Grrl Power #523 – Field flirt
I guess this is flirting, but it’s hard to tell if they’re actually being a little insecure or just circuitous since it can’t happen while she’s his CO. In any case, good job Anvil?
Amaranthine means unfading, ceaseless, or everlasting, but can also mean purpleish, so I’ve decided that Dabbler will henceforth refer to purple haired women as amaranthettes. I am unaware of another word that’s been commonly adopted for that purpose within fiction (since purple hair unfortunately doesn’t exist in nature.) I came across this while searching for a word that meant “constant and oppressive” but couldn’t find what I wanted and this seemed like a word Max might know.
I really really wanted to do a page leading into this one with numerous panels showing the different ways guys look at boobs, or try to not get caught doing it, to show that Max isn’t coming totally out of left field when she gets grouchy any inappropriate attention since it’s something a lot of women have to deal with basically all the time – but 1) it would have required some subtle and difficult angles to draw. I wanted to do it all from a girl’s first person perspective (or even Max’s but it would be hard to tell it was her if it was first person), and as most women are shorter than most men, it would require drawing rather challenging low camera angles of faces. (Note the questionable high angle shot in panel two.) And 2) a lot of these would work far better if they were animated, even if it was just the eyes, and I don’t have time to do that. Besides I’d have to relearn how. The last time I animated something was probably on my Amiga.
So instead, here’s the list I came up with. Feel free to contribute.
- The “Almost Caught” or The Fly Up – This is when a woman looks away, and when she looks back at the guy, she catches his eyes flicking back up to her face (from her chest or her butt.) This would have been one of the ones benefiting from animation to catch the flick of the eyes.
- The “No, I was looking at something behind you, honest” – When you’ve totally busted the guy, and you both know it, but he leans slightly and focuses his eyes past you. “Oh, what’s going on outside of the window? That’s what I was looking at the whole time actually.” Weirdly this actually works some of the time. She turns to look and he gets another look at your boobs. Actually I think women usually know what’s going on but don’t want to be confrontational about it.
- The “What does your shirt say?” – He realizes he’s been caught, but you’re wearing a graphic tee and he doubles down and reads what’s on your shirt, and probably comments on it. “Coca-Cola? I’ve heard of Coke.”
- The “Oh My God” – The poor guy, usually younger, who forgets all decorum and just stares wide eyed, lost in the hypno-cleavage.
- The Dart – You’re having a perfectly normal conversation with a guy, but he has this weird tic. His eyes keep twitching downwar… oh, right, you’re wearing a deep V.
- The Sweep A.K.A The Assessment – This isn’t so much boob centric as much as it’s that full body look over, down then back up.
- The Leer – This is the one that prompts the “My eyes are up here.” The non-stop lock on.
- The “I am a lion and your breasts are gazelles” – Basically the same as The Leer, but more intense and usually from further away.
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Word-nerding here, but I think “incessant” might also have been a suitable adjective. Not trying to put words in Max’s mouth, but “amaranthine” seems oddly esoteric for her normal manner of speaking.
She probably learned it when she developed purple hair…
But you kind of answered your own question there. Max is a confirmed nerd. Nerds often like to show off a bit of esoteric knowledge.
I assume Daphne is visiting Sergeant Vauxhall to bring back a supply of clothing.
See, I have a problem- I literally cannot NOT read words. Like, I will read a billboard every single time I go past it, even if it’s a single giant word, and I’ve seen it dozens of times before. I’ll read it.
And so, when women wear t-shirts that literally have words STRETCHED ACROSS THEIR BOOBS I am psychologically unable to NOT READ THEM. Part off it is the boobs thing, of course, but then again, I’ve also gotten annoyed at the underlying flesh in instances where it’s distorted the words too much to read clearly.
I’m curious though- do women not have any similar ‘female gaze’ equivalent? Like, if they’re talking to a guy with really nice neck muscles, do their eyes ever drop down to look? Or if a dude is sporting an obvious bulge, are there no “Lion-gazelle” looks? I mean, all the feminist literature says that “Women are just as sexual as men” and stuff…
I gather it’s arms, shoulders, abs, and butts that get the most attention, in that case.
Women, on average, are more indifferent to dicks than we’ve convinced ourselves they “should” be.
And now I have that “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” song stuck in my head with words replaced by “arms, shoulders, abs, and butts”
And now I imagine a music video to that song.
“Eyes and jaws and- hey! Don’t stare at sluts. Arms, shoulders, abs and butts, abs and butts.”
@Fenrir Don’t really know why anyone is interested in them. They look hideous. Like fuzzy slugs.
Just leaving this here: https://g.co/kgs/h5faod
My Sugar Lumps
By Flight of the Concords
Lemme tell ya
I see you girls checkin’ out my trunks
I see you girls checkin’ out the front of my trunks
I see you girls lookin’ at my junk, then checkin’ out my rump, then back to my sugarlumps
… etc. watch the video.
Keep in mind women have MUCH better peripheral vision then men. We can easily get an eyeful of everything within 180 degrees of our nose. Sorry men, but you are NEVER gonna catch a women staring unless she wants you to. Or… she is staring for a non-sexual reason. (fear, laughter, gross out…)
When a woman IS staring at you sexually… most of the time its entirely because they know that specific male likes it. (And he’s their boyfriend) Its the flirting equivalent of a hammer upside the head.
I have to counter that with the fact that I have caught more than a few of my female coworkers staring when they explicitly didn’t mean to be. It’s a matter of HOW you catch them. In most cases of women staring, they won’t get caught looking directly at you when in the obvious sense as you noted. However, when they don’t think they’re being watched or can’t get caught it’s a different story. Most people forget about reflections and reflective surfaces. More than a few times I’ve caught said co workers full on just staring at my butt due to the fact that I can see them in a lot of the glass around the office.
Now addressing the fact that I care or not is a totally different story.
I have heard a different story, from some women I used to study with, saying that the women were much more obvious when checking other people out. Most guys I know are relatively good at either not looking, or only “scanning” with their peripheral vision.
Of course, there is a not insignificant amount of men who are unable, or unwilling, to hide their looking.
perhaps because most guys NEED that hammer in order to be brought to the realization ‘hey, she likes you’
similar problem, actually, with graphic tees. Usually, a girl looks at me like she’s caught me or something, but I’m way too busy trying to decipher the tiny ass text on her fucking shirt to even give a shit how slighted she may or may not care to be.
