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VanHeist β Steal My Sunshine
Published: 2013-06-19 21:59:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 74267; Favourites: 967; Downloads: 396
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So...yeah, not an especially funny (or fun) comic to post, but I felt like this was kind of an important statement to make. Or something to point out, anyway. I felt a pretty lousy putting Didi in this situation, but life can be lousy sometimes.This is sort of a companion/alternate piece to , and I drew this one because, well, as fun as it is to imagine Gogo responding to this sort of crap on Didi's behalf in her usual manner, the fact is, this is how such a situation would go down in a more real way--absent of an avenging force like Gogo. (And the situation depicted here is pretty damned clean, really). It's destructive, demoralizing, and usually goes unpunished or unanswered. And it hurts when you're occasionally reminded that people can deliberately punch the joy and beauty right out of life with a few words.
I'll try not to make a habit of downer stuff like this, but this is one of those things in life that sticks in my craw.
peace
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Comments: 399
Something something, assholes are made, not born. Not sure why I've felt I should mention it after looking through the comments.
And wouldn't Gogo already know anyway? I've thought they had some sort of telepathy/hive mind gimmick going between them?
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Β this is why i stay away from guys like that.btw 10/10 artΒ Β Β
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Even after three years, I still love this picture, and often shows it to some friends.
But there is something I'm wondering about... Where is the "submit to daily deviation" option ? It's because it's too old ? We can't submit it anymore ? Since it DOES deserve more attention. Especially from the DA's staff. Such picture deserve more rewards and congratulations that cosplaying girls showing their cleavage...
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its sad because he takes everything beautiful about her, her being brown, her legs her dress and yes even her butt. something she shouldn't be ashamed to have or be showing but he uses it to hurt her.
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This just makes me so sad, because she is so happy, but even this hurts her. Β x_x
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A handful of men out in this world show an ounce of respect to a woman and have the education to never call them out like that. A black/brown/dark woman they call us and make it sound... meaningless or menacing.
Respect will get you far
So if a man can't respect a woman first, he will never get the woman he deserves.
Women can only lookout for themselves.
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Unfortunately that's just what freedom of speech is. I mean, yeah it's horrible and people shouldn't do it, but people always tend to do what they shouldn't, and so long as they aren't physically touching or hurting anyone, we can't do anything about it really. :c It's a sad reality, but it'd also be a sad reality if we happen to restrict someone from saying what's on their mind that's horrible, and then having that be used on things that are only human right to say. Like if we stopped people from catcalling, but then we also stopped people from speaking their mind about the government or about certain things they don't like or do like. It's an unfortunate spiral of unfortunate events.Β
All we can do is try to encourage people to be nicer, do nicer things, say nicer things and show them the good it can do to change their bad ways.
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dude wat is you problem...rude
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I cant believe a comic strip produced an emotional response, but, this made me feel terrible. I know initially we are to feel anger at the punks who she passes by, but what grabbed me the most was the look on Didis face, and it made me feel so bad. I wanted to apoligize to Didi for what happened and try to make her feel better, to make me feel better. Β Damn, Mr. Van, you always sneak in an EMP when we are least expecting it? Powerful work, sir, powerful.
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Yeah I bet GoGo is gonna beat the crap out of them
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Man, what a bastard! Someone needs to bust that creep in his dirty mug!
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Loool. So her state of mind was totally crushed because someone wanted a peak at her ass? Really man? This is not how a situation like this would go down. I recall something like this happening to my mother growing up, and she cursed them out and kept walking with her head held high.Β
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reactions differ. in the end, it still provokes a negative emotion, and sometimes lashing out might actually make someone feel worse, even if their anger is justified.
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Something similar happened to me (a bit more disgusting) and I, too, cursed them and kept walking but I still were mad and felt bad for some hours. Despite how you react, it is not pleasant,
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not everyone is as strong minded as that. I've seen far more girls feel down and unsafe from those types of comments then been unaffected.
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aww...I wish I could give her a hug...it's guys like that that make commenting alittle harder on people who mean well...
Gogo should punch them in the face
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Men such as that give men as a whole a bad reputation.
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Favoriting because it's both honest, sad, and true...some men can be straight assholes, and I am a guy.
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AND YOUR A GUY?! No way!
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given that men target women no matter their state of apparel (and i have even seen many men in certain countries make comments about women around in full Hijab about "whats under the covers") , it most definitely is not the woman but men who need to fix their shit up.
