A Gender Journal

A part-diary/part-webcomic that chronicles artist M.Slade's experiences navigating gendered space as a trans man.

[adventuresingenderland]

Genderbends are complicated, and I get why people have issues with them. Personally, though, I feel like there’s a lot of nonbinary potential for genderbend art, at least when done by nonbinary people. 

By the way, my website has a store now! https://msladeillustration.com/store/ 

And you can back my patreon at https://www.patreon.com/genderland

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It’s so interesting how the acting world pretends to care about trans people but also never wants to cast anyone with obvious gender variance. 

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Some childhood gender confusion.

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Imagine that gender is like an aesthetic blog. Lots of people enjoy aesthetic blogs. We all know that aesthetics are socially constructed, but we enjoy them anyway. And what’s interesting is that certain people will naturally be drawn to certain aesthetics and not to others - and that’s ok. It’s totally individual and just a fun way to let people know more about you. Now imagine that we lived in a society where there were only two types of aesthetics that people can discuss. Let’s say, vaporwave and grunge. And worse, when a baby is born, the doctor brands them with a tattoo on their arm and announces, “This baby will be running a vaporwave blog.” In this society, everyone reacts to their assignment differently. A lot of people enjoy vaporwave and decide that they can live with being a vaporwave blogger. Some of these people are aware that the grunge bloggers have more access to photos than them and that grunge is more widely respected than vaporwave. So they lobby for equal photo access for vaporwave and grunge bloggers, which is a noble pursuit in and of itself, but that’s about as far as they go. Some vaporwave bloggers really don’t like vaporwave and would be much happier if they were running a grunge blog. When they try to say this, other people get angry. “You’re gonna run a vaporwave blog and you’re GONNA LIKE IT!!!” Or they get confused. “So what you’re saying is that you want to be grunge so you can have the number of photos that grunge bloggers get. Come join us tomorrow as we rally for more vaporwave photos.” Similarly, there are grunge bloggers who would be much happier running a vaporwave blog. And when they try to go to the rally, the vaporwave bloggers get mad at them. “You’re just trying to destroy our chance at getting equal photos from the inside! Why would a grunge blogger ever want to be one of us? You have so many more opportunities.” There are even some people who don’t like either aesthetic very much. Or sometimes they’re feeling one aesthetic and sometimes they’re vibing with a different one. Or they’re actually really drawn to pastel goth but whenever they talk about it, everyone is like “Pfft, that doesn’t exist.” This society would be way less of a hellscape if only everyone could just blog whatever aesthetic they wanted to.

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Apparently the store is faulty at the moment. I will be setting up a new version of the store soon.

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Wasn’t gonna leave you in suspense with that last comic.

I’m still not sure what my decision is yet. But I figure transitioning is a different process for everyone and I just gotta feel my way through it, you know?

Also, to save confusion, the guy in this comic is my gender therapist, who is a completely different bearded dude from the psychiatrist in one of my previous comics. 

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I have no one to blame but myself this time

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CW: transphobia/transmisogyny, exorsexism, discussion of TERF logic, gender essentialism

A while back, I was walking with an AFAB friend and we were discussing Hanji from the anime Attack On Titan. I mentioned that I love how nonbinary Hanji is in the manga and how nobody knows what their gender assignment. To me, that's awesome because it's a direct challenge to society's attempts to gender people as a form of control. But my friend was actually pretty uncomfortable with the manga's take on the character. She preferred anime Hanji, who fits into cis/binary society much more neatly. That was the version she found empowering. I've wondered about why we had such different reactions to the character. This train of thought brought me back to a lot of (cis) women's spaces I've entered and how they would debate on whether or not they were ok with trans women and trans femmes. I think a big part of why they were so uncomfortable was because AFABs have been taught our whole lives that we are biologically inferior to people who were assigned male. And to cis women, that means that trans women are rivals who are stronger, faster, and smarter than them By Nature. Most likely, this is the reason there's such a pushback against trans women being allowed to get uterus transplants. Because, without the one advantage of being able to give birth, there'd be "no use" for cis women any more and they'd be replaced. Of course, this is a line of thinking that runs completely counter to everything the trans/nonbinary community actually wants. I know personally that I absolutely hate any mention of "biological difference between the genders," even if it's done in a supposedly positive way. All those little "fun facts," like "Did you know that women have a wider range of vision than men but men's eyes track movement better?" creep me the hell out. The same is true for a number of my trans/nonbinary friends. From birth, the idea of biological difference has been our enemy, and it has wreaked heavy psychological trauma upon the whole community. Most of us will be the first to tell you that there's tons of human variation that doesn't fit that mold at all. Some AFABs are physically stronger than some AMABs. Some AMABs are petite and slender and some AFABs have broad shoulders and facial hair. We're not all these two monolith boxes at all. It would be amazing for cis feminists to realize that gender essentialism (the idea that your anatomy controls your destiny) hurts them just as much as it hurts the trans/nonbinary community. We don't have to be rivals. We can be allies working towards a common goal. The fight against the ways society genders bodies to control them. That's what Hanji would want.

