hymnal and the cute little mouse boy”, just to take one of Joyce’s favorite examples.

        (Actually, I do get what you mean, and I agree. If straight people got actual education about their sexuality instead of just “go with the norm” things would be easier for everyone involved)

      2. Swoop

        what would a ” how to be a bisexual” pamphlet even say? I’m being serious, That would have been very helpful.

        1. Bagge

          Things like “bisexuality is totally a real thing and you are not the only one” is a good start.

        2. JWLM

          Also, no, you don’t have to want to screw anything, and, yes, you can be monogamous, and yes, if you have an opposite sex partner, gay men or lesbians will think you have a beard; if you have a same sex partner, nobody will notice; if you have long term partners of differing genders, people will assume that you’re going in and out of the closet, but — and here’s the important part — they’ll be wrong.

          Oh, and, yes, Pride is for you, too.

        3. Crazy Dina

          I wonder if we should write one ourselves, covering ALL sexualities, and submit it to Willis as our gender studies class project. (although, that would be kind of creepy… ) I”m going to wait for college to start up so I can ask if such a thing already exists before I start one.

        4. Swoop

          Yep, that would have helped a lot. 14 year old me would have really appreciated that information. Not sure that’s enough to fill out a pamphlet though. Maybe you could put that paragraph next to a picture of a smiling cartoon duck. You know, put a little something in there for everybody.

      3. IAmDeltaS

        Does this mean asexuals get blank pamphlets?

    4. Kryss LaBryn

      Wait–no toaster?!

      1. StClair

        Pretty sure they only give those out to who successfully convert a previously-straight.

        … I’ve said too much.

    5. dreadedseamonster

      I’m not anti-Becky or anything, I just know how much it sucks to hear people say “you can’t like both, that’s against the rules!”

  38. IAmDeltaS

    At first I was upset with Becky…but well, she’s also been sheltered, though that’s easy to forget.

  39. Jason

    Wait, does BILLIE even think she’s bisexual? She didn’t use the word, and the way she replied to Becky, it sounds like maybe she just thinks she’s straight with an exception or two, which she might consider normal for straight women.

    1. Gangler

      Billie’s said in the past that everybody experiments a little. She seems to view her own experiences as pretty universal, not fully grasping that some people really just are never interested in their own gender that way.

    2. Em

      I think you’ve got it right. I don’t think she’d view herself as apart of the LGBT community, to be honest. Either that, or she’s not comfortable talking about her leanings towards women with people. She wasn’t the one who told Joyce, it was Walky. And if I remember right, Walky had simply guessed that she and Alice had been a thing.

      1. kagato23

        Yeah, Billie places a lot of emphasis on labels and ones place based on those, she’d probably reject it on the basis of “I don’t want to go to any clubs or wear a stupid pin annoucing I ‘m into girls sometimes, yeesh” Because that’s what somebody who’d identify would do. Not like HER.

    3. Scoops

      “I think, like, everyone thinks about it or tries it out eventually. We get curious. It’s basically inevitable.”

      1. Em

        Oh damn I forgot about that! Well there goes that bit of my theory. But she’s not lying. She ISN’T a lesbian.

    4. Betty Anne

      I think Billie’s really struggling with who she is. She’s Christian enough that Joyce still considers her such, but she has essentially no attachment to her parents, a shitty upbringing, a costly drunk driving incident before she was ever legal age to drink and a sudden realization that the world not only does not revolve around her, but most of the world doesn’t give a shit she exists. Throw on feelings that indicate she’s a sexual minority that’s frequently erased even within the rainbow community, and it’s all too easy for her to not even know where to place herself.

      1. Bagge

        I dunno, I think her sexuality is one of the few things Billie doesn’t struggle with. Her self worth, goals in life, role in the social structure, role in a relationship, her attitude to alcohol on the other hand…

        1. gwalla

          I don’t think she’s “struggling”, more like “hasn’t yet updated her self-image”. She considered it “Experimenting” before, and although she is now in another same-sex relationship that’s pretty serious, she’s not the most self-aware person.

    5. Leorale

      Totally possible that Billie sees herself as bi-curious or questioning or whathaveyou. She hasn’t got the Word Of God that she’s bi like we do.

    6. No Name

      In any case, Billie knows about bisexuality and has fantasized about it (if her remarks to Joyce on their shopping day is anything to go by)

      1. John

        More than fantasized; she’s practiced it. There are detailed depictions of her banging Ruth behind that NSFW ad up below the strip. It’s strongly implied that her relationship with Alice was sexual. We don’t have any definite knowledge of her being with any guys, but she’s flirted or made passes at several – Tony, Joe, Danny, Ethan – and while we don’t know for sure that she’s ever gone further than that, I think she was way too casual about jumping Danny to be someone who’s never been on that ride before.

        But, yeah, I’m not sure Billie actually identifies as bisexual. She’s not very introspective, and she’s awfully self-centered and very image-sensitive. She believes, as she told Joyce, that “everyone thinks about it or tries it out eventually“, and says today, “It’s not weird to like girls sometimes“, which kind of implies that she does think it’s weird to like girls all the time.

        I think she may think that lesbians are weird nerd girls who don’t like the dick, and since she is, by axiom, not a weird nerd girl, and she does like the dick, she’s clearly not a lesbian. Her feelings about girls are just the ordinary feelings that everyone has. Even while up to her ears in Ruth, she’s totally just a normal straight girl who likes playing with other girls sometimes just like everyone does.

        It’s kind of a mirror of Becky. Becky doesn’t realize bisexuals exist because she thinks no one can like both boys and girls. Billie doesn’t realize that she’s bisexual because she thinks everyone likes both boys and girls. (Except gay people, who are weird.)

        1. Amazistool

          Wisdom about Billie brought to you with a fitting gravatar!

        2. No Name

          I understand all that, but I was referring to a specific incident during the shopping trip where Billie actually used the word “bisexual” in reference to one of her fantasies. She knows people identify as bi, but whether or not she does is still up for debate.