It is not the fault of the woman, but the person who is objectifying her."dont do this or you'll be objectified" is bullshit because no matter what you wear or do, their behavior has shown that your SOLE GODDAMN existence is enough to attract such attention and get objectified if such attitudes are not dealt with.
The victim blaming "asking for it" is bullshit, because the perpetrators are the one's performing the damn act.
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Nasty. When a woman can't go out with such comments, abd men wonder why women act all 'Bitchy?'
Well Gee, maybe it's because you treat them like slabs of meat!
Like to go Gogo on those Dastards! By bustng their bones!
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Agreed. She does really look splendid, but jeering at girls usually doesn't make them happier.
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I was shown this in a discussion on Feminism. great piece, with an important message. sometimes, we all get objectified, and women have it the worst. being treated like you aren't even human is the worst. people have a tendency to forget that they aren't entitled to another person's attributes just because they want it.
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Why am I not surprised there's wall of text replies everywhere in the comment section? Not that it's a bad thing-in fact, it's rather wonderful seeing people debate about this.
But yeah in my home-town, a lot of guys will complain that they never see a cute girl [in a skirt] and this comic kind of explains why.
It's just sad how it's more socially acceptable to wear pajamas/sweats in public than wearing a nice dress.
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Aaahw... Didi.. *hugs her* Don't worry hunny.
Next time I'll join you and smash their faces with bricks!
Eventho I most likely will take allong my fryingpan XD
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Lol, poor Didi. Β Some guys can be real pigs. Β Β
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Yeah... they bring great shame to us other guys and give good guys a bad name
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Aww.... well, to be honest, she needs a tougher skin, especially if she ends up in the dark cradling a cup of hot cocoa/coffee/tea. Just because some guy got an ogle-full and crassly let her know how she made him feel in his miniscule loins doesn't mean it makes one iota of difference in how she should perceive herself thereafter. Words don't hurt unless you let them.
Now, if those guys got physical, that's a whole 'nother story.
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Words can hurt and not everyone has the strength to overpower the pain they are capable of causing. You clearly understand nothing of language if you honestly believe that people cannot/should not feel bad over how they are verbally treated by their peers.Β
People should be mindful of what they say to others. You can never know for sure how what you say will affect another individual and if what you say earns a NEGATIVE reaction, then it is your responsibility to review and possibly correct your toxic behavior.Β
Do not victim blame.
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Susiron, before you start reading and huffing and puffing and championing the cause, you seem like a very cute person and you have lovely art and I like you despite not knowing you. This reply is only to clear up some stuff. <3
"Do not victim blame."
First of all, and most importantly, I am not blaming the victim. I'm implying the receiver shouldn't perceive themselves a victim by accepting someone else's crass words, because, no matter what, there's going to be challenges in the form of small minded individuals, like a bully, or condescending idiots, or cat-callers, or whatever. I still believe she should NOT be sitting in the dark, alone, cradling a cup of whatever. She should still be out and about, wearing whatever she wants to wear, and letting the words of a small-minded, insignificant individual slide off like water off a duck's back. He has no power over her nor her choices nor how she should perceive herself.
"You clearly understand nothing of language if you honestly believe that people cannot/should not feel bad over how they are verbally treated by their peers."
Second of all, I didn't imply at all that I believed people cannot be hurt by words. "Cannot" means you have no alternative, and it happens to those who suffer verbal abuse from those they should love and trust. But that isn't the case, here, and my original reply indicated the situation faced in the comic. "Should not" is different. I believe people definitely SHOULD NOT be hurt if they have a choice in the matter at all. By the way, the individuals in the comic are not Didi's "peers," as in, from my perception, they are not her equal. They are nothing, and that is how she should treat them. By the way, I'd like to point out that you delivered a form of verbal attack when you conditionally indicated that I "clearly understand nothing of language." But it's cool, because /I/ don't think I meet your condition, despite, apparently, qualifying for half of it.
"...not everyone has the strength to overpower the pain they are capable of causing." ... "People should be mindful of what they say to others."
