Grrl Power #343 – Shear pressure
Well that’s probably the last time I draw a mirror in the comic. Twice the work for only twice the effort!
I’d be curious to hear Sydney’s answer to Peggy’s question. Why Sydney’ suddenly conviced that topiary is needed to fit in. What Peggy doesn’t get is that the question and answer has already run through Sydney’s mind, and instead of giving her conclusion a sanity litmus test, her ADHD brain has already moved on to solutions.
It’s weird that characters in shows almost never laugh at things that are supposed to be funny. Chandler says something funny and at best everyone smirks at him, or Tracy Jordan says some Ridikolus thing then falls over a railing on to Jenna, and Liz just rolls her eyes. I think characters laughing at funny stuff is omitted a lot of the time because then you’re betting the audience finds it as funny as the characters. If they don’t then it comes off like you think too much of your humor or your writing, so it’s safer to have all the other characters just shake their head. Sydney does a lot of funny stuff, and usually everyone just goes, “That Sydney” but this time I thought it’d be ok that it strikes Harem as totally bonkers – especially for the reason Sydney thought of it, and it’s always fun to throw Harem’s reactions to another one of her.
Thinking about it seriously, I image at some point in the world someone has made a Merkin bald cap, I can’t be the first person to have ever come up with something so superfluous. Probably for a movie, or glue one on then paint over it for art or exhibitionism, but Merkins are such a weird thing to have ever existed in the first place. I know trimming the hedge or even a little topiary hasn’t always been the norm, just check out anything with naked people in it prior to the 90’s, but the idea that someone ever thought to supplement pubic hair is absolutely bizarre to me.
When I write female characters, I do try and imagine their perspective on the world, and come at it from their view. Sometimes that has a larger impact on their personality than others. I’ve written about this before, but Maxima, Harem/Dabbler, and Sydney have personality traits that are the result of me wondering what I would be like if I had been born female. Harem for instance, loves being a woman. (Or a women?) Maxima doesn’t hate being a woman, but she obviously takes umbrage with certain societal expectations. Even little things, like how the guy is supposed to lead when dancing really grinds her gears. For some of them, their gender isn’t a huge factor, like Sydney. She likes boys but beyond that her life isn’t especially influenced by being female. All the other characters are mixtures of similar traits. So I feel I do an okay job at writing the female perspective. At least the tomboyish female perspective, admittedly. I don’t think I have any especially girly girls in the comic. The one thing I have probably missed the mark on, especially judging by some of the comments from the previous page, is that some women obviously do like body hair on guys.
I’m obviously not a fan, I think that comes from a few sources. One, I grew up on Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, (and Stallone, Van Damme, Jackie Chan, etc.) and none of them have body hair. At least certainly not on screen. The lesson being the good guy has no body hair. Less hair = more good. I also grew up on comic books. No one has any body hair in comics because it’s a pain in the ass to draw, (find nearly any picture of Cyclops, Supes, or Captain America with their shirt off) unless they /do/ have body hair, like wolverine, in which case they have a comical amount. The other factor is that in nearly any movie or sit-com, body hair is played for laughs. Women not having shaved their legs, any mention of back hair, etc. Very rarely is there any mention from a woman like “Ooh, he’s got a hairy chest, I could get lost in that.” or something. On an intellectual level, I understand that is hugely the result of decades of white male perspective being sold to us as the norm, but it’s something that’s informed my psyche since birth. Essentially, I assumed that a lot of women generally tolerate it but secretly would be ok with less rather than more.
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Had to go look up what a merkin was. At first I thought it was a weird way of saying merfolk. I was baffled as to why Syndey might want a hat that made her look like a Zora. Now I can never unknow of the existence of bush wigs.
Thanks Dave :/
I’ll admit that I primarily knew due to the tendencies of regulars on a certain message board (incidentally, I really don’t remember which) to refer to Americans as “‘Merkins”, which led to some hilarity.