On the other hand, though, women actually do check out the bulge. I only know this cause I’ve had a few girls make that comment when prompted, prompting being asked what types of things they do when they’re checking out guys they want.
Women also have pet body parts they find particularly attractive, just like we have legs, hips, whatever. I’ve had women compliment various parts of my body (usually in retaliation to some comment I make, but they make it clear it’s a part of my body that they regularly admire), and, I mean, it’s not like I can believe a prompted compliment, but I’m also not going to assume they’re full of shit unless they’re talking about penis size, which any sensible person should just ignore when they call you big.
most girls I’ve spoken with who are Boywatchers tend to go for the ass, the biceps or- Weirdly enough the Chest as well. Crotch Shots are usually for determining if Mutual Interest is a go.
I have that problem if im sitting down in a place with a lot of foot-traffic, i end up ass-crotch-channel-surfing on dudes.
Its not at all intentional, and fairly embarassing – tho it does mean i give guys a bit more of a pass when it comes to staring at me personally, since i assume theyre just as culturally conditioned to “body-watching” by media/culture
(NB: this is not me saying that cultural conditioning to stare at people like meat is COOL or GOOD, its just me recognising that i, as a female, suffer from the same stupid media/culture-baggage).
You are doing a good job with Hiro’s eyes DaveB. Nice to see that your practice is already starting to show dividends, in conveying his heritage better.
It’s that epicanthic fold. A small detail, but it’s the thing that most easily distinguishes that specific phenotype.
Great to see that Maxi is still human, and a woman, under all that gold :D
Why do I get the feeling that this was the closest warning he’s going to get that if he does ever manage to get to the same rank with her at the same time, he’s going to be in for a Dabbler grade private “congratulations” “party” from her?
d’awwwww Flirting Max and Hiro are so adorable.
Well, now we know who to ship Maxima with if someone’s going to start that, though honestly, I feel like we’re still too early in the comic to be seriously shipping people. I feel like once Sydney has been part of Arc-Swat for at least 3-6 months, we will be far enough along and have enough of a foundation for people to start, and I only mean start, thinking about anything like that. It feels like we are still laying the foundation for many aspects of the world being built by Dave. We still have a comparatively small roster of villains for one thing and few threats beyond the occasional lone wolf and smaller splinter groups.
‘Shipping’ is rarely anything based on ‘fact’ or ‘true likelihood’, most times nothing ever happens
*looks at age of comic and number of pages*
A single page is enough to start shipping, at this point we should be starting to ship grandchildren.
Aww man, this kills my Maxima/Joel ship.
Why should it? o_O
It’s much easier if you ship girl/girl pairings. Sydney and Dabbler is reasonably shippable. If you do the classic shipper “I’m ignoring their cannon orientations”, then it gets even easier!
The proper ship there is Dabbler/Anyone Arc-Swat or Dabbler/Everyone Arc-Swat.
I am really liking ‘Amaranthe’ as a code-name for Maxima. Unfading, ceaseless, everlasting, and purple.
Technically, Maxima is already a codename (although her real name is pretty close: Maximillia).
‘Codenames’ that are actual, valid shortenings of a person’s real name AREN’T codenames. The whole point of a codename is to obfuscate.
Whereas call-signs are not designed to obfuscate. They are designed to promote camaraderie and allow easy identification of allies in a combat. Of which nicknames and personal habits, notorious incidents, or even appearances are often chosen.
“Amaranthe” would indeed make a fair call-sign, if Maxima was not already known by her current handle. However it would not be appropriate as a code-name, for precisely the reason you yourself stated. It should not be possible to find a correlation between the name and any characteristic of the subject.
Therefore, when such are necessary, it is better to have a list of approved code names,* and just allocate them on demand, at random. That way Maxima might end up being ‘Fork’ or ‘Turquoise’ or ‘Pine’. This is only needed if wishing to minimise the risk of enemy overhearing communications, or cracking secure channels, and being able to deduce tactical information easily
* Ones that are not likely to be found offensive by anyone, yet which are distinctive enough to avoid confusion with other words that might be used in a similar context. However those that are intended to be used in covert situations have other criteria too.
LoL I love the peak in the concrete in the middle of Hiro’s lap covering… sorta like a blanket tee-pee but with concrete and steel! LOL
It really is the little things that you always do Dave that make this comic great, your follow-up was far better than my elephant trumpeting suggestion for Hiro.
Well played sir on all fronts, the sexy humor, the respect shown between leaders and subordinates, the sub plotting of Max’s feminist views. All expressed and drawn perfectly in my minor opinion.
Actually, that’s the wall beyond him, as seen through the gap between his arm and his torso
Anyone who wears a shirt with lettering on, or visible tats on the chest, are wanting people to look, basically, if you don’t want them to look, don’t give them something to look at (and talking about words and slash or tats, not just ‘tits on display’, which is also the same thing but can be passed off as being not deliberate)
They only get ‘shitty’ if ‘the wrong person’ looks
What, are you saying that all girls should dress in potato bags? Because even that would not contain the gloriousness that is the female body. Guys (and girls!) would look anyway. Besides, there’s a difference between a look and ogling.Boundaries, dude. It’s all about respecting boundaries. With peripheral vision.
I’m a bisexual lady btw so I’m kind of on both sides of the fence here. I get the stare and I do the stare. It’s . . . pretty awkward to get caught or to catch someone. My sympathies go out to everyone. Hormones are hard.
No, they should stop being such bitches about it: they dress to get looks, and then get shitty if the wrong person (or ‘type’ of person) looks at them
If you go out wearing a low cut shirt with writing on it, then don’t get shitty if people look
. Girls dress the way they do for a hundred reasons- to look pretty for themselves,because the top is cute, because we feel free, fearless, beautiful. So why are you mad? Because you’re the wrong type of person?What type of person calls a woman a bitch because she didn’t like having her boobs stared at? We don’t know what’s going through your head when you do that- you could be reading the shirt or mentally stripping us! I can’t explain how gross it feels to catch someone staring- and no, it doesn’t matter who it is, it’s always gross! what do you want women to wear, anyway? And why the hell do you think all women should dress according to your special standards?