        3. John

          Oh, I get what you were saying now. Yeah, I’m quite sure that Billie is familiar with the term “bisexual”. Whether she realizes that it’s a term that applies to her, I’m not so sure.

  40. Em

    Oh my goodness. xD Becky is still new to the world of LGBT+ folks, so I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m sure her upbringing was simply girl+boy=good. girl+girl=bad, boy+boy=bad. I don’t think the idea of bisexuality or pansexuality or any other sexuality was brought up at all! I just hope that Becky doesn’t end up biphobic when and if Billie decides to set her straight.

  41. caesaria82

    This hits home for me, today’s strip. I mean, it’s not so much that people have never heard the word ‘bisexual’ before, but some people have the WEIRDEST ideas about what it means. Like, how I’ve been told I can’t ever really have a monogamous relationship because I’ll always want what I don’t have, to be with another gender than the one I’m with…. ummm, so, basically you’re saying then that NO ONE can have a monogamous relationship ever (because it’s human nature to want what you don’t have). Or when people ask me if it means I like threesomes. And let’s not even talk about bi erasure (“you’re in a gay or straight relattionship now, so you can’t be bi anymore!”) Like. Ughhhhhhhh. These things really freaking bug me and they’re SO common, so when I read this strip today I got super agressive for a second, because I was projecting. I know where Becky’s coming from, of course (sheltered background), but it still rattled my cage, my own personal bisexual cage. Wait. That sounded kinky. I’M KEEPING IT.

    1. Em

      Bisexual cage? I think I’ve seen that porn.

      But yeah, I know what you mean. Especially since I like dudes but I’m iffy on fucking dudes, but I like women and I like fucking women…but that confuses people. “Are you REALLY bi if you’re sorta grossed about by boy parts? I bet you’re really a lesbian, and you think you like boys, but really it’s just friendship.” BLERG.

      And the shocking thing (at least it was to me) is that most biphobia happens within the LGBT+ community! Most straight people I’ve met are comfortable with the term, or at least pretend they are. But I can’t even count the amount of queer people telling me that I need to look within myself and really figure out who I am. That it’s okay that I feel like I need to be attached to boys because of our heternormative society. But I do get the opposite with straight people as well, to be fair. But it’s more like “Make up your mind! Is it girls, is it boys? Which one?”

      So yeah. *cough* I didn’t mean to go on such a long tangent.

      1. caesaria82

        ‘make up your mind’ is the worst thing omg. I heard that a lot from my family in the beginning, because I’m sure it’d have been ‘easier’ for them (cause it’s all about THEM amirite? ….. ) to just say ‘oh yeah my daughter is a lesbian’ instead of having to explain bisexuality to people. But, like, if it was difficult for YOU to explain it, imagine what it must have been like for ME to live it. Especially at an age similar or even younger than the characters in DOA are right now.

        And you’re 100% right about biphobia being an issue in the LGBTQ+ community. The number of times I’ve heard lesbians say they won’t date bi girls….. let’s just say it’s a large number. Ughhhhhh. Yeah.

        1. StClair

          “you’re just faking”, “you can always pass”, “you haven’t [i]suffered[/i] like I have”… sad to say, I think a lot of it does come down to jealousy and envy, the assumption that your experience was so much easier than theirs and HOW DARE YOU etc. :/

          I see it in so many places. One would think that having experienced persecution would make one more understanding and empathetic, but instead people turn it into a race to the bottom, to prove how [i]they[/i] had it worse than anyone, and deserve all the sympathy.

        2. StClair

          (damn brackets :p)

        3. Disloyal Subject

          I share some small measure of your outrage and offer internet-hugs of sympathy. I hate false dichotomies.

        4. caesaria82

          Ughhhh the waves of agression I get when I just READ the word ‘pass’ in this context. I have so much rage about that.

          Anyway, I think you may have a point, I’ve heard it called the ‘oppression olympics’, this “my life is worse than yours because xyz” and it’s the worst. Oh man. Sure, everyone has their own issues and own shit to deal with from society, but wouldn’t it be SO much easier and nicer if we all fought for equality and love *together* instead of this petty in-fighting?

          …. I’m such a hippie, it’s terrible lol, but… peace and love, man, peace and love. All that matters.

        5. Bagge

          I think today’s comic was very effective in that Awesome Gay Character Becky so casually dismissed bisexuals. Mirrors an all too true attitude in real life. Sometimes caused by simple ignorance (like for Becky), sometimes caused by worse attitudes.

        6. StClair

          It would be (easier and nicer), but sadly, humans don’t seem to be wired that way. Instead, it’s more like “I deserve all of this pie because (reasons), go get your own, or don’t, I don’t care.”

        7. Kryss LaBryn

          The “oppression olympics” is remarkably similar to the misery ladder…

        8. Suitora

          I am also bisexual.

          On top of being gender questioning, I think I’ve pretty much taken my dating life and shoved a rocket launcher up its ass with all of that… 😛

      2. Leorale

        I once heard the author/artist of Persepolis discuss her innate urge to make comics, which she compared to bisexuality. Are you really an author, or really an illustrator? Why don’t you pick one? Because I’m BOTH.

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          That is an excellent analogy; I’ll have to remember it!

          The analogy I’ve always sort of used is hair colour. Are you into blondes or red-heads? I mean, you can’t like both. And then whether you end up in a relationship with a blonde or a redhead, obviously you were just confused about being attracted to the other one.

          God help you if you end up with a brunette…!

        2. Fish

          YES! Acknowledgement of third options!!!

          Thank you Kryss, you brightened my day 😀

      3. JWLM

        When people get to invasive, I start talking about the difference between heteroromanticism and homoromanticism, heterosexuality and homosexuality, and all the variations thereof…pretty soon their eyes glaze over and they find a reason to excuse themselves.

        Well, mostly. The other ones usually need a “So you think you aren’t straight, eh?” pamphlet. You know, the one which starts out “You’re queer, you’re here, get used to it.”