As regards body hair, it’s an interesting sidenote that merkins were initially used by prostitutes who had to shave due to body lice. The more modern tendency to be clean-shaven is a newer thing, I suspect partly driven by widespread adoption of skinnier and skinnier bikinis (just look at 70s smut for examples of just how bushy things used to be). I also remember running into an article somewhere (again, don’t remember where anymore) that showed a positive correlation between pubic shaving from an early age and childhood sexual abuse in females. The article speculated everything from the need to clean up to avoid evidence to a desire to try to reclaim the stolen childhood.
I knew it on account of Achewood.
That particular webcomic has been quite informative on and off.
Sydney’s expression on last panel should be an emoticon
I second this <3
Is Sydney…changing? slowly?
Into what? o_O
it might just be dave’s art thats evolving
yea the art looks slightly different for her but the hairstyle seems to changer here appearance heavily from wow shes so cute and energetic to sort of a OKAY shes kinda hot and adventurous
Well, now she has her hair down to brush/style it. It should be back to normal eventually.
I was wondering the same thing, because there is a notable difference in her appearance in the last panel
She looks particularly unhinged in panel 3.
Her nose now goes farther up. And her eyes are no longer perfectly round. She’s less Bugs Bunny, and more realistic.
Sydney has been infected with the “Supers” virus, and will soon lose all body hair, and her bust size will grow three sizes in one day…
hehehe
He he he?
She she she!
Given the all the talk about body hair & some people being attracted to it, I have to put in these 2 links on the subject:
Sex Hair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbi_Xh9RT-k
Sex Hair II the Woolening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbiALDKZkzE&spfreload=10
Despite the names, it is about chest hair. Now, To Gather The Wenches for the Wooing!
*Villain defeated by grooming system…* :P
I’m starting to slowly suspect that even if Sydney doesn’t have super powers on her own, her hair might. You cannot deny the level of body those bangs have. :P
Why do you think she pinned them down with hair pins?
A little known fact about the ‘bobby pins’: they were invented by a man in Invercargill, but he wasn’t Scottish
Yes Math. We womenfolk always do only sexy things only. Hiro just finished telling you that!
“Decades of white male perspective?” What on Earth are you talking about? I assure you, men didn’t conceive the idea that a lack of body hair was preferable, and I can’t imagine what you think being white has to do with it. Not every situation can be explained by assuming white men did something oppressive. Every social group, gender, and race is subject to pressures and prejudices outside itself, and assuming otherwise is not a path to equality. Good grief.
Speaking from the viewpoint of mass North American culture, he’s pretty much right though. You are too, in a way, since I believe that body shaving dates back to Egypt, where it was in fact based on the need to cut down on lice rather than any particular desire to be sexy smooth, but a lot of what is seen as “sexy” in modern culture is, by necessity, driven by what men — notably white men, since they still form the dominant force in media power — find attractive. And such views are in no way oppressive: merely influential. Oppression comes from peer groups who react to media, not the media itself, otherwise every person in the US would have the exact same tastes in everything simply because they were told to.
Also, speaking as a 28 year veteran of the Caucasian race, most white guys are, whether through intention or simply an innate feeling of entitlement, assholes about their views at one time or another in their lives. In all fairness this is nothing unique to them, but it still can be said.
Hold on there, that is what you call a directed subjective statement. All people, humans, can be rather forceful about their views. White guys are not just NOT unique in this, but don’t even play a major role in it. You can say that Americans (ie. USA) are arrogant and can be complete dill weeds when it comes to our views, but even then We are bit players in that game compared to the middle east, Ireland, and China. In these country’s/regions, you will be sent to prison, disappeared or straight up killed.
So, stop believing the false narrative that “White” is a bad word or “White Men” are the root and cause of all things bad. Keep some prospective and stop drinking the kool-aid.
You do understand that DaveB is a white male, don’t you? And he has had at least three to four decades of life so far, so that is where the “Decades of white male perspective” comes from
In case you still don’t understand: he was talking about his own, personal, perspective
Guesticus, you need to reread the statement because you are, without question or alternate possibility, wrong. That said, it’s okay if DaveB is wrong, we’re not all at our 100% for every statement we say.