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Hey! I really loved that post you did a little bit ago with that gender template, and how you felt with your different identities. I'm non binary and deal with a lot of fluidity and fragmenting in my identity too which makes me doubtful about myself sometimes. Your comic really connected with me on a personal level and I was wondering if it'd be alright to post something similar in that kind of template? (I'd definitely put credits back to you on the post too.)

Yes!! Actually, when I posted that comic, I really wanted people to use that template for their own gender stuff. So please do, and when you’re done, I would love to see it. 

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Good things are happening! 

Also should mention, going on testosterone doesn’t actually mean you lose the ability to get pregnant. I just anticipated that that was the exact sort of nonsense conversation I’d end up dealing with. 

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About your “I hate cis people” comment: I’m a cisgender girl and I totally get why you said that. Cis people have been oppressing trans people for centuries. You have every right to say you hate your oppressors and I do not take it personally at all. Just like how I say “I hate men”, because obviously sexism is still present and against me. Doesn’t mean I hate my dad and all of the guys I’m friends with. So yeah, just wanted to say that. (I’m also lgbt and your comics and art are amazing :))

Thank you so much! I got a lotta flack for that comment, but I’m not taking it back, for the same reasons you mentioned. I’m a guy and I don’t take any offense at “I hate men” comments either. Like, I’ve seen enough of how men generally treat women (and people they think are women) to understand why people need to say that. 

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On Trans Day Of Visibility, it's important to remember that nonbinary identities are just as valid as traditional genders. I'm still coming to terms with that myself. I'd identified as nonbinary for years but only began to feel like the trans community was something I belonged to when I came out as a guy. And even now, I'm still hesitant to talk about the ways my identity STILL isn't binary. In my opinion, the gender binary and patriarchy are tied deeply together, and these forces oppress all trans people, including binary trans people. That's why standing up for nonbinary identities is vital for all of us in the community.

[webcomiclibrary]

A Trans Man Webcomic Masterpost- Part 1 of 2

Adventures in Genderland ( @adventuresingenderland)

Created by M. Slade (Patreon)

Summary: A part-diary/part-webcomic that chronicles artist M.Slade’s experiences navigating gendered space as a trans man.

Alphabet Soup ( @alphabetsoupcomic) (Patreon) ( Warning:Self Harm, Suicide)

Created by Emma Oosterhous, art also by Angie Yu ( @bearrrawr), Will Hernandez ( @willhernandezdraws), and Guus

Summary:  This is a webcomic about YOU and your queer experiences.  From coming out to romance to everyday struggles, we’re chronicling it all.

Angry Gays ( @angrygaycomic) (Tapas)

Created by Cassius ( @mothcry)

Summary: At St. Lucas, a school for super kids, explosions and bullets are the least of the students problems. Struggling with mental illness, trauma, and identity, they’re more comforted being blasted through a wall.  This follows a group of students and staff members and explores these topics mixed in a universe with meta-humans

Artistic Process ( @red-vaporeon-draws)

Created by Red Vaporeon (Patreon)

Summary: Artistic Process is a comic that talks about the struggles of being LGBTQ+ in Highschool, while also tackling problems like hyper masculinity; racism, and more, while we follow the two main character’s story and the way they all find to, in one way or another, begin to express themselves.