  42. EvergreenFir

    Bi erasure. Becky come on…

  43. A4lbi

    I was wondering where and how Becky’s flaw would manifest.

    1. Disloyal Subject

      She was already amazed that Dotty was an ‘actual atheist.’ This is just showcasing her ignorance a little more.

      1. a4lbi

        Oh, yea. I almost forgot about that.

  44. AHR

    Honestly I can’t be harsh on Becky because the fact is she is SUCH a freshman. When I first went to college, and I learned that I could do whatever I wanted, I ended up crossing a LOT of douche lines I shouldn’t. And then I snapped back, and relaxed, within a semester. Freshman are gonna be douchebags because they’re still experiencing complete freedom. Becky, more so, because now she can do something she never could before — be as gay as she wants.

    1. kagato23

      I was prepared to judge becky harsher but you make a good point. This isn’t just about “ignorant new lesbian” this is Becky going freshman douche at the same time, a flaw actually unconnected to her sexuality! I suppose I gotta give her the same chance as the rest of the characters managing to show their flaws in this period of time. I can’t remember exactly but they are only a few weeks in time-wise, yes?

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Something like four weeks, yeah.

  45. Nono

    I can’t wait for Becky and Roz to interact.

    1. Leorale

      Ooh, yes, this must happen.

      1. Bagge

        SHIPPING IT!

  46. fit-to-flip

    I literally just said “becky!” in a tsk tsk sort of way

  47. Kit

    No, Becky. Becky, no.

  48. Arikel

    If Becky does something crazy I swear I’ll need to punch something 😐

  49. Just Me

    Becky knows what a Lesbian is but she has never heard of someone who is Bisexual?

    Now we know what number 11 is.

    1. gwalla

      Remember she was raised fundamentalist. Her knowledge of non-heterosexuality extends just far enough to be identified as Bad. I doubt her parents or pastor bothered to parse the finer points of human sexuality.

  50. Chris

    Becky no I trusted you

  51. ridtom

    It’s weird when you actually explain to people that, yes, some people do in fact have a sexual interest in men and women.

    They just look at you like you told them the sky was gold or something. I had a classmate that even went so far as to say, “…But how do they work?”

    Fuckin Magic that’s how!

    1. Kabo

      “how do they work?” like in “how do they function”, or like in “how do they ever get anything done with so many potential sexual partners?”

      1. Gangler

        Maybe “How do they find gainful employment when biphobia is so rampant in the work force?”

    2. gwalla

      You have just put the thought of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope exploring their sexuality into my head. I hope you’re happy. 😛

    3. Amazistool

      Is that a Danny from the future talking to us?

    4. No Name

      But- but- the sky is gold. At least, when the sun’s on the horizon.

  52. Megatron

    Becky’s ignorance is forgivable. Your fleshling culture is very confusing.

  53. Lord Geovanni

    Its so precious Becky has hints of innocence.

  54. newllend

    I forget the Becky is just an inverted version of Joyce

  55. Bagge

    BECKY IS NOT USED TO DIVERSITY…

    …and although this is a fascinating subject for her I think Becky’s mainly a bit peeved that Billie didn’t respond to her flirting. Heads up Becky, this one might be more trouble than she’s worth. There are some… complicating factors.

    1. ninja_jesus

      It’s the red hair. It’s always a complicating factor.

  56. comic.phile

    Oh C’MON Becky! And I liked you so much… 🙁 Wish that last panel wasn’t true to life but unfortunately it really is… Both gay and straight people think us bisexuals are some kind of myth, playing pretend, or just fooling ourselves :/

    1. vlademir1

      Unfortunately that’s an issue where people like to think in terms of binary either/or paradigms rather than spectrum based paradigms. It doesn’t help that “bisexual” is used to describe a very wide range between the two that does include closeted gay people “trying to pass”, gay and straight people with a couple exceptions, people whose sexual preferences vascilate over time and people who are always open to all genders. Then you get to compound that with the myth of the gender binary which the term “bisexual” itself has in some ways helped to perpetuate and with the fact that the specific details are always messy and uncomfortable for some parts of society to discuss in any meaningful way.

  57. MiaKitty

    I’m really bothered by the number of people who’re attacking Becky and saying she’s not as great a character because of this strip. She grew up in the same insane, ultra-conservative religious upbringing that Joyce did. The fact that she’s a lesbian doesn’t mean she magically knows about everything else out there. I didn’t know that there was anything other than straight, gay and bisexual until very recently, and I grew up in a pretty open-minded family. She’s not being cruel or derogatory; the girl’s probably having a hard enough time grasping that she’s a lesbian and getting over her fears that being such is sinful. She probably only ever heard about gays and lesbians, and the concept of someone liking both is baffling to her. This isn’t her insulting bisexual people; it’s evidence of her ignorance on the matter. Ignorance which can (and probably will) be corrected.

    The fact is, up until this strip, Becky was basically a perfect character. Lesbian, but raised in a family that heavily disapproves of it, to make her sympathetic, funny and snarky, and a loyal friend. Her come ons to Joyce haven’t even put her out of favor with people, even though she’s totally disrespecting the boundaries Joyce set, because everyone wants Joyce to turn out to be bisexual anyway. Honestly, THAT bothers me, because Joyce was almost raped, and I’m insanely amazed that her response to Becky kissing her wasn’t more extreme in response. I’m writing that off as her being so shocked that it was BECKY, and the fact that the creep never actually kissed her, because otherwise that could’ve been really triggery for her. The point is, Joyce has said “I’m not interested in you like that” and yet Becky CONTINUES to make flirtatious comments, a la “Maybe you’ll change your mind.” Which to me is willfully ignoring the boundary Joyce has put in place, in spite of EVERYTHING Joyce is doing for her. Personally, I think that’s a lot worse than this, which is nothing more than evidence of her ignorance and a reminder that she’s new to the LGBT+ community.