I don’t know what type of person you think you are, but I think you’re the type who is using an inferiority complex to justify making other people feel uncomfortable. Stay single. Stay single for a long long time, and keep your eyeballs up, mister.
Guesticus, while very rude, has a certain point. While their rude comments were very generalistic, yours were pointed and focused, actually trying to insult them. Already not a point in the favor of your defense.
Secondly, the anon’s point that often many women will dress provocatively, in a way that draws the sexual gaze, for (as I’ve heard from numerous women and female friends) confidence boosting reasons, usually (also unfair, using others to stand in for confidence you should have in yourself).
And lastly, something almost every male goes through at least once in their life. They fall into this gaze-trap that exists just to lure in someone of that woman’s standards, and because they aren’t someone the woman considers attractive enough to them, rather than ignore the person who they have impressed with what they wanted to show off, many times this woman will become aggressive, loud, insulting, demeaning, or raise a big enough fuss to make it a public scene to shame the male.
If you’ve got everything on display in a sexually-provoking manner, you are going to get stares. If this is what you wanted, full stop, good for you, you got what you wanted. If you dress this way and don’t want to attract the eyes of those who are attracted to you -> what in blazes are you doing? There’s always some excuse but it never actually manages to logically defeat “don’t wear ‘come get me’ clothes with a nice body displayed if you don’t want someone to look”. Wear normal clothes like everyone else. Comfortable, whatever your style happens to be, what expresses you, wear it. But if you’re saying a display that almost automatically attracts gazes expresses you, but you get upset when you get stared at by someone who doesn’t make your knees knock, then… maybe you need to re-evaluate what expresses you better, because “someone who wants to be looked at” is not it.
I mean, what if every guy with that typical ‘perfect male form’ went around basically wearing a speedo and as little else as they could get away with? People would find it obscene. Others would stare. And no one would swarm to the defense of these Adonises expressing their pride in their bodies even though they dressed specifically to create that sexual attention as a matter of choice. Double standards always seem at play when someone defends women from something they rarely actually need defending from.
Anything -worse- than a stare is absolutely wrong and on the head of the guy. But just looking, when you’re wearing the eye-trap clothes, with all the right curves that anyone knows will get attention? That doesn’t require treating the guy like he’s garbage, and publicly shaming him. It’s hard NOT to look, worse because there’s outfits that are specifically designed to make someone WANT to look. To be fair, that’s on the woman. She did that to him.
The generalizing of Guesticus was a much worse point on them, especially with how it was using a global statement. Also, while you did use line breaks, your statements seem to ignore that women start getting treated like pieces of meat in elementary school. With being blamed for how guys act, from ages 9 and up, do you really believe that they’re not going to start tearing into people after a decade or so?
Then don’t wear a shirt with writing on it! It’s that simple! If you don’t want people reading your shirt, then don’t wear a shirt that can be read.
You’re ignoring the message and attacking the messenger. What he’s saying is, don’t wear deliberately provocative clothing and then throw a temper tantrum every damn time someone so much as glances in your direction. Like it or not, people are going to assume that if you dress like that on purpose, then you’re trying to attract attention.
Dress like what? How can we avoid attention? Don’t wear a shirt with writing on it? Are you kidding me? If you actually want to read the shirt, that’s fine, whatever dude, it’s pretty obvious when a guy is actually just interested in the words. He’ll say “sorry, I was just reading your shirt,” and MEAN it. But don’t use words as an excuse to stare, and get pissy when a girl knows what’s up with that. You can’t blame girls for attracting stares when they’re pretty. I see girl’s boobs and butts even when they’re wearing thick sweaters and baggy pants, like girls are just great, there’s no getting around that.
Women expect looks, like JustLurkingUsually said, women get stares long before we even have ta-tas. That temper tantrum you’re talking about? That’s a fight or flight response. If you’re getting that, you’ve made someone feel threatened. Sometimes that’s you, staring waaaay too long, and sometimes that’s them, remembering past incidences and losing it on the wrong person. If it sucks for you, try and remember that this sucks for them too, and that they probs have got some emotional baggage there.
Public shaming isn’t something that I’ve ever gotten after being caught in a stare, but the death glare a girl can give is enough to shrivel your insides. Even without words, it’s humiliating, but I would never ask someone not to do that. I mean, would you rather they hide their feelings with a smile? Isn’t that just leading you on? There’s a happy medium between burying all your feelings and rage-flipping chairs, and I think it’s called a death glare. So it goes.
Bottom line – glances are fine. Glances are unavoidable. But don’t act like it’s women’s fault you’re attracted to them. That’s not going to win you any favors, it’s just going to make everyone feel shittier. You don’t have to feel guilty for your sex drive, but please try and understand that sometimes it’s going to make other people feel uncomfortable and do your best to mitigate that. With peripheral vision.
It isn’t obvious to everybody. I’ve been yelled at for reading shirts, and I’ve met women with whom no amount of “sorry, I was just reading your shirt” will get you off the hook. I understand that there’s sometimes emotional baggage involved, so if they continue ranting once I’ve made an apology, I usually just ignore them and walk away. If they follow me so they can continue ranting at me, that’s when I get annoyed.
P.S., it’s very rare, but it HAS happened. I have had a woman follow me around the store so she could keep yelling at me (for looking at her legs, because she was wearing patterned leggings).
I have OCD. I see patterns in everything. Even as I type this, I am counting the number of syllables per sentence. That’s my OCD at work. If you’re wearing an interesting pattern, it WILL get looked at, and she took offense. I apologized (and even explained about my OCD), and then she started following me around the store, yelling at me the whole time.
I was going to find the store manager, but it turned out that he wasn’t that far away; he had seen what happened, and intervened.
Wow, sorry that happened to you. That’s awful. Glad the manager was there to help!
Don’t go assuming the gender of someone you don’t know
Women will get looked at no matter what they wear, but when they wear something with writing on it or is cut to enhance the cleavage, they are doing that to get looks (or they are just stupid), they like the attention, but not if it’s from the wrong ‘type’ of person (if they find the looker good looking in return, they will flirt because that was their intent, but if they don’t find them attractive that is when they get shitty and angry and LOUD! just because their ‘bait’ attracted the wrong ‘fish’)
You are acting like everyone else should know what they went through, not every woman was treated ‘like meat’ growing up. Again, wasn’t saying women (or men) can’t dress certain ways to feel good about themselves, but, if they deliberately dress in a way known to get looks, they do not have the right to snap when their bait catches unwanted eyes
The error of most of your arguments is that it lacks “some”… Some women get bitchy, some men claim it’s the females fault for… etc. At least acknowledge that not everyone is a douche or douchette, please?
