How to surprise Aunty
This is a single panel comic (split into 2 for instagram), expressing some of my baggage around older family members (here depicted as aunties) who have been socialised to revere and get very excited about weddings and babies - strictly in a cishet sense of course..
It took me years to figure out that Aunties were not born this way.. under patriarchy, women tend to earn less then men and have social disadvantages (e.g. childcare, personal safety, career options and so on). So getting married might have represented some ideals such as being cared for financially, however there are many expectations around marriage, including caring for the in-laws and bearing “heirs” - although most of my family and friends expressed love for their daughters, I also know of situations where they were treated as inferior beings.
Anyway, it’s time for Aunties to get an upgrade - not just on their phones but in terms of LGBTIQ+ partners and career opportunities and choices!
With my autobiographical graphic collection, The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse, (check out episode 1 here) I’m aiming to possibly be the first British-born Chinese comics artist, and if I’m not the first for that, then the first to be writing about being trans and queer.
If you do know of any artists who sound like this, please message me, I’d love to connect and find out more.
Following a lot of reflections, the comics in my book will possibly be in either black and white or in limited colours. I love the vibrancy of these as one-offs (eg. posters) but as Eva Megias pointed out to me, comics with a fewer colours can be easier on the eye.
Follow @SquidHorseComics for various comic experiments, projects and news!