While I /do/ believe everyone should be considerate of people and only say nice things to each other, I am not naive and I know that this will never be a perfect world.Β I think I hit your "berserk button," somehow, which caused you to generalize my response, but I was simply referring to the hypothetical situation faced in the comic. I thought it was obvious, otherwise I would've been more specific. Anyway, saying not everyone has the strength to overcome painful words is very... disheartening, actually, and I would sincerely hope that people find this strength or else they're going to have a lot of trouble in life if they cry over every little taunt or nasty remark. Most importantly, and this is a whole 'nother can of worms I'm opening, but DO NOT HURT YOURSELF OR COMMIT SUICIDE.
Finally, I'd like to nip further commentary in the bud, and also apologize to VanHeist, every reviewer of/visitor to this comic, and DeviantArt in general, and, why not, THE WHOLE ENTIRE WOOOOOORLD for making this long ass post... but NOTHING smacks my own berserk button like a generalized assumption. I do, however, hope not everyone found my reply/replies as callous, negative or toxic.
tl;dr: fuck the world and their mean words and just be happy being you. <3
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You didn't hit any "berserker button," and I'm not generalizing anything that you have stated. I disagree with your opinion, and stand by what I have stated. This long and rather condescending response has cleared up nothing and, if anything, has concreted the fact that I feel you are victim blaming.
Β Talking as if people /should/ have the power to overcome verbal abuse is very ableist. It's nice to imagine that people will hold their heads over high water and ignore nasty remarks that they receive, but many people CAN'T and insinuating that people SHOULD NOT feel bad over verbal abuse is problematic. There's a thing called emotion, and negative emotion does, gasp, happen to exist.
I'm not even going to get into self harm and suicide with you, as I can't see that ending anywhere pleasant.Β
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You call me condescending, but I have to point that finger back at you. You're missing my point, but I now understand yours. A mental handicap/disability falls under someone who has no choice, which I did refer to in the above post though not specifically.
If you are inferring that Didi may have a disability like that, then I can see where you're coming from.
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I have not missed your point, although it's great that you keep trying to undermine what I'm saying with that comment. Very nice.
Wow. Wowowowowow. Saying that your response was ableist does NOT mean that it is only harmful to people with handicaps, and assuming that I must think that the character is handicap to disagree with your point on the matter is frankly disgusting. Your comment was very ableist, but it is also harmful on a general, wider scale. It's harmful to anyone that dares to feel negative emotions over harmful situations that naturally evoke such emotion.
It's wonderful to wish that everyone could produce rainbows and sunshine out their backside in awful situations, but people just can't crap rainbows on command. Insisting that people should be able to see the greener side of the grass literally does nothing. If anything, it makes people feel WORSE because you're disregarding what they are feeling, telling them instead what you think that they should feel.
I'd really recommend watching the Simpsons episode "Moaning Lisa." The last few minutes are particularly enlightening.
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If matters. I think she looks perfectly lovely in that dress!
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Okay, I know this is kind of a late response, but I feel like I need to say this. I love your art style and whatnot, but if you're gonna make a statement about "society" or a gender, at least be fair about it. A woman wearing a dress that barely covers her ass (or not even judging by the picture) is pretty much asking for lewd comments on her choice in attire. And if that same woman spends the next day in her house with the blinds closed because she walked around with her ass hanging out the day before and members of the opposite sex responded accordingly, she's the one with problems. Don't like being objectified? Don't walk around like a sex object. This would have had more of an impact if she was dressed more reasonably.
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I'd agree that had I drawn her dress a touch more conservatively, this may have come off more evenhanded. If this is to be taken as a bold "statement" of any sort, then I'll grant it's a faulty one.
But I'd also ask why you feel the need to fall into the "asking for it" camp, when that assigns a certain level of inevitability that sidesteps the issue. In practical terms, yes, you'd expect a possibly lewd reaction. But this is the problem: it's not inevitable. I'm not saying anyone can dress however they want without consequence, but if we shift the focus from "asking for it" to "resisting the urge to be an asshole" i think that's where the root is. There are ways for people to feel good about their bodies and their looks and for others to enjoy it without grinding everything to a dick-swinging halt.
Short version: I see your point, but you may be missing mine.
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Β Poor Didi... I almost think some people do things like this, making perverted comments and such, not just because they hope what they say will come true, but also just to be mean. These guys probably don't expect a girl will lift up her skirt because they ask, but they don't care about how their words make her feel. Or maybe they do know, and just want to ruin her day.
Β
On a different note, I love how you colored this; the first few panels really look like they are outside, in the sun. That is a hard thing to pull off, but you did it! A fantastic picture that is also worth a thousand words.
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