Jesus Guesticus, you’re really coming off as an entitled bigot. That could easily not be the case, but your tone and method of attack are very pointedly offensive to many people here. It’s fairly obvious that many people don’t agree with you down here and that you are either acting insensitive to that or trolling.
The mere idea that you can instaneously understand intent when a person makes a wardrobe choice is asinine. I’ve seen women get leered at while wearing t-shirts promoting charities that just happen to have words on the front. Fairly sure that getting your attention and having you objectify them isn’t the damned point. Sometimes they just like that shirt, and it is horrendous to think that someone would be subject to harassment for having a sense of self identity and daring to express it through wardrobe choices while simultaneously not wanting to be treated like meat.
You are telling me, people (men and women) don’t wear shirts with advertising to have the shirts read? Why promote a charity if you don’t want people to read about the charity? o_O
People get leered at wearing military fatigues, fatigues designed to be unflattering
Do not recall ever saying it was okay to leer or to treat people like meat
Some candid camera show should do a comparison with guys with words on their shorts.
“The writings on the crotch.”
Actually where you’d want it is just above hips, at the belt line, to get a stable platform. Alternatively you could get really austentations belts paired with hot pants, or something equally “just this side of revealing.” This puts your “visually attractor” between abs and crotch.
With some clever engineering you could also conceivably put an unobtrusiveness camera system in the belt buckle paired with modern face/eye tracking software, to see if you can catch the “eye flicks” on camera. For privacy of the “candid” you can even overlay a Virutal Avatar like how Face Rig does. Which takes those eye/head/face track and feeds it to a digital skeletal Rig in near realtime.
Speaking of which, that’s one thing that really bothers me when I’m in a store or somewhere and there’s an underage girl with writing on the rear of her shorts. Don’t usually see that on boys, but the same objection would apply. I think the worst was a girl who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 with “Juicy” written on her rear. I have difficulty comprehending the fact that they make that in child sizes much less that a parent would allow her to wear them.
unfortunately, the most likely reason the kid is wearing them in the first place, is because she’s just COPYING the MOM… and of course the mom thinks “isn’t that SO CUTE!?” when she buys those clothes for her daughter… and that, of course, IS the whole REASON they make them in kids sizes in the first place: Money.
that’s the one that gets me most, is the mom and daughter (of whatever age) wearing the same outfit, and then if any mention whatsoever is made of it, the mom will automatically get snippy (even if the person is complimenting her). But who, in their right mind, would purchase an outfit that makes their child look like a hooker? (yes mom, that means you look like one as well, but I’ve actually met some rather classy hookers) I’m just saying that, on a child, an outfit like that is WRONG. Don’t turn your kid into a barbie doll.Or into your ‘twin sister’. It’s your KID.
I’m probably going to regret inserting myself in this particular pile of bologna, but why not, right.
First of all, while a woman doesn’t necessarily WANT to be ogled incessantly whilst wearing clothes that are super hot, the truth (and I emphasize that it’s the truth, and not a desire of the woman here) is that the woman shouldn’t be surprised about being ogled. If she gets surprised or upset after wearing clothes she KNOWS are really bomb, then she’s not really thinking rationally. Were I to take off my shirt, would I expect people to avert their gaze, regardless of how I feel about my body? Fuck no, there’s not even the slightest expectation that I won’t be stared at because I’m being an aberration.
Moreover, at thbbt, it literally doesn’t matter what in the hell the guy who’s staring is doing. Personally, I have an issue with graphic tees, because when I was learning how to read I would look at printed words and immediately read them; it’s become a compulsion. Since you have no fucking clue what the person you catch staring is doing, you should hold up all the possibilities as actual possibilities and make no foregone conclusions. You could use a Heisenberg-style conceptualization, if you’d like, and hold it in a superposition of all the possible states, until the person you caught honestly tells you what was going through their head.
Moreover, Guesticus never made any motion that women should wear some specific set of clothing; his comment was entirely directed at women who wear things that are literally designed for attracting attention, and how they should expect the attention they receive whilst wearing them. And, no, this isn’t some unreasonable expectation I’m attempting to levy, here, it’s a simple fact that things that attract attention will attract attention. If you’ve ever listened to Mos Def, you might have heard a concept he made one of his songs from, which can be summarized by “walking in the ghetto looking like you have a shitload of money should have you worrying for your personal belongings.” He’s also not saying that robbery is a worthwhile endeavor, or even that he participates; he’s saying he knows better than to look ballin’ in the ghetto, and every person who does it is fucking stupid for not thinking through the consequences of their actions in advance.
It’s simple cause and effect. Plant lots of yummy flowers around a beehive, they will harvest the nectar. Wear clothing that attracts eyes, eyes are attracted to your clothing. It’s not so deep that we have to break down cultural norms to dissect this shit; it’s literally the most simple cause-effect scenario you can get, where there’s only one step to turn cause through to effect.
Oh, and I do have one more point to make, at the person who usually lurks: Women have been doing better in school and getting better and more education for about a decade, so you’re literally wrong. If anything, in schools, boys are treated like defective women. Boys are overwhelmingly given medications for mental illnesses that are rapidly being relegated to symptoms of “lack of frequent exercise,” because, no surprise, almost all animals have evolved via shitloads of exercise, mammals especially, since they need to eat more than their cold-blooded brethren. Humans, it would seem, had a lot of exercise in their history, and, thus, exercise seems to factor importantly into development. However, the modern-day people have taken to medicating those with excess energy, which tend to be males. So, no, girls at nine aren’t treated like meat any more or less than boys at nine are treated worse than their fellows in some other way. Not that this even fucking matters to anybody in this conversation, since the ones being slighted are male, but it’s a fact, so I’m putting it here anyways.
^ This.
Hi rand, welcome to the bologna pile, there’s mustard and buns by the salt and vinegar.