Assigned Male ( @assignedmale) (Warning: Transphobia)

Created by Sophie Labelle (Patreon)

Summary: Webcomic about a transgender girl.

Aversion ( @aversioncomic) (Tapas) (Warning:Blood/Gore)

Created by Hayden Marie ( @haydenmariecreations) (Patreon)

Summary: AVERSION is a webcomic about diner owner Gavin Snyder, a human unwillingly caught in the middle of the Endless War of Heaven and Hell, and the angel Nadhirrah, assigned to protect him. It features wild dog demons, birds of prey angels and a majority queer, diverse cast. There will be violence, brief sexual content, foul language and a dorky amount of animal facts.

Avialae ( @avialaecomic) (Site) (Warning: Blood/Gore, Sexual Nudity)

Created by Lucid (Patreon)

Summary: Avialae is a webcomic about a gross bird boy and his bird-obsessed boyfriend–Imeanneighbor who helps him out during the painful and bloody process of growing wings. Gannet used to be perfectly normal. Sure, he was stuck in a homophobic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, but he was normal. Then he woke up one morning to find a freakish set of wings sprouting from his back. With no one but his wannabe ornithologist neighbor, Bailey, to confide in, Gannet now must go through the painful and bloody process of growing wings.

Blessings (Site)

Created by Knaishia Grover ( @neeshyart) (Patreon)

Summary: Wynn is struggling to survive when the Immortal Swigne gives Wynn their Blessing. The only explanation Swigne gives is that Wynn now has “Power”. Wynn meets people Blessed by other Immortals that can help guide them. In searching for knowledge of their new gift Wynn finds love, friendship and a more full sense of self identity. Wynn learns that being Blessed is a gift with a price tag of responsibilities and constant hunger attached, but the pay off is fantastic strength and the resources they’ll need to thrive in the world they live in. As long as Wynn keeps overcoming the challenges their new status brings them.

Cirque Du Royale ( @cirqueduroyale) (Tapastic) (Smackjeeves)

Created by Brittany G. “Atomicbritt “ ( @atomicbritt) (Site) (Patreon)

Summary: A slice of life comic about the regular lives of the newly appointed royal clown family.

Click ( @clickwebcomic)

Created by Geo Barnett ( @geosaurus) (Site)

Summary: A queer scifi comic about wildlife photography and self-isolation.

Cunning Fire (Site) (Tapastic) (Warning: Death, Blood, Abuse)

Created by Kaz Rowe ( @kazrowe) (Site) (Patreon)

Summary: Cunning Fire is an urban fantasy story about witches and spirits in modern day Chicago, following the journey of Akiva Stein as she enters this unfamiliar, hidden world and learns the craft of the Death witch. Caught up in her new coven’s quest to create the legendary Elixir of Life, Akiva is forced to face her ability to see spirits and come to terms with the ways magic has tainted her past, and how it will shape her future.

Dragon Husbands (Tapastic) ( @dragonhusbandscomic) (Webtoons) (Site)

Created by Puck ( @dragonhusbands) (Patreon)

Summary: Fai lives on space colony 88HK3 in the year 535 After Ascension, and he’s pretty sure fairy tales ain’t real. Then he meets a strange person, and a stranger fate.

Dumbing of Age (Hiveworks) ( @dumbingofage) (Warning: Depression/Attempted Suicide, Abuse, Alcohol addiction, Attempted Rape, Transphobia)

Created by David M Willis (Patreon)

Summary:  is a webcomic about college freshmen in the girls wing within a co-ed dorm at Indiana University, learning everything about life and themselves usually in the most difficult ways.  It stars a Christian homeschooled girl and her atheist best friend, and also a disgraced cheerleader, a misanthrope, a rebel, and a caped vigilante.

Eerie Crests ( @eeriecrests) (Tapas) (Warning: Major Character Death, Mental Illness, Self Harm, Attempted Suicide, Drug Use, Transphobia, Abuse)

Created by Bell (Patreon) (Ko-Fi)

Summary: Here’s the gist of it. Dallas Margolin was doing his best to better himself as a person. He was about to graduate highschool. He was Willow Grove’s star baseball player. He had good friends. Overcoming things from the past, You’d think, for once, the universe was kind to Dallas. That is, until one day, before an important highschool match, his best friend Malek starts planning to move away for college. In an attempt to make Malek stay with him, Dallas makes a terrible mistake. Something lurks in the quiet town of Blue Crests.