Rasufelle, it’s older than the Egyptians. All cultures across the entire world regardless of gender, ethnicity, upbringing, etc are human. Modern(last few ten thousand years) human males are attracted to primarily youthful aspects, not entirely, but primarily. Human females want to be attractive and have several insticts related to finding a mate, shaving results in a more youthful appearance and is advantageous at least, and not limited, in that regard.
Guesticus:
That’s clearly not referring to DaveB’s own white-male-ness. He’s making a wider cultural point there.
I was referring to the fact that nearly everything that’s ever made it on to television has done so while white males were in charge of studios and footing the bill. I’m not placing a judgement on that, just saying historically, most media has been helmed by them – and I’m not sure if “white” has much influence when it comes to the body hair thing. My point was if 50% of media throughout my life had been written and produced by and for women, I might have a different viewpoint on the matter. Body hair might have been emphasized differently.
I don’t think think it’d be that much different, actually. A little bit, maybe, but not much.
If you look at surveys, the most common preference men have is for women to have no body hair, but it’s still less then half of all men who want that. (About one third or so, give or take, depending on the survey and hair in question.) Even then the *vast* majority wouldn’t let a woman’s choice on the matter affect their relationship with, or opinion of, said woman.
This then begs the question: “Why is it such a common theme in the media if it mostly not a big deal to anyone?” And I think it because of the same reason ANYTHING is common in the media.
Money.
When was the last time you saw a product that advertised that it would NOT change something about you? You didn’t. You *maybe* saw one that said it would prevent change, but that’s a bit different.
All products cause (or prevent) change. So if people are OK with the way things are (or are going), you can’t sell them anything. But if you convince them that they need to change their bodies, you can now sell them something.
Hair removal is any easy thing to do. Most people have hair. Convince them they should remove it and you got yourself an easy market. Bonus points: hair keeps coming back so they keep needing it removed and you can keep selling it to them over and over again.
This is why you see a large number of adds for shaving, waxing, and related products/services, but very few for electrolysis, laser hair removal, or other kinds of permanent hair changing products. They can only sell you those things once.
It’s not so much that they want people to have no body hair, it’s that they want people to hand over their money. Telling people to have no body hair is just the first step in getting them to do that.
Most of the people in changer of the media are white and/or males, but that is secondary to ALL of them being greedy capitalist who want you to hand them money. (not that being greedy or a capitalist is entirely bad, mind you. But that’s a much more volatile debate… and not the topic at hand.)
As a wise man once said: “It’s all about the benjamins, baby!”
“When was the last time you saw a product that advertised that it would NOT change something about you? You didn’t. You *maybe* saw one that said it would prevent change, but that’s a bit different.”
An (ole) observation in support of your post: Why is it that, if a man wants to smell like a man, there’s at least 20 different manufacturers trying to make him smell like perfume?
Yeah, realised that after posting, just been too many people jumping on someone for making a personal statement or opinion (plus with new ‘Anti Cyber-Bullying’ legislation threatening free-speech got a little jumpy)
Good guys have NO body hair. Dam it i seem to be a villan. Time to fight super girls then
The real test is not the body hair but the facial hair.
The first questions on the villain application form are:
1) Do you have a goatee, Y/N?
2) If the answer to question 1 was no, do you have twirlable mustache?
It’s not just the good guys who don’t have body hair…Remember Vehemence?
Fairly certain V seems to be totally hairless. I don’t even recall him having eyebrows.
That’s the point: Fedorka is a villain
Hercules from Marvel has a hairy chest and he’s a hero, not a villain.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/f0/5d/db/f05ddb7382897b99a93fa1841330b67a.gif
He’s also not in the Sydney-verse
Just noticed something: he is hairy everywhere (including his knuckles) but his arms are smooth! o_O
Now that I think about it. I always did wonder how Conan The Barbarian went clean shaven in a time when he’d have to hire someone to shave his back with a straight blade. Much less spend time shaving the rest of himself.
In the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories Conan usually IS described as having a hairy chest etc… I guess artists found it easier to not usually draw the hair & then Body Builder Arnold played Conan in the movie. Professional Body Builders tend to have their body hair removed to better show off their muscles.