You’re making a lot of statements which I’d like to talk about, but not all of them have to do with staring at girls boobs. Maybe we could switch to a side conversation if you want to pursue the discussion about gender differences and education. For the record, UsuallyLurks was talking about pedophiles. Specially how girls are exposed to sexual advances at a very very young age, long before we’re actively trying to get sexual attention.
So are women ever surprised to be ogled? No. Never. I’ve been getting hit on (by adults) since I was twelve, and I don’t even know how long men were looking. My point is that it doesn’t matter what we’re wearing, there’s always that one guy that’s super turned on by it. It’s not the clothes, it’s our bodies that you’re paying attention too. And what the hell are we supposed to do about that? We can’t hide our bodies like a rich man in a ghetto, and are you seriously asking us to? No. Screw that.
We bare skin, because we’re bold, because it’s hot out, because why not, guys can go topless so why can’t we do the closest thing to it? We bare skin, you look. You look, you stare, we see it, you gross us out. That’s cause and effect too.
All of which is fine and dandy. Unwanted or poorly timed sexual attention might make me uncomfortable but such is life. When I get mad is when I hear the argument that somehow it’s the girls fault that guys are staring. Or that girls are being shallow because they only want hot guys to stare them? Jesus no. Look if you have to, but don’t stare, because if you get caught you will always be upsetting someone.
You do realise that pre-teen boys are preyed upon by paedophiles as well, don’t you? At that age, there is very difference in the bodies
Not everyone is a speed reader, so, if you are wearing a top with words splashed across your chest (or your butt, or anywhere), some people might take longer to read it, specially if it’s in some odd font or size
I did consider adding girls and boys there, but I wanted to keep things centered on the main discussion we were having on women attracting unwanted attention. You’re right and that was a mistake on my part. Looking back there was no reason to exclude boys.
I’m also sorry if I misgendered you earlier.
The point was: unwanted attention, regardless of gender
Correct.
Strictly speaking, I intended that to be more about the issues with catcalls from adults that can start with early adolescence. Also, enforcement of dress codes where adults get inconsistent based on a girl’s body morphology. Like long legs making skirts look too short, while the skirt conforms to every rule in the book.
Pedophilia gets a bit muddled with there being a legal and, possibly, diagnostic meaning. There seems a possibility that there could be, for lack of a better word,orientation involved. In that case, it’s very much the young children that get targeted. Otherwise, it’s a creeper on a power trip in most cases.
I’m going to address more general topics. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but practicing pedophiles are in such a minority that they are not really possible to address except specifically, and as an exception to the rules of normal human interaction. I wouldn’t bring up female Presidential candidates in a conversation about Presidential hopefuls, because there would be an issue about skewing data.
I was subject to sexual advances at the same ages my female peers found themselves on the receiving ends of such things. Learning how to handle them and how to protect oneself from harm are things one will notice a severe demand for in their adolescent years.
First of all, it’s not just the bodies a person pays attention to. I pay attention to a lot of things about a woman when I look at her; it’s not just about the T&A that’s passing by me. To impose assumptions of a person’s intentions onto their behavior is arrogant and disrespectful. You know this, but you impose suppositions anyways because you’re an asshole. I happen to be one as well, hence my pointing this cognitive dissonance out to you like an asshole would.
Since it’s not just any one thing that potentially attracts a mate, it makes sense that no matter what there’s going to be some guy into you. The point wasn’t about hiding your body, whether or not you took it to mean that. The point was about paying attention to the consequences of one’s actions, and to think realistically on what will happen in a given situation. If you have a strange hair color, for instance, performing sketchy or illegal activities carries a significantly greater risk.
I also don’t give a shit if a chick gets grossed out. I look until I don’t care to look any more, then proceed to go about my business. I understand that looking too long is uncouth. That’s not the point here, and my only point in commenting was to specifically point out that there was a point to what the person to whom you were replying was saying, and it was that there’s some lack of acceptance of cause and effect in the thought that women are somehow disproportionately besieged by looks and ogles and leers and the like, and that they have some sort of birthright involved with the demonization of those who appreciate the scenery around them.
Whole point being, if you look cute, people are going to check you out. If you stand out, people are going to look at you more. If both, you’re going to attract more attention than if you fulfilled either of the criteria alone. Those three statements are facts, and getting up in arms about the attention one garners requires a fundamental ignorance of both the essence of cause and effect, and human behavior.
In reply to that part of the author comment….
…. it’s not like dabbler wouldn’t show off all you like, just don’t take the offer past the hypnoboobs.
How could you help yourself? You’ve just been Hypnoboobed (Pat. pending)!
*Promoted the next day.
A confessed “sweeper”. Usually one look is enough, don’t need to stare at the sun to appreciate it’s warmth. I think Siegnfield made show about that. Still “Sweep” can be confused with the “Fly up” in some situations as they catch you mid “sweep”
But those of us that are guys are missing a golden (heh) opportunity here:
To any ladies reading this comment– how much looking is (your personal) enough, versus “too much”? Does an attempt at a disarming smile or sheepish grin help, or should you go for a wolfish “yeah I’m looking; you look good” expression? How big a factor is how attractive the guy is to you?
Conversely, guys: have you ever found a girl checking you out to be less than welcome?
In my personal case, only when I had history with the girl and knew she was the bad kind of crazy already.
As in “That’s a whole lot of pretty wrapped up in a whole lot of crazy”?
I understand there is actually a ratio graph somewhere.
https://youtu.be/hKWmFWRVLlU
Here
So obviously I can only speak to my own personal preference, but I don’t know anyone who likes catching someone staring at their boobs or butt out of context. That’s a lot of negative points added to the social interaction scale. I think you’d need to be a Rico Suave to dig yourself out that hole. Like, funny and smooth and good-looking. You can save that, but it will be hard, like getting caught picking your nose in public. It just shows a lack of self-control. Please no wolfish smile after a boob stare. pls.
If it’s not a boob look, if it’s drawn out eye contact, followed by a smile, that’s different, that’s good flirting. You can maybe give your eyes a quick flick down,like not an actual look, nothing close to an actual look, more of Hey Babe Watch Me I’m Checking You Out. Yeah You. Hawt. This will only work if it’s obvious you’re mainly joking and making fun of yourself and not seriously going for the Sweep. That’s a bold move though, and can come across as arrogant, and I’m actually pretty shy, so I think I’d just get flustered if somebody tried that when I wasn’t expecting it. Like maybe that’d be ok if I was out clubbing, but more wtf in a grocery store.