Fluxa ( @fluxa) (Tapas) (Smackjeeves) (Webtoons) (Warning: Abuse, Rape, Blood/Gore, Transphobia)

Created by Daniel Lourenço ( @kukkiia) (Patreon) (Ko-Fi)

Summary: Callipus is being chased by the police after hacking into one of greatest corporation there is. During an escape, he meets a mysterious boy who appears to also be a runaway and after being saved by him, they end up working together.

Genderphobia ( @genderphobiacomic)

Created by Izzy ( @izzybbcomics) (Ko-Fi)

Summary: A webcomic about being transgender, genderfluid, genderqueer, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming!

Heracles Knot (Spider Forest) (Comic Fury) (Patreon) (Warning: Blood/Gore, Violence, Rape)

Written and Art by Sidney Maris Hargrave ( @miliabyntite) and Colored byRowan Hartford ( @iputtheromanceinnecromancy)

Summary: Four years after a traumatizing supernatural experience, Leland Henderson and his best friend Jaida Warner are well on their way to becoming Wardens, members of the Order of Peridexion, which oversees diplomatic relations between humans and non-humans. For the most part, it’s not far off of what they expected; they’re learning magic, learning how to fight, and learning how not to offend faeries. But what they didn’t expect was the Order’s bloody history, or the mysterious illness killing off non-humans, or Leland having to face his own genetic heritage on the regular. And the more Leland and Jaida learn, the less certain they are about joining the Order - and more certain they can’t escape it.

Host (Tapas) (Warning: Body Horror, Blood/Gore)

Created by ( @schlissel)

Summary: Kala Sharma has recently been suffering from some strange symptoms. She seeks help from a mysterious person named Lex Lehmann who claims she has a life threatening parasite. He’s willing to remove the parasite but at a high price.

Ikhaya Lami (Tapas) 

Created by Fats ( @fatsmyname)

Summary: When her parents send her to Hogsback, South Africa to meet her grandmother Lulama, Shiana Witlow discovers a world completely different from her own. Bursting with magic and spirits, Shiana spends her summers in the Knysna forest, where she meets Henry, a stubborn but friendly demigod of the forest. Together, the two grow up and become close friends.

Immortal Nerd (Webtoons)

Created by Hanna-Pirita Lehkonen ( @hplehkonen) (Patreon) (Ko-Fi)

Summary: Nokia is a young adult, living on a space station New Rauma. Nokia has just gotten their immortality and the best use they can come up with it is to browse the old internet all day long without eating or sleeping and not having to worry about dying of hunger. After three weeks of old internet Nokia’s parents decide they’ve had enough.

Inhibit (Smackjeeves) (Webtoons) ( @inhibitcomic) (Warning: Bodyhorror)

Created by Eve Greenwood ( @evegwood) (Patreon) (Site)

Summary: As a kid, Victor dreamed of training to be a superhero. That didn’t go so well. Now, nine years later, Victor is a resident at the Earl Estate, a home for kids who haven’t yet demonstrated that they can control their powers. With his 18th birthday - and a transfer - only a few weeks away, he has one last chance to prove he is capable enough to receive his licence and go home.

Job Satisfaction ( @jobsatisfactioncomic) (Warning: NSFW/ fetish references)

Created by Jey Barnes ( @prawnlegs) (Site)

Summary: What is everyday life like for a professional summoner, their zealous assistant, and the demons who crash on their couch and help out with taxes?

Khaos Komix (Site) ( Warning: Nudity, sexual content, Transphobia, Homphobia, Rape)

Created by Tab Kimpton ( @discordcomics) (Patreon)

Summary: a coming of age queer romance epic over 500 pages telling the stories of 8 teenagers.