Fun fact. Most of the covers of the ‘pulp’ mags that Howard’s stories actually won a cover spot for were painted by a woman. One, Margaret Brundage, whose covers remain controversial. She was one of the first to depict Conan as -some complained- an effeminate almost Errol Flynn-ian body type, complete with short wavy locks. Despite the fact Errol Flynn often had a mustache.
Fun Fact two. The hairless body builder body type was often mocked at the time of the Conan films, with hairy chest’s in style such as the infamous Burt Reynolds and Magnum P.I. heart throbs. One can only assume the popularity of the film and Ahnalds rise to stardom had an effect on that trend reversing. As well as Hulk Hogan I might add.
Nowadays we have something called ‘lumbersexual’ whereby the supposed last remaining bastion of masculinity still allowed (in fashion) seems to be beards. Who knows if beards will someday be outlawed for their oppressive presence? dun dun duuuun!
I find myself wondering if Sydney ever has a drink. She’s old enough to have one legally, after all, though I bet she’d get carded a lot thanks to her height and youthful appearance.
Is the world ready for Sydney with a snootful?
It certainly doesn’t prove that she never, ever has a drink, but considering her behavior when she’s sober, I think the most blatant evidence that she does not ever get’s wasted is the lack of arrests on her record!
Unless she acts like a mature fifty-year old when drunk. Or, better yet, a she just goes “Listen here! In my day” etc.
It could be that her meds for ADHD aren’t supposed to be mixed with alcohol. It may very well be that Sydney doesn’t drink…Unless she skips her meds (& all else that may be implied with it).
For some reason, I keep forgetting that our heroine is taking meds.
So does she :P
Well, she apparently forgot to take them before last night’s dinner at the steak house…
Speaking from personal experience. Though, it may not be accurate with everyone who has adhd.
Alcohol tends to jump my energy level up. Depending on the amount, it can go high.
For me Alcohol made me either a happy or maudlin drunk. Unfortunately it also removed important behavioral checks so I’d do stupid things. I don’t like doing stupid things so I don’t drink. Plus I never really liked the taste of beer.
As a friend put it once “(my real name) when I get drunk, you get stupid” Basically I can be completely sober and lose my inhibitions in a group of drunk people.
There are a few very good microbrews, but most of what I call “Saturday Night Football” beers (Budweiser, Coors, Michelob) have always tasted like sex on the beach to me. By which I mean “effing close to water”. So I only drink on special occasions (and I almost never drink beer), because I don’t like the taste.
P.S., yes, I have tried real sex on the beach. It isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ll summarize by saying “sand in places you didn’t think sand could go.” Also, chafing.
What kind of drunk am I? I’ve never actually found out. I’ve never had a beer, or wine, or tequila or anything else. I sometimes think I’m the only person on earth who can say such a thing! Why haven’t I imbibed? Good question – I mean it’s not as if I come from a family of drunks and got scared off or anything. And I do eat beer battered fish and wine flavored food without hesitation.
Really, I think my problem is that I’ve met myself. Let’s just say that I’m convinced – rightly or wrongly – that I would turn myself into a drunk in very short order.
I have had alcohol before. However, I’ve set certain restrictions on myself.
It’s hard not to after drinking Irish Whiskey as my first taste. Which burns, especially since I didn’t pay attention to the fact it’s called “sipping” whiskey for a reason. And drank the shot fast.
After I recovered from the burn, I realized that I wanted more.
From that I’ve figured I’m geared to be an alcoholic if I ever lose control. More so than some people.
*shrug* I could be wrong about it. But I’d rather be careful
I was the same way for many years. Knowing I have an addictive personality I was afraid to try alcohol. As it turns out, I hate the taste of beer and like the taste of whiskey, but alcohol is less addictive for me than bananas. Carbonated beverages on the other hand–I can’t have those anymore. If I drink one, the craving becomes so bad that within a few days I’m drinking a six-pack every few hours. Weird, eh?