    1. Adam Black

      So Bi-denialism is OK out of ignorance, even from someone that had their own sexuality denied ? Hmmm

      An innocent kiss out of actual love , between best friends, is equal to rape …and this doesnt strike you as possibly sounding homophobic ?

      You think Homosexual Flirting from a lesbian to someone its safe to , that just came out , is evil sexual harassment ?
      Dont you think Joyce can set her own boundaries with Becky ?. This is the same girl that repeatedly punched a man in the face for looking at another girl on their date, a couple of weeks ago.

      Your comments strike me as borderline heterosexist. ( its all those capital letters )
      The world will not end if a gay person flirts in public.
      Seriously, it will not. Harmlessly expressing their sexuality is just as important to gay people as to straight people ( bi people and pan people ) OK? Its not a hate crime!

      1. Aolbain

        OK let me spell it out for you: In the last strips they appeared together Becky sexually harassed Joyce, probably not intentionally, but it still happened. This isn’t about Becky being Gay, it’s about her lack of boundaries. Pointing this out is not homophobia.

        1. timemonkey

          Yes, exactly.

      2. Heavensrun

        Mia was not equating Becky and Joyce’s kiss to rape, Mia was pointing out that a rapist tried to rape Joyce, which traumatized her, therefore it was surprising that Joyce did not overreact more to Becky’s gesture.

      3. MindLink

        Yes, EVERYTHING is OK because of ignorance, you can’t hold anyone accountable for something they don’t know. NO ONE has any duty to learn everything about the world, because that is impossible, even today with wikis and Googlys you’d have to sit your entire life just looking up info and even then you’d only learn about half of what is important. What IS wrong is judging someone based on your own experiences and knowledge.

        1. Fish

          right. Its about what you do when you are presented with new information. Do you incorporate it into your world view, or do you push back on the new information and deny it? (or bonus option 3: just be quiet until you can process it).

          Becky was just presented with new information and responded with “you can’t” (if she had said “one can’t” BEFORE Billie said how her sexuality works, then I think this would be just ignorance). While Becky’s response to knew information is a normal, human reaction is is also bad and I hope she realizes it later and apologizes.

          Note to anyone who reads this far into the thread: When someone says “I am THIS”, in general, please try to trust them. If you can’t trust them, keep it to yourself and go research on your own, and if you decide that they’re lying or insane, just don’t tell that person. It hurts so much to say “I am THIS” and hear “No you’re NOT”.

        2. MiaKitty

          I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having an issue with Becky having a negative reaction; I just think it’s troublesome, how many people in the earlier comments were immediately stating that they regretted naming her their favorite character, simply because of this one comment. While her ignorance is still upsetting, it’s hardly a character flaw that should have garnered so much venom from people who previously were exceptionally happy with her.

          Saying “You can’t” is certainly not an acceptable response, but it is one that is understandable for her character, given her background. And, as I said, I’m certain that, once someone sits down and talks to her and explains things, she will be more open-minded. My issue is not that people are bothered by Becky for her ignorance, since ignorance of any sort is upsetting, especially in regards to an issue that is personal to you. My issue is merely that people are not giving her a chance to grow past this before turning their backs on her.

          People were also pointing out bisexual erasure, which is definitely an issue that is present here, but I feel as though erasure is when a person has been INFORMED of bisexuality and denies it, rather than someone whose immediate response to hearing such a thing for the first time is “That’s not a thing.”

          It’s sort of like, if your whole life, someone told you the sky was blue, and you were only ever allowed outside during the day, and then someone said “The sky can actually be all sorts of colors. Blue and orange and red and purple and etc,” and you responded with, “No, it’s not, it’s blue.” Because that’s all you know. It’s not your fault that you’re wrong, it’s your upbringings. All it takes is someone showing you a sunset to see that you’re wrong.

          If when presented with evidence of bisexuality, Becky continues to deny that it’s possible to be anything other than gay or straight, THEN there is certainly an issue, but as of right now, it’s just a demonstration that she has a lot to learn about sexuality. She merely needs to be taught.

        3. timemonkey

          I think people were assuming that Becky’s sexuality and comfort with it would translate to having seen through the brainwashing bullshit and have her more worldly than Joyce.

      4. MiaKitty

        I don’t take issue with Becky flirting with women; I take issue with Becky continuing to make borderline-sexual comments specifically to Joyce after Joyce has expressed discomfort over the matter. She even went as far to try and claim a familial bond to try and establish that it was in no way something she wanted to happen, and Becky is ignoring that and repeatedly making those comments, as if she thinks that eventually Joyce will say “Oh, what the hell,” and make out with her. And I never implied that Becky raped Joyce, I pointed out that, for someone who had been assaulted, it was fortunate for Becky that Joyce’s reaction was merely one of shock, and not more extreme. Still, I don’t fault her for the first kiss; it was understandable that she misread the signals. Every instance of flirting after that, however, is not so excusable. And my point was that, these actions are her willfully ignoring and disrespecting the boundary Joyce set, whereas her statements in this strip are simply an example of her ignorance, which can be corrected, and that I find it odd how people are choosing this to take issue with rather than the former.

        I don’t approve of her denying the existence of bisexuals, I merely feel like some people are being quick to judge her for it when she hasn’t had a chance to be informed. It’s perfectly fine to be uncomfortable with her reaction to Billie, I just think people should give the girl a chance to be educated before they decide they don’t like her anymore. Every character has flaws they have to overcome; hers is ignorance. Give her a chance to get properly immersed before you blame her for things that are not her fault. Don’t judge a person for their ignorance until you’ve attempted to educate them (or, in this case, waited to see if they are capable of being educated, since obviously Becky isn’t reading the comments).

        As for the caps, that was my first comment, I am not sure how to do the italics and such yet, and could not think of another way to emphasize. I do apologize, since I realize it did sound rather like I was yelling.