And yeah, if this person is a stranger, a lot of whether I smile back or clear out is going to depend on how attractive you are. That goes both ways with stranger-flirting. You look, I’m attractive, you flirt. I look, you’re attractive, I flirt, so on and so forth until babies.
Wow long post. Loooooonnnnng post. I could go on, but I think I’ll stop here. Hope this helps y’all with sexy times!
Just as I said earlier, you’ve proven down here.
“So obviously I can only speak to my own personal preference, but I don’t know anyone who likes catching someone staring at their boobs or butt out of context. That’s a lot of negative points added to the social interaction scale. I think you’d need to be a Rico Suave to dig yourself out that hole. Like, funny and smooth and good-looking.”
It’s alright as long as you find him personally attractive. You’d -want- him to look then, at least just a little. But if he’s not a top catch for you, then looking at you is wrong, somehow? Newsflash, even guys you think are butt-ugly might still appreciate the work you’ve put into your body and the clothing you wear which is showing it off to the point that they can’t help but look to begin with.
This double standard issue rears its ugly head constantly. But the moment someone points that out all the white knights appear and change the subject back to what men do, not acknowledging these truths. Typical.
Yes double standards exist. We all know that. And you know how to solve that problem? Help the women first. Not in a “Women and children first” way, but because their problem is the root of your problem.
Their “men ogle me” problem is the root of my “there are blatant double standards that favor women” problem? Please enlighten me; last I checked, there were larger and more disturbing problems at hand. Men ogling women is not the root of the problem we find in places like UK and India, where it’s a legal impossibility for men to be raped by anybody.
If we’re just talking about the more surface issue of double standards in terms of attractiveness and people’s subjectivity tinting their views of the people who ogle them, those go both ways. I’m not particularly excited to notice a woman I find completely unappealing checking me out, but I’m also not particularly moved in any way whatsoever by that, whereas a chick I think might be interesting checking me out merits a very different scenario. It’s certainly not rooted in the problem of women having double standards, though. It’s most definitely rooted in human nature and what benefits the self, which is really just something people need to accept so that they may find a way to tell themselves to shut the fuck up when they notice themselves about to think or behave completely irrationally.
the record of “she touched me in a bad place. sorry sir but rape call lines are for women.” from the usa is available on the web too. so we can add to the list. (yes he is hetero and she was a gay woman who wanted a child according to the summary article with link to official report documents filed after the call, but prior to him being put into psych spiral till he was being molested and pimped by his “therapist”)
Ugh no.
Boob-staring is always unattractive. We don’t really want anyone lioning the gazelles. All guys lose points when they boob-stare, but maybe if you’ve got a ton going for you – a self-deprecating sense of humor and a massive amount of social skills is really key there – then maybe you can still engage in a positive interaction after getting caught. But even then you’re starting in the red, and would have done better if you hadn’t been lost in the cleavage. Of course ugly guys can look at pretty girls, and ugly girls can look at pretty guys, but you if you’re not going to be respectful about it then you’re screwed.
why is the self-deprecating sense of humor a must?
Honestly curious, else I probably would have said something presumptuous here.
Humor is always good when you get caught doing something awkward
Why must it involve self-deprecation at all? It’s not particularly difficult to shrug off checking somebody out without insulting oneself.
Thanks!
No problem! Thanks for asking, that was smart!
“it can’t happen while she’s his CO.” Bull$#@&!!! It happens all the time in the military, I’ve seen it happen growing up as a military brat, and having served as well. ;)
Seeing Max acting human for once and not her usual Imperious golden bitchiness an laugh at what’s happened is nice. Especially admitting she looked (Respect) I know Hiro is just being a gentleman trying not to look, but peripheral vision is a wonderful thing. He saw her golden jubbilies! LOL
Would “should not happen” work better? A sexual relationship seems like it would definitely be fraternization…[checks the UCMJ]…huh. Apparently fraternization only applies if the accused is an officer or warrant officer and the other party is enlisted. If I’m understanding this properly there cannot be a charge of fraternization between a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major, even if they are in the same chain of command.
That can’t be right.
Yes it does. Besides I know that reg. all too well, as i was in just that sort of relationship for a short while. Me the enlisted, and her the officer just recently divorced. If we’d been caught she’d have gotten a slap on the wrist and I’d have been burned.
Personally, being checked out is a bigger flag for me if I’m actually talking to the guy. Like, if someone looks at you from across the room (as long as they aren’t staring) it’s meh. I think the “sweep” is also better than other sorts. Heck, I give girls the sweep all the time to check out their clothes.
But if we’re talking, and they’re staring at me, that comes off as “I don’t respect what you’re saying”. ALSO! Don’t try and trick ladies into “giving you a better look”. Like, I hear stories about guys dropping things so that when a girl bends down to help them, they can look down their shirt. Seriously… just don’t. That’s hyper creepy.
Okay Mew, you’re talking about some jag-off ogling you or some other woman in a normal-ish setting.
Hiro, and Max just got caught in a big blast and when the smoke cleared they became instant aware that they sans apparel. So there was a few frantic seconds where they were all to aware of each other heroic nakedness. Hiro didn’t stand with his eyes bugged out and his tongue flapping in the wind like Harvey Toons Wolf, and Max didn’t explode with righteous SJW fury, and indignation over what he, or may not have seen.
They averted their gaze, regained their composure after Kenya initiate a group hug engaged in conversation and even sharing a laugh,
I gotta say I really miss the last art style, the kind you see in the top of the page with everyone’s faces. Sydney could go ‘silly comic book face’ and it would look fun and silly, but now it looks like a mutant that wants to eat my skin, and anvil especially looks broken.
Thought the diglett mound on his lap was very funny.
There. is. no. mound! That’s a flat smooth slab of concrete
You may find panel 2 “questionable”, but I love it. It’s an unusually coy and bashful look from the ballsy Maxima, but it suits the awkward-but-friendly situation she finds herself in. Assuming that was what you were going for, I think you nailed it.
Like Hiro with a slab of concrete.
…Hello? You were going to that scene because your primary target was there? Why are you sitting around having casual talk?
Maybe because “Naked Heroes Attack Monster Lair, Film at 11” would give Ariana a cerebral aneurism?