Leif and Thorn (Site) (Comic Rocket)

Created by Erin Ptah ( @bicatperson) (Patreon) (Site)

Summary: Sparkly fantasy dramedy with magic, bilingual shenanigans, lots of queer characters, and the occasional dragon.A team of Knights are summoned to the capitol city of Ceannis, to guard the embassy of neighboring Sønheim. Thorn is the leader of the knights. Leif prunes the embassy’s rose trees. Both jobs end up being weirder, more complicated, and more hazardous than they look.

Les Normaux (Tapastic) ( @lesnormaux)

Created by Knight JJ ( @theartofknightjj) (Patreon) and AI ( @alababwa)

Summary: Les Normaux follows the life of a bunch of supernatural beings living in Paris after a human wizard named Sebastien moved to the city. They each tell their own side of the story in their respective diaries.

Life Outside the Circle (Webtoons)

Created by Hanna-Pirita Lehkonen ( @hplehkonen) (Patreon) (Ko-Fi)

Summary: The heartwarming tale of two men who find love in the Finnish countryside.

Mantime! ( @mantimecomic) (Tapastic)

Created by Sam Prowse ( @samuelprowse)

Summary: Being a trans man is tough. Sometimes you gotta wrestle bears, and other times you can’t get the goddamn lid off the applesauce! Follow the funny adventures of 3 trans guys as they go through life.

Monster Pop! (Site) (Tapastic)

Created by Maya Kern ( @mayakern) (Site) (Patreon)

Summary: Monster Pop! is a comic about two best friends and the slice of life adventures they share! Monster Pop! is set in an alternate Earth where monsters coexist with humans; sometimes they integrate well, sometimes they clash. This comic is heavily influenced by shoujo manga.

Monsters Crowd Creatures Call ( @monsterscrowdcreaturescall) (Tapastic) (Smackjeeves)

Created by Void ( @trashyvoid) (Ko-Fi)

Summary: Set in a fictional town called Havenhart, located in Indiana around 1984, MCCC follows the life of young monster teenagers and the threat of hunters

Want to learn about more webcomics? Look through my webcomic library here!

Have I not read one of the comics you love? Submit me your faves here!

(Also here’s a template for peeps to submit their comics with!)

Did I miss anything in my list? Have a masterlist you wanna see? Just wanna say hi? Send me an ask here!

Like my work? Want to help me expand what I’m doing? Send me a donation here!

If you enjoy any of these webcomics I encourage you to reblog this post or reblog their works. Most if not all of the comics mentioned rely on word of mouth to grow their audiences. All of these wonderful creators deserve to have their stories seen and heard and you can help by spreading the word!

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Got featured in a masterpost about trans masc representation in webcomics! It's Trans Day Of Visibility, so it's the perfect day to binge on comics. Check these out! I gotta read some of em too. Though I can tell you for a fact that Monsterpop and Assigned Male are excellent.

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Tried going full digital this time, cuz my cintiq is fixed!

[adventuresingenderland]

Been thinking of explaining being trans this way: You enter the office of your advisor at college. "Come in, come in. What did you want to talk about?" she asks. You sit down. "So I've been thinking for a while about this, but I'd like to change majors. I've stuck with the Woman major for as long as I could, but it's making me very stressed and I personally don't enjoy learning the subject matter. I kinda went into this because it's what my parents wanted, but I'm not really satisfying them with my grades anyway. I've taken all the extra credit and gone to all the study sessions, but no matter how hard I try, I just don't get it. Is there a way I can swi-" The advisor cuts you off. VERSION 1 "So the Woman major isn't good enough for you," she asks, her gaze piercing into you. "No, that's not-" "You know, there are a lot of people in that major who are unconventional in their studies. Maybe you could try that?" "I HAVE tried-" "Are you saying what they're doing isn't the right way to do the major? Are you saying the major is bad? Are you saying your classmates are unintelligent for enjoying the major?" "I never said anything about anyone else. I just want to be studying something that I personally enjoy," you say. "Well then go back and try harder to enjoy your major, cuz you're stuck with it. For the rest of your life," the advisor says. VERSION 2 The advisor shushes you. "In the end, it's not my business what the reasons are for you changing your major. If you say you're not happy with it, then that's enough. What do you want to switch to? We'll see how we can get you there." Which advisor do you want to be?