        1. Ailorn

          I agree with you. It bothers me that people have been stating that Becky is a perfect character and that it took this strip for people to question that. She has continuously been violating people’s boundaries and this is just another example. It is clear much of it comes from ignorance, but she is a young adult with access to internet and fully capable of enlightening herself. It isnt unreasonable to expect her to research it as much as possible once she identified what was going on with her and incidentally learned about other people’s experiences. Becky is very flawed, was never “perfect,” and it had everything to do with her personality and being self centered rather than her orientation. To be fair to Becky, many of the DOA characters are self centered and it often goes along with being a young adult.

  58. Superdud

    NOOOOO BECKY YOU WERE SO PERFECT NOOOOOOO

    1. Nena

      Becky is so sheltered she probably doesn’t even know or understand the term “bisexual.” So she has a lot to learn about so much. Which has to be overwhelming for a girl like her.

      1. Superdud

        Yeah, I know it’s only because of being uninformed in her case, but it’s sad to see her be a perpetrator of bi erasure. :/

        1. MindLink

          No, she isn’t. In order for her to be that, she would have to KNOW what bi meant. And that’s what happens in most circumstances, that people have never heard of bi, not that they don’t believe in it. There are some of those as well, but certainly not as many as people think there are.

        2. Fish

          🙁 its also sad to see Billy come out to her about her sexuality, and see Becky say “no you can’t”/”no you’re not”.

          Coming out and hearing “no you’re not” is awful.

          Ignorance is an excuse for saying “this doesn’t exist” before you hear of “this”, but at the point Becky says “this doesn’t exist”, she is saying it to someone who just said “I am this”. Becky is no longer without any evidence or information at that point.

          People are allowed to have flaws and make mistakes and we can still love them. Becky is still great! She did a bad thing, but she will probably improve in the future.

    2. Amazistool

      Exactly what you said. But WITH the sarcasm!

  59. ShaggyDonahugh

    Well, man. I really don’t know what to say to this comic. I almost want to congratulate you Willis for breaking my heart for a fictional character to the point that the very atoms are separating. Bravo you brilliant sonofabongo, absolutely brilliant.

  60. Sam

    I love you Willis for writing these characters realistically, but god am I sick of bi erasure. Like, please please let there be a comic sometime soon where Leslie or someone schools these loser children on all things LGBT.

    I just want my media to acknowledge I exist and to stop shying away from the word. Not that huge a request, or at least I didn’t think it’d be.

  61. Zaxares

    Ooooh, careful there, Becky. You’re treading awfully close to pissing a lot of my people (including my bisexual girlfriend) off. I have to say we’ve run into gays/lesbians who also believe that bisexuals are simply “afraid of properly coming out”, and it annoys her to no end.

    But stepping back from the story, brilliant writing, Willis. If this keeps up, you’ll be like the George RR Martin of webcomics. (If Tarold Hunt wasn’t there already.)

    1. gc

      Let the record show that Willis has been operating far above the level of George R R Martin – insofar as the comparison isn’t just apples to oranges – for a long time.

    2. JohnnyO

      Becky was raised in a fundamentalist home where all she was taught about LGBT issues is that “the gays” are going to hell, and she came out like 5 minutes ago. I don’t fault her for not knowing everything.

  62. OpticianOfUrza

    I’m kinda hoping that at some point they have a talk about bi/pansexuality and that it’s fine to be interested in men, women, and people who identify otherwise, and Danny is nearby thinking “Well that explains some things”.

    1. dreadedseamonster

      I’m sure Danny is aware of what bisexuality is. I think he’s just hesitant to think that it relates to him, and especially concerned about the fact that he’s attracted to his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend who he believes is straight.

      1. Dr. Smart

        I think Joyce is going to learn to better accept gays due to Becky, and then break up with Ethan so he can actually date guys… though the issue is the only other guy we know of who is into other guys at all is Danny, and this whole crush thing seems to be a foreshaddow… I don’t want Danny and Amber to break up their like OTP but its possible :B

    2. Fish

      yeah, but, I wanna hear someone say “pansexual” in the strip, so I’m still hoping. 🙂

      Well, maybe I don’t… watching binary normative stuff is pretty painful for me. I dunno. Getting the word out is worth it.

  63. Aolbain

    Sooo… I can actually see how Joyce was the best socialized.

  64. Arianod

    Hilarious reminder that Becky does come from the same place as Joyce XD

  65. Vree

    – sound of Willis pushing the agenda in the background –

    But the real question is, is she Ruthsexual? That’s somebody who will love a Ruth regardless of whether she is male, female, plant or mineral.

    ‘Cuz…Maybe she is straight (or lesbian) save when it comes to a Ruth. OR She may be bisexual except for male Ruths.

    1. Sir Robin

      Maybe, but I was given the impression that Ruth was not her first time with another woman either

      1. Bagge

        We may have been given a hint or two

      2. JWLM

        Nope — Billie is Ruth’s first same-sex relationship: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/privy/

    2. Aolbain

      She wanted to have sex with Danny, who is pretty much the opposite of a male Ruth. And Alice didn’t look that Ruth-y either, drama queen tendencies aside.

      1. segnosaur

        Not only that, but there was a cartoon where she was flirting with Joe (Only to be miffed when he left because he saw a cheerleader who wanted to have sex with him.)

  66. Arianod

    What if the next strip is a cut to Danny ^^

  67. idunno

    there’s even a permit for that.

  68. John V

    Billie: “Bye, Becky”.

  69. Trolldrool

    This is room for character improvement. If Becky enters the story now, completely perfect in every single way, she’ll have nowhere to go in the story in terms of character development. While bi-sexuals do face discrimination or denial from both heterosexuals and homosexuals who tell them to just pick a side already, that’s bigotry. This just seems like genuine ignorance, which while not good, is easier to mend.

  70. Volkai

    Learning time! This is going to be fun.

  71. Charles Fee

    I’ve been looking for that word all my life.

  72. FuryOfFirestorm

    I think i’ve heard of such people.

    I think they’re called…Duosexuals? Bothsexuals? Havingitallsexuals, maybe?

    1. Robbzilla

      Greedy! 😀

    2. xKiv

      Not picky?