Note that it wasn’t all that long ago that Tom Selleck and Burt Reynolds were considered THE sex symbols of the male half of the species. Chest hair was a full-blown thing in the late sixties and seventies, pretty much through the disco era. Arm hair was acceptable, back hair was still ick, and butthair has always been viewed as grotesque, though–so there’s a distinct limit to how hirsute you can be before being unacceptable as a sex-symbol, even in its heyday.
Tell that to Ron Jeremy.
No, really.
Please.
Somebody TELL HIM!
The Hedgehog? He’s still banging around, so he must have something going for him
LOL, was a joke. According to many interveiws I’ve read and watched, he’s a really nice guy with a great, if sometimes warped, sense of humor and is very considerate of his co-stars.
Mind you, the only reason Ron’s still in the business is because of the reputation he built up in his younger, much slimmer years, when his huge dong was more obviously huge and not overshadowed by his belly… no way in hell someone with his current build would get hired anew in the adult film industry, no matter how big his dong was.
Yup :D
Dear Maker of an Awesome comic.
I-oh heck. Words can’t express how totally into this comic I am and nobody wants to hear me launch into a multi-paragraph gush fest over it. So lets just assume you know how much I love this cool thing and skip to the real reason I’m commenting.
I want swag.
Specifically- Grrl Power swag. So, do you have a mini/micro shop at present? If not, is it in the works?
(My apologies if you’ve answered this before- I’ve been conditioned to never, ever, EVER read the comments section. It is the ruin of joy and the portal to dark and lonely places.)
Grrl Power Swag….
Get the Official Grrl Power Bald Merkin! heh heh heh.
Gold Maxima Body Paint!
Get your Official Grrl Power Maxima-Gold Bald Merkin! Supplies are limited!
I’m not sure whether it’s your comment, or my imagining what Maxima would do in response to such a thing, that’s caused be to be so highly amused. Probably a bit of both.
“They’re selling replicas of my WHAT? Who’s responsible for this!? When did… But… How did they even… WHO DO I GET TO KILL?!”
“And why is it only a spray can of gold paint?! They’re ripping people off!” “Technically, Maxima, marketing is keeping it on…”
Then, M’Lady, my job is done. :D I hope to amuse you as much or more in the future.
Thanks! I have proven to be bad at generating merch. I spend all my time just keeping up with the comic. When I get the kickstarter together maybe some stuff in that area will happen.
So… you gunna sell golden underwear? Or did you mean some OTHER area?
Well it’s not like Maxima will be selling perfume or body wash any time soon. “New Golden Showers for Women. Refresh yourself with a Golden Shower today.”
…that would be soooo wrong on sooo many levels…
Just sell plain grey shirts and say they are Archon uniforms :D
Poor Math, so frustrated.
There’s just one question on my mind: were the Supers born without body hair, or did it fall out when their powers first manifested?
Who is born with body hair?
Ugh… brain fart. I meant “failed to develop hair at puberty”, obviously.
I was thinking of Achilles, who couldn’t have developed his power until later (or else he wouldn’t look like an adult now).
Don’t you just hate those? I mean, all that green smoke coming out of your ears…
Actually some babies are born with body hair.
https://www.todaysparent.com/baby/babies-born-with-hair/
Yes, there actually are merkin bald caps. Occasionally used in movies that have actors with peculiar nudity clauses. Sometimes used in more extreme cosplays, performance arts, or on stage.
Also, there was one indie movie “Blue is the Warmest Color” that had explicit scissoring scenes. The director later claimed they used special-effects prosthetic on top of their hoohas.
A female actor in The Return of the Living Dead wore one. A bunch of teens in a graveyard, suddenly one of them starts ripping her clothes off while dancing to music. Didn’t put ’em back on for the rest of the movie.
In the first X-men movie, the actress playing Mystique was wearing strategically placed prosthetic etc . The second one she was wearing a bodysuit.
If I may interject, though I may not be the first one to do so on this subject… The Stand by Stephen King. I believe there’s a part in there where a woman is laying in bed with her boyfriend enjoying snuggling into his chest hair and being surprised that she likes that so much.
