Thinking about the strip historically, I realize that there are really six anchor characters (Mo, Lois, Clarice, Toni, Ginger, Sparrow), the ones who Ginger interviews in a story-length strip in one of the collections (oh how I’m starved for one of those!). I think keeping track of these is already a tall order, though it is great to check in with some other old friends.

First, let me say that I can’t even tell you how much your work has meant to me over the years. I started reading dtwof eleven years ago in college and I’m so thrilled to have your blog as a resource to keep up to date. Plus, Fun Home BLEW ME AWAY. Just lovely, tough, wonderful work.

Thank you also for this post. Of course, dtwof is not a community-produced project, so it’s very gracious of you to be reading our little comments and feedback and taking some of them seriously.

That said, I want to offer an observation in the context of humility and gratitude. The dtwof community represents an almost self-consciously multiracial group of women, and yet, there has been virtually no racial tension between individuals and within the community. I find that really weird. I mean, there’s a little bit with Cynthia, the one conservative lesbian, but that can get easily written off as her wrongheaded politics. No racial tension between our main progressive/radical characters, though. There is class tension, gender/gender identity tension, political tension, but it’s as if racism doesn’t exist because dyke communities have got this whole race thing figured it out. All the women of color are professionals – bookstore owner, attorney, accountant, non-profit manager, professor. There’s nothing wrong with that, maybe something great about that, but it adds to this odd feeling I get that, in the dtwof world, access to economic opportunities outside *and* within the community aren’t raced, white radical dykes are never racist (and are, therefore, never held accountable for their racism), and there are no disagreements about race.

One thing I’ve learned to first accept, and then rejoice about the way you write dtwof is that you make tough decisions about the stories that accurately reflect what’s happening in the “real world.” I was so sad (and, okay, kind of miffed at you!) when Madwimmin’s Bookstore closed. But you were right to close it b/c the community has changed b/c that’s the real impact of capitalism. When Stuart was introduced, and then, oh my god, moved in with Sparrow, I was like, WOW!. But yes, that was a totally appropriate and accurate reflection of how complicated our community is. So, dtwof is not a world of some kind of idealized, simplistic community and you don’t let us slip into thinking so.

So, no major race-based conflict? I read #522 and, though of course, it really is great, I can’t help but notice that you chose to illustrate the conflict about choosing between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton through a Black woman and her Black trans daughter. This seems like an odd choice when this conflict which has been cast by many white feminists (Gloria Steinem, Robin Morgan, and others) as a choice between gender- and race-based loyalty. Illustrating the conflict between two Black women seems to be an easy choice to avoid the racial tension specifically between white women and Black women, including radical dykes, that has been sometimes triggered through the debate about which candidate to support. (I’m not saying that there aren’t Black women who support Hillary Clinton, but I am saying that those big name feminists that are laying down the law around how to think about the potentially “first woman president” and demanding gender loyalty are doing so in a way that many Black women and other women of color find very, VERY problematic. There is a real race tension here among feminists. It’s not a monolithic or simplistic tension, but it is real.)

I’m not necessarily asking for a big dramatic smackdown between characters about the election. But, I am asking for a little more of the healthy dose of realism that you give to the strip to be directed also towards issues of race and racism within the community.

So, that’s it. Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to be as careful as I could be about making the point. Hopefully it’s clear. And again, thank you so much for sharing your smarts, your hard work, and your creativity. Your art truly has an impact on people, I know it does on me.

- Alisa

I have wondered if the preponderance of thin people in the strip has to do with Alison’s method. As we know, she does a lot of her own modeling, using a digital camera. It’s not surprising that the characters tend to have her body type.

During the time that I’ve been following dtwof — the last dozen years or so — there have basically been two body types, fat and skinny. There have been a few minor characters who have had conventionally sexy female bodies, e.g. Jennifer Krukowski and, long ago, some of Lois’s squeezes. But there haven’t been muscular people, heavy people who carried their weight in their hips rather than their bellies, short squat people, tall people, people with big legs or big shoulders, and so on.

An occasional exception is Carlos, but in a lot of frames in which he appears I find myself wondering what he actually does in all that time he’s supposed to be at the gym. Alison also does a good job of using bodies to suggest changes in the person, e.g. Jennifer has cellulite and Paul has grown a pot belly since retiring. But the underlying body types don’t vary much.

I have to think this isn’t something that interests Alison, which is fine. Lots of other things do interest her. But it’s something I’ve noticed and since the topic of body types came up, I thought I’d mention it.