I think that if the comic were behind an age gate, we might have seen a . As it is, they need actual clothing first. At least Max’s jacket was spared (as she wasn’t wearing it) – it just needs to get to her.
Argh. That link title was meant to be “Full Frontal Assault”. Apparently I fail at HTML tags.
Looks like you forgot to close the tag
DaveB said on the first comment page that it’s being dealt with, and we’ll see it on the next page.
My guess is a crack team of council mages are sweeping the place. This is a mage’s lair after all. There’s going to be tons of magical traps.
Ah, the dreaded panel 2 “face drawn from an oblique angle.” You have handled this challenge well, sensei.
Next challenge, whilst blindfolded, draw what Sydney is up to at the moment.
What happened to Hiro’s nipples? Do male supers have none?
That is a good point.
At first, I was wondering if he had suffered from severe nipple migration, and that they were near to his armpits, but it does seem that they’re nowhere at all.
You will find, in most cases, images of males do not have nipples, even in photos
Anvildude: most male nipples do tend to be closer to the armpits
No, yeah, I get that, but I’m talking, like, inside the pits. Like they’d be caught in the crease when he puts his arms down.
Maybe I missed it in the comments, but I haven’t seen any of the RPG nerds here bring up VtM or VtR. There, the Amaranth (symbolizing renewal and rebirth) is associated with the practice of diablerie, where one vampire consumes another vampire’s soul.
Not really relevant, just thought it was a fun bit of trivia to bring up.
Boiled down – adults have this kind of conversation. Adults can recognize the ridiculousness of a situation , accept the fact that ‘base urges’ don’t rule situations, but can make them stupid and even funny. Very good strip this week.
Love the jacket detail.
Clever use of Greek there.
“Amarantine,” or “amaranthine,” is from the Greek “αμάραντινος” meaning “unwilting.” In English, “amaranth” usually just means pigweed, or the purple-red of its blooms. The ancient Greeks called pigweed “amaranth” because its flowers don’t wilt as quickly as other common flowers in the eastern Mediterranean.
So Max is saying that men attention is unwilting, like pigweed. This is exactly correct.
I meant “men’s”–I can form genitives, I promise!
Hiro had his genatives covered with concrete in last week’s strip. (with the emphasis on ‘strip’)
Ok, that got a genuine LOL out of me.
Oh, and it’s “αμάραντos”/(“amárantos”) in Greek. The consonant changed in English to portmanteau in the Greek word “άνθος”/(“ánthos”) meaning bloom. This word is packed with implications.
They would be cute together. Despite being basically living gods I am going to use the word “cute.” Because of the banter.
The funny thing is I not a breast guy. The more I’m not interested in either the person or conversation the more bored and distracted or rather seeking something more interesting and therefore looking around. A few times the person I had no interest in got the wrong idea and thought I was trying to sneak a look at her. I’ve been accused when innocent. Women can make the wrong assumptions.
One thing I’m not good at is faking, either interest or disinterest. I’m also rather blunt which can be funny with others trying read between the lines and two plus two totalling ten.
Are we SURE that Dabbler wasn’t somehow involved in the creation of whatever that robot fired at Maxima? she seems remarkably straightforward.
Heh. It took me a while to figure out what you meant by the latter. But I do not think Maxima’s personality has changed. Maxima does have an issue with inappropriate sexual conduct and unwanted advances. But there is no reason why that should extend to welcomed ones as well. Plus Maxima has stuck to her guns and indicated that, at the present time, any relationship would be inappropriate.
Previously with the comix fan, Maxima stopped him in his tracks and left him with no false impressions as to her desires. She was not interested and knows full well that only a flat turn-down will stop such behaviour continuing.
Here Maxima has done exactly the same, in letting Hiro know her desires. “Yes I am interested, but it is not appropriate at this time”.
Mind you emotionally you are right that there is a stark difference between her behaviour in the two situations. Strictly no-nonsense military officer in the former. Yet very much letting out her girly side here.
This is the reason we need VR movies preferably ones where you control the camera. Of course they would need to be CGI movies, but then again I think it would be fun to have a movie where you can follow whoever you want and see their day.
So, you want a VR stalker movie? o_O
Sounds good to me. All the thrill but no victim involved, so harmless entertainment.
Mind you not that you need to use a virtual character. There are women who earn a living letting folks follow their entire day online, intimate moments and all. If it is consensual then, likewise, there is no moral problem (not in modern-day Western culture, anyhow).
Someone will still be following them with a camera
The one I saw on the news (when she pioneered it years ago) just had web cameras in every room in her flat. Although nowadays she could use wearable tech to allow the audience to follow her when out and about shopping. And slap down static ones in any location she visited, like a friend’s house or quiet bit of beach.
The market is fiercely competitive nowadays though. So I doubt many could afford to share the proceeds with a camerawoman. But I imagine a double-act would be an extra appeal, so that might make enough to pay both their bills.
A feminist hypocrite? Why, that’s unheard of!
Again you say that word.
Please state what hypocrisy Maxima has committed?
Well I guess I should graciously admit that Maxima does actually say “I have to admit I hypocritically did not return the favour”.
*sigh*
I just had my hackles up, because she was being honest in admitting her lapse. I found that refreshing, and even endearing, rather than something to be critical of.
I wasn’t aware gracious and reluctant were synonyms. Yes, Yorp, you are most certainly “gracious” in admitting you’re completely wrong.
As for admitting it, there is a term for that: Hypocrist Nod. If you point out you’re a hypocrite that somehow makes it a-ok.
To be clear the second part was about her not you.
Heh, I originally had “grudgingly”. But I decided that might sound like I held a grudge against you. So opted for a friendlier sounding turn of phrase.
I was though being gracious, in not quibbling the point. However as you insist I was completely wrong, I will do so, because you are in error in claiming that.
We can either take her comment as being literal. In other words she was outright staring at him, and rudely so. The way you originally interpreted it.
Or as being Maxima trying to make Hiro feel more comfortable. We DID see that Maxima averted her eyes, despite what she says above.
I never disputed that she was unhappy with what she glimpsed before doing that though. By making that statement she is engendering camaraderie, with her second in command, in addition to making him feel more comfortable, despite being nude and previously feeling awkward in her presence.