That is all. Everyone can go back to their lives now.
Hairless legs et al is a Western Culture thing. Saw a picture once of a Hindu woman giving birth and you see those hairy legs. Now women go so far as to trim their wonderful eye brows till they are gone and have to be literally penciled in. Gone way too far. I admit I am a fortunate male who doesn’t have much in the way of obvious body hair and am happy for it. I would not like to pay for having them ripped out of my skin. Though many plains tribes did one-by-one pull out facial hair so that they wouldn’t have beards.
At times I think about shaving some of my nether regions of hair. Different strokes and all.
Had to adopt sydney as my new gravitar
lets see if it took this time
It has by now anyway.
DISCLAIMER: I Know it’s just a comic, but it deals with issues i feel are close to me.
I feel like i need to clear something up here, and i know i am a bit late but have been rereading it. While I am no expert, and these are also technically disputed for what is actually happening inside the brain, These are what I understand Autistic Spectrum to be
ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder: I’d like to describe it as “It’s a catch all given to anyone who gets distracted around things.” but that is because certain doctors who aren’t mental experts have a tenancy to give out methylphenidate based medication to people who find they are more distracted. It doesn’t have the same research as ADHD.
ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A very specific thing where the brain doesn’t produce enough dopamine. What tends to happen is that the body learns to use adrenaline to combat this, leading to being Hyper Focused around things which interest them, and distracted around things which dont, as they look for something to distract them.
Asperger’s Syndrome – A pervasive development disorder which focus’ on the person’s social skills. Most people with Aspergers will have forms of OCD as well, often being hyper focused on one particular area of skill they have talent in, but unable to deal with dealing socially with people
Sydney definitely seems to fall into Aspergers over ADD or ADHD. She has difficulty in dealing socially with people and hasn’t picked up on social norms, her tendency to default to the type of behavior you’d see in comics is also like that. Comics and nerddom seem to be her passion, which is often an escape for similar people, and she has taken to doing as much as she can within it to interact with other people who are social outcasts.
The whole bodyhair thing…
In general… I hate having it. Mostly because mine is all hells of patchy. It just looks messy and ugly as … yeah.
BUT someone I was… doing things with a while back had claimed that I really shouldn’t shave it off…
And alas, her preference appealed to my laziness… and I stopped.
So now I’m basically patchy as all getout… but there isn’t anyone else around to remark on it nor care in the slightest.
Still… if any chest hair gets long enough for me to wrap it around my finger, I yank it right out.
Merkin bald caps! Oh my God!
Jeez Sydney, you’re a hazard for Harem to be around. ;P
I grew up in the Sixties and Seventies, when chest hair on males was still considered reasonably sexy. One of the oddest things I can remember involving chest hair was watching an episode of Star Trek where both Kirk and Spock happened to have their shirts off in the same scene — Kirk had a smooth chest, but Spock had a hairy chest! It had never occurred to me to think about whether either of them had chest hair before, but I realized then that I totally would have expected it to be the other way around. Chest hair on a Vulcan just seemed so odd — like some kind of evolutionary holdover.
By the way, interesting style change in the art on this page. I like it!
The last line of the author’s blog above.
Not gonna sugar-coat this.
I don’t get the joke.
I know what bald caps are… but… what?
I literally turned my head sideways… SIDEWAYS trying to rattle out any detail of information that might have led to a more formative inclination of the direction this joke was inclining this declination of my head to induce.
The inverse indictment of the proportional relationship between the third relational inducement of memory function is somewhat proportional to the direct sociological expression of the third party reducement of expectational desires… so that… uh… Bald joke?
Did you look up the word merkin? A bald cap on a merkin kind of defeats the purpose. Therein lies the joke.
Umm…has Harem suddenly become a vampire in the last panel? She has no reflection in the mirror even though she’s closer to it than Sydney is!
Oh…my mistake. I see Harem’s reflection now. I missed it because it kind of looks like just a continuation of her right shoulder and back.
Characters do laugh at other characters’ jokes in romantic comedy, to show the former becoming romantically won over to the latter’s personality. So is that what we’re seeing here?