  73. timemonkey

    Again, Becky, you need to reign it in a bit. Coming on too strong but at least this time you’re not deliberately making someone you know isn’t interested uncomfortable.

    I’m not mad a what you said about bisexuality, but your expression in the last panel isn’t making me happy. That’s not a ‘I didn’t know that was a thing’ that’s a ‘that’s not a thing and I’m about to argue why you’re wrong’ face.

  74. Robbzilla

    OK, I don’t care who you are… that’s funny!

  75. Halloween Jack

    Sweet gay Jesus in a white Miata, there sure are a lot of judgmental types showing up in the thread. Did everyone really think that Becky would awaken on her first out morning with a full awareness of what was cool and what wasn’t? Do you really think that that’s how it works, especially for homeschooled ex-Xian kids? Wow.

    1. Bagge

      And here’s me thinking that was a lesbian superpower, together with gaydar and the ability to mind control flightless birds (those penguins never saw it coming).

      (NOTE: I’m just being silly here, don’t mind me)

      1. No Name

        Where do the penguins (and ostriches, emus and kiwis) fit in?

      2. Halloween Jack

        The flightless-bird-mind-control thing works, although it’s only really useful if you’re small enough to ride on one.

  76. Spencer

    Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve ever seen an LGBT character in the history of webcomics ever express negative sentiments toward queer sexuality.

    I hope people don’t suddenly feel betrayed that Becky said that. It’s okay for characters we live to say terrible things sometimes; it leads to good comics.

  77. Jams

    Becky hasn’t had the opportunity to be exposed to the concept of bisexuality until just now so this reaction to Billie is believable.

    Becky crosses from “cute” to “obnoxious” pretty quickly though, doesn’t she? I can sympathize with her ignorance – I’ve been there – but her attitude is causing Joyce and now Billie a lot of pain and discomfort. It’s not great.

    But this kind of thing is incredibly important in a comic about lgbt things. You need to take characters’ backgrounds into account when you’re writing about how they deal with being exposed to new concepts, or it just doesn’t feel real. It makes me think of what frustrated me about Marten and Claire of QC, and their thus far effortless relationship.

    1. Spencer

      After the drama firebomb that was Marten/Dora, he needs an angst free relationship. Claire is perfect for him and what makes it work is that they both walk into it like rational adults for once.

      The worst he has to deal with is a deluge of puns.

      1. Jams

        That might be what he needs, but it’s still been a disappointing arc for me. I don’t believe Marten could get this far with a trans woman without inadvertently or unintentionally saying or doing something hurtful. I know he’s a pretty open guy with a dominatrix mom and a gay dad and some bi friends, but transphobia, and particularly transmisogyny, is really ingrained in our society, and often takes active effort to unlearn. I don’t know if I believe Marten has put in that effort, because it hasn’t really been shown.

        Anyway, I’ve read the comic a long time, I loved the characters, and it’s been really great as far as inclusivity. This is just something that’s been bugging me lately.

        1. JWLM

          I understand what you’re saying, but there are two mitigating factors: (a) Claire passes completely, and (b) Marten knew her as “her” without the burden of knowing her as “he”. Marten has the best of all cases: he treats her as a girl because, to him, she always has been.

          Besides, they’re cuter that way.

          Frankly, I’m kind of troubled by Claire’s passing so well. She’s just too good at it: her voice and behavior are clearly good enough that *nobody* has twigged to the fact that she was MAAB. It takes *years* of intense practice to get your voice right, and as to your mannerisms, well, you can completely bail on that.

        2. Fish

          I know transwomen who pass as well as ciswomen do (lets be honest, not all ciswomen pass as ciswomen). They just happened to be low testosterone before transition. They just happened to not pick up male-signalling behaviors. That’s their story.

          Sometimes people transition before puberty. They also generally pass very well.

          I can’t know how common it is, because I don’t know who around me is trans, because trans people can be invisible. But, I do know cases that exist. And, well, if all representation of trans people was “pass super well” representation, that would be troubling in its own right. I think that there is little enough representation that I personally don’t feel that way yet.

        3. Spencer

          Well, that’s the thing. Marten’s dad is gay, his mom is a dominatrix, his last girlfriend is bi, his previous boss is gay and his current boss and friend is likewise gay. Marten’s been surrounded by LGBT people and people outside the sexual “norm” his whole life, so he’s come to realize that they’re all people and they matter just as much. He also even says, outright, that he’s not sure exactly what to say and he wants Claire to call him out if he says something transphobic when he’s telling her how he feels. There’s even a strip from years ago when he first meets Tai and wanted to make sure he wasn’t misgendering her.

          Besides, acceptance is integral to Marten’s character. It’s why he’s such a doormat, but it’s also why he’s able to take everybody as who they are without any pre-conceived judgements.

      2. Bagge

        (Some more Questionable Content spoilers)

        I think Claire works fine for the reason you have described above, especially the fact that Marten is very used to diversity (remember that throwaway gag of how he was hanging out with his mom’s drag queen friends as a kid).

        On another level of story telling I think it is important to have characters like Claire who are trans, but who’s main STORY as it is told is not being trans.

        Claire’s story so far is about a slightly neurotic bibliophile’s introduction to her first librarian job, her interaction with her expanding circle of friends and her first adult relationship. It’s a very basic coming of age story. Claire’s main characteristics are her slightly neurotic sense of how things should be (“no rave in the library”), her convoluted attempts at jokes, her sibling rivalry with her brother and the underlaying goofiness. Oh, and she’s trans and there is an underlying theme of worry and having to be careful, but that’s not her main story as it is presented.

        The story of discrimination and hardship trans people face is incredibly important and has to be told, but it is also important that that is not the only story. A trans person should be able to read a book about people like them that is not about how hard it is to be like them.

        That’s equally true for all marginalized groups of people (and most story telling media are pretty bad at it).

        That’s one of the reasons I like this comic and shortpacked so much. People are rarely defined by their group (the fact that people in universe did it to Leslie over in shortpacked was lampshaded multiple times).