Personally I still favour the second interpretation, given the overall tone of the page. However if your hatred of feminists runs so deep that you cannot even consider the latter to be possible, then that is up to you.
Mmm, ‘dislike’ would be a more appropriate word, than ‘hatred’, as you have never expressed such. Sorry, if we had an edit feature, I would amend that.
No seriously i was reading her shirt. It was clearly one of those funny saying T-shirts….so i did the “normal” thing and stopped to read it. SHE GOT PISSED. I’m just like if you dont want people to read your boobs, dont put words across them…
Anyway i kind of hate the sterotype. Yes men look at boobs. but so do women. For as long or LONGER(depending on the study). yes your breasts are the first thing we notice. its also the first thing YOU notice. It’s natural. Now if i do nothing but talk to your breasts, fine be pissed. but noticing them? its instinct. Nothing wrong with it.
–sort of on topic/mild rant–
It sucks, really really sucks, to have your sexuality questioned. The thing is, its happening to everyone, but somehow we(men) are the only group being ignored. Like our preferences just dont matter. I’ve never had issue, even before the LBGTQ community really started gaining traction, of someones sexuality, though as ive grown more into mine ive had even less. Yet throughout my life I as well ahve been exposed to a double standard. I cant dare to check out a woman…but they feel free to walk by me on a sidewalk and grab my ass. I’m sorry but i think noticing with my EYES a nice feature is hardly the same as sexual assault. Point being – their are assholes in any sex, and any preference. Noticing someone isnt a crime. touching them inappropriately is.
Contrariwise, eye-tracking software has shown that guys look at other guy’s crotches more than women do. Yes, even the straight guys, upon seeing a photo of another guy, will glance at the crotch. Linger, even.
The, “I have really good peripheral vision” where you’re pupils are pointed at their face, but your eyes are slightly glazed and out of focus, because you’re using your lower peripheral to take a nice long look. (Why, yes, I do have really good peripheral vision myself, its why I wear Aviators for my prescription glasses, why do you ask?)
Has any shop tried selling QR code hologram shirts that show breasts?
Or have it set up to put the reader’s phone into augmented reality mode, so they can see your current setting, exactly as their phone camera is picking it up, but substituting your body for a fully nude female version of yourself.
Throw an age-gate and content warning on it and it would reduce the risk of any prosecution for ‘causing moral outrage’.
Mmm, if I had the money I would set up ‘https://virtuallynudeinpublic.com//’, this will be a thing and that would be a good investment.
By the way DO NOT attempt to search for the mundane version of that. Even doing a search to see if either version existed, the latter threw up a ‘threat attack blocked’ warning from my security.
Why didn’t harem pop back to HQ to get them some spare clothes?
It was ‘explained’ that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to get back again, unless she used one of her other selves, but that would leave that other team minus a member
Indeed. And not just temporarily. Harem would have no way to teleport back to that team, so would have to go there by mundane transportation. Therefore may not even catch up with them until after their mission is completed!
“TAXI! Please take me to this top secret location that is currently being investigated for possible secrets that could decide the fate of creatures you have always believed to be myths and legends! But don’t tell anyone, Top Secret!”
Heh. Or they could use an osprey. Archon may have more than just the one.
Hmm.. Thought.. once Pixel recovers, she can shift to her animal form (and stay invisible to avoid breaching any security issues). Her top has been shown to cover an amount of acreage roughly analogous to Maxima’s…
… unless that’s where she got impaled. Ouchie.
She wouldn’t even need to go invisible
Yeah, but having a very large PINK leopard around invites some odd questions. While the veil might cover up some of it, it’s best not to push the issue.
Rich people do crazy things, like dyeing endangered animals
or hunting them, making them die rather than dye
The point was, seeing a pink panther in New York, accompanied by a golden amaranthette, isn’t gonna raise too many eyebrows, Veil or no Veil
I think even in New York that would draw attention. Especially with the amount of fame and notoriety Maxima has gained by her nuke-like demonstration!
Plus tourists will be all ‘can I stroke your pink pussy?’
Again, the pink panther would not get much of a second look (unless someone is really into pink pussies), again, was just saying she wouldn’t need to go invisible
my fav hooterwatch trick is to catch ladies leaning forward/down – and admire the flash of her assets that gives me. nearly uncatchable, as her eyes are locked on whatever she was leaning down to see in the first place :)
Probably the bulge in your pants.
I once asked a girl ‘If you don’t want the attention, why wear clothes that draw attention?’ She said ‘Because they make me look cute.’
Which, as we untangled what that meant, revealed that the real problem is that people are often subject to influences even they don’t catch. She associated ‘looking cute’ with confidence and security. Those associations were implemented by the same society that convinced men that they were supposed to look at women who dressed like that. It was ultimately a vicious cycle. Socrates was right: to Know Thyself is the first step on the path of wisdom.
If you think you look good, you feel more confident. That has nothing to do with implanted patriarchal society norms.
This, right here, so much yes, problem is, you then get people (usually other women) who find pleasure in destroying that confidence, usually to make themselves feel better about themselves (or, just because they are ugly bitches who wouldn’t look good in a dress specially designed for them by the current top designer)
honestly, I’ve met women that are physically unattractive according to societal norms, and they’re prettier than the most attractive females out there, because of attitude and bearing. a LOT of a person’s attractiveness is their personality, it just isn’t always as visible. There are quite a few very ‘pretty’ people out there with souls like toxic waste dumps, and those people are uglier than trolls.
I see we have similar tastes in partners there and well put the outer shell is not the key to beauty. shame that so many potential goddesses crumble under “cultures” pressure to focus on it to the crippling of the mind/soul that truely matters
To be fair, that too, is simply part of basic human instinct to elevate your own status.
Myself, I have always found the technique of ‘thirty degree peripheral vision’ to work well. While chatting, study something of interest – a tree, a menu, whatever – while admiring nature’s bounty with one’s peripheral vision. Occasionally turn the head to ensure eye contact and show interest, especially when she is doing the talking.
All I could think of when I read this page was Dabbler and Fortuna sitting with steepled fingers and saying “Yeees…it begins!”
I hope they find some duds for Hiro,cause he can’t go home like he is now……!
VERY INDECENT!!!!
This comic made me seriously smile. Perfectly done. and that’s rare in comic-dom.