Hello everyone! So, been gone for a while again 😔. I am still trying to get on here every so often though! Just been a busy time with work, life, health, laundry of all things haha, and you know.
So this is my entry for the Funny Comic Contest hosted by @cobmaximus. These are so fun! I definitely need to work on some form sketches! That and some different cartoony faces. I think I have the same one for every character. On the plus side it's easy to recreate the same character over and over haha. You can enter with just stick figures too if you're interested!
This one was a special collaboration with @teamgirlpowa! The theme was Feminist Heroes for Hire.
I wasn't too sure what to do for this one honestly and I got a late start. Of course, after being halfway done with this one I thought of a few others I may have liked better, but, this one was already in the works and time was running out. Although, I will say, after getting it all done I like it 😊 . I just hope it fits in the guidlines. It's superhero-esque, I should say. There were a few more panels I wanted to do but didn't have time. This is a complete idea though.
Below is a bunch of rambling, if you want to skip that and go to the comic that's fine 😁
Also, take the "manly" term with a grain of salt, I'm using it for description purposes.
I got the idea from kind of a life experience. I have worked as a nursing aide, and so have many women in my family. I also have women in my family that have "manly" (lol) jobs. In the small town I'm from gender is not a concern for most jobs because people and jobs are a little scarce. Most women however just go straight to being a nursing aid. Granted it pays pretty decent with benefits, but the work is pretty brutal.
Now, as times have changed so have the equipment and lifting policies. Women that worked as a nursing aide maybe even ten years ago are suffering from horrible back problems in relation to that kind of work. My grandma and mother are good examples. Surgeries, medication, the works. They are doing fine otherwise.
Anyways, it's kind of a common thing that most people have thought this is easy work. I was deterred from working at a factory (from my grandfather, who's thoughts have definitely changed over the years) telling me I couldn't handle "that kind of work." Well, being as they paid more and the hours were better I got on at the factory and let me tell you what, it was WAY easier than being a nursing aid. It also still had benefits. The biggest reason I didn't stay on as a "lifer" was it was actually extremely boring. However since then I have worked at three different factories. Granted times have changed with them too and the conditions are better at most of them. Also, there ARE factories where they do very physically demanding things, but not many in my area. The one's in my area the work isn't even comparable to the work done as a nursing aide.
I think there's a stigma about work that women do being easier than work that is considered "for men." There's an article I read about a women who's husband makes more than her and she's fine with that because he busts his butt doing manual labor, and she works in a nice place as a nurse. Okay, granted, it's not fair to