    2. Fish

      I am trans, and had a trans partner, and we BOTH did things to each other that we later apologized for, by accident. Being ok with trans people, and trying to be welcoming and good is just … not a guarantee of not stepping on toes. We have so many cis-centric view points baked into society that its very very hard.

      For example, it can be really frustrating as a trans guy to seem constantly invisible. Being told that “I’m sad that only I and Sue dressed up for the genderqueer lunch” when you went and dressed up as a guy and not even your partner noticed your effort… its so sad. But, its not something that I’d assume every transwomen would get without it being pointed out, even if she’s super-accepting and encouraging and supportive and wonderful. Because she’s constantly visible and that puts her in real danger, and she might forget that you feel constantly invisible. Likewise, transguys might not get that they can just wear whatever they want to work at most workplaces without a risk of their job, and that’s not something that you as a pre-transition transwomen can just take for granted.

      So, yeah, I expect Martin to slip up at some point. Eventually. Unconscious bias is too hard. And Claire to hurt, and them to talk it out, and it be okay again.

  78. S'toon

    I’ve come to suspect that the RWNJ “Homosexuality is a choice” BS from fundies comes from religious bigots who aren’t aware that there’s such a thing as bisexuality.

    1. Pedantic Peanut

      I’m not sure I follow.

      Bisexuality would seem to (in the eyes of bigots) affirm the idea that sexuality is a choice and that homosexual/bisexuals are choosing ‘wrongly’. After all a bisexual can choose a partner of either gender and is deliberately choosing a same sex relationship.

      On the subject I’ve heard some interesting speculation recently in regards to various homophobes who have been outed as gay which may explain at least some of the failed logic behind the idea of homosexuality as a choice.

      Basically, it was suggested that it comes down to Projection Fallacy. These people who are raised in intensely homophobic environments internalize the hatred of homosexuality so that when they start to feel sexually attracted to members of the same sex they project their own experiences onto other people and simply assume that all of them are feeling the same ‘sinful urges’.

      From the perspective of such a person, a gay homophobe, the evidence is all around them that homosexuality is a choice because the vast majority of people never act on the urges that they ‘must’ have. When in fact they don’t act on them because they don’t have them or they’re not particularly strong compared to their feelings for members of the opposite sex.

      Just food for thought.

      1. gwalla

        Even in that reasoning, though, they feel no need to distinguish between it and homosexuality because they believe it’s all a choice of whether to sin or not. Somebody who exclusively has sex with members of the same sex is still capable, in their view, of taking the not-sinful choice (or less-sinful, I suppose, if it’s out of wedlock).

        1. Pedantic Peanut

          And I’m not going to excuse their behavior. But it does serve as a possible explanation from why closeted homosexuals sometimes seem to be the most zealous of the bigots. 🙁

    2. Paul

      Parents of lesbian daughters are constantly pointing out so-and-so’s daughter who was a lesbian in college but is now married to a nice [insert socioreligious qualifier] boy and squeezing out grandchildren in a gated community.

  79. mick4state

    So when did Billie tell Joyce she was into girls?

    1. Aolbain

      Pretty sure this tipped her of:

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/dramahurricane/

    2. Blue

      She didn’t, unless you’re counting the ‘basically inevitable’ bit a ways back.
      What’s being referred to here is Walky’s comments about Billie and Alice, which Joyce mentioned to Becky.

    3. Paul

      More to the point, this is where Joyce informed Becky that Billie kissed a girl and like it:

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/mistakes/

      So far as I know Joyce and Becky are clueless about Billie and Ruthless.

  80. lightsabermario

    Honestly, I don’t think she’s homosexual or bisexual. She’s just Ruthsexual. Either that, or she’s turned on by depression, aggression, and alcoholism (which is entirely plausible).

    1. Blue

      Word of God begs to differ.
      That and the fact that she and Alice were a couple (though not necessarily openly) back in high school.

      1. Random832

        Openly enough for Walky to know and have no hesitation to comment on it in public not knowing about her and Ruth.

    2. Paul

      There are several problems with labeling someone as [specific person] sexual. First of all, it sort of flies in the face of orientation being biological in origin rather than chosen or socially acquired. Second, Billie has pursued and had sex with boys and girls before she met Ruth.

      Tim Minchin has a great love song parody called “If I didn’t have you” with the lyrics:

      Your love is one in a million
      You couldn’t buy it at any price
      But of the 9 point 9 9 9 hundred thousand other loves
      Statistically some of them would be equally nice

      I have at different times dated a Baptist who thought she was predestined to marry one specific guy chosen by god, and a pagan who thought that one specific designated soulmate was waiting for her out there somewhere. These are the same belief with different window dressing, and disasterous for relationship building.

      1. Random832

        Counterpoint: Isn’t your insistence that love/attraction/etc has to work the same way for everyone the thinking behind bi erasure in the first place?

      2. Amazistool

        Uhh, just just asking because of (bi-)curiosity:

        We do know (in this ‘verse) that she had sex with boys (plural that is)?

        Or is this including the Walkyverse?

        1. timemonkey

          Well, she certainly jumped Danny with the confidence of someone who knew what she was doing. And she’s indicated to Joyce several times she knows how to sex up guys. We don’t have any names but it’s been strongly implied.

  81. Stifyn Baker

    Funny, I’m not getting a ‘lesbian vibe’ off Becky at all. She’s just coming on way too strong. Feels more like teenage rebellion against strict/sheltered upbringing: “What’s the think I can do which will freak Mum and Dad the most?” Kind of understandable; they have really WAY overreacted to what could be a simple case of natural sexual experimentation. My impression is that Becky is trying to really flip them off, hence her massive announcing-it-to-total-strangers thing, and her annoyance at Billie for not playing the game.

    1. Spencer

      She slid her tongue into Joyce’s mouth. What more do you want?

      1. Tenn

        Yeah. *sigh* Plus one, and all that.

    2. dralou

      Maybe there is a bit of rebellious joy in announcing it to everybody, but I feel it comes more from “Yay, I CAN say who I am whitout fear! Take THAT dad!” rather than simply rebellion for rebellion sake.

      And I read her reaction to Billy’s answer as showing that… well. She has a very strict, religious, closed to the differences in the world, upbringing. Even if she’s been proven this upbringing was wrong about some things, because she could see the dissonances, and by her own sexuality, there are a lot of things she just doesn’t know anyhing about.

      In a way, she was like Joyce, with a head start. And she kinda lost it when she was being sent in a christian school while Joyce was in a significantly more liberal university.

    3. Amazistool

      Becky: Expert teenage rebel against fundi parents.

      But only behind closed doors

      Warning: Post contains traces of sarcasm.

    4. Reaver

      Lesbian Vibe? As if Gayness is a radiation that you have to feel in order for it to be legit? The heck is that noise.

      1. Paul

        As if Gayness is a radiation

        Ooooh, that suggests a superheroine origin story of some sort…

        1. Reaver

          BIT BY A RADIOACTIVE LESBIAN! SHE IS LEZ-B-ANN!

  82. Deanatay

    I imagine there will be an episode where Joyce hears Becky say something really naiive, will lean over to Dorothy, and ask, “Was I this bad when I started here?”

    1. Bagge

      Nononononono – she has to ask Sarah!

      [Panel 1]”Was I this bad when I started here?”
      [Beat panel]
      [Beat panel]
      [Beat panel]

      1. Amazistool

        +1+1+1+1

      2. JWLM

        I want to watch Sarah’s face during those panels…

  83. Saelmve

    aaaand my liking for Becky just went down a bit.

    1. Resulli

      Because she doesn’t know that bisexuality is a thing? I don’t think she means it maliciously.

      1. Spencer

        If we were able to forgive characters for the awful things they’ve accidentally said and done without any malice, Danny would be widely beloved by the DoA community.

        1. Amazistool

          Well – here at least he is no longer made responsible for the bad weather!

  84. Nightsbridge

    Dina beat out Becky slightly!

  85. Tenn

    Hooray! Becky isn’t perfect!

    Ffffffuuuuuuck! Becky isn’t perfect!

    1. Stevecharb

      Well, we already knew she was a ginger, so perfection was never on the table.

  86. Resulli

    I think we can turn this into a learning moment.

  87. Kaunisenkeli

    Becky, please don’t be that “bisexual erasure” lesbian. Please. The bi* community, like the trans* community, has gotten enough erasure crap from outside the LGBT community. Neither needs microagressions from within.

    1. Hoax

      Considering Becky’s upbringing, I’d wager she’s probably not so much intentionally erasing as actually, literally unaware of the concept. Remember, this is the girl to whom Joyce grew up attached at the hip. That kind of upbringing isn’t exactly conducive to proper MOGAI representation, the most either’s likely been told is “HOMO = DEVIL” and that’s it.

  88. la6ue mous

    Oh, Becky…

  89. heavvymetalqueen

    Sometimes I wonder if a lot of the commenters on this comic are unaware that they, too, once were dumb, ignorant almost-adults figuring shit out and making mistakes and what’s that word? Oh, yeah. Learning!

    By the way people start talking of characters as if they’re monsters the second they do doing something any dumb teenager has done at least once, it would seem so….

    1. Kintrex

      Yeah, I remember being a teenager. I hate who I was when I was a teenager! If I could go back in time, I’d beat the shit out of myself.

    2. Amazistool

      Exactly like that – and no sarcasm anywhere!

      (And especially regular readers should know about Willis background).

  90. Em

    Seeing a lot of Becky hate. While I have experienced bi-erasure myself, it has been by people who have been educated about bisexuality, and choose to say that it isn’t real. Becky has no idea what bisexuality is. She’s never heard of it, and therefore probably honestly believes nobody feels that way. If Becky is educated that yes, people can be attracted to multiple genders, and continues to say it isn’t real, THEN I will be upset. But not quite yet.

  91. Charles Phipps

    Yeah, bi erasure is a huge deal. Gay people AND straight people are threatened by it. Which sucks because bi people are awesome. I know because I know plenty of them.

  92. DSL

    Someone has already said this uptrend, but it was lost amid the din of the blameasaurus rex in full hunting cry, so I’ll say it again:

    Becky’s new at this.

    I suspect Willis took great pains to make Becky likeable before he had her drop her news on Joyce, in an effort to ameliorate precisely this, but of course it didn’t work.

  93. Crazy Dina

    Billie stops in her tracks, eyes opened wide. Becky figures out that it’s weird and utters, “Maybe we’re both bi”. Becky takes offense to that, fully believing Billie is talking about her, but Billie just walks away slowly, as if in shock. Beckie then walks back and asks Joyce what Bi is, only to be schooled by Walky.

  94. JTGee

    And then the Comments section spontaneously combusted …

  95. Marc in MN

    I was thinking that Becky’s chin looked especially pointy in this comic, but then I looked back and saw that the pointy chin seems to be the standard for most people. I’ll never see these comics the same way again! =P

  96. Dr. Smart

    whats weird is this isn’t out of character for me, I mean we already saw a similar version of this flaw when she found out Dorothy was an Atheist, when I read this I was already aware that much like Joyce she had a lot to learn and this kind of comic just confirmed what I thought and made for a good joke. I don’t dislike her, I still like this new character to explore and wonder exactly what they are going to do about her living situation and the very likely event that Joyce gets a phone call or visit from Becky’s parents.

  97. raeraethejetplane

    Let’s talk about the real issue here. How many coasters do I get with each purchase? How many pieces of mahogany do I get to rub all over my body while doing my best Effie impersonation?

  98. TheSuicidalGiraffe

    DAT UPBRINGING DOH

  99. JohnnyO

    “Bye visibility” is the best laugh I’ve had in a few days. A+ on the mouseover text, Willis.

  100. Timni

    becky is so cute and confused

  101. man jean

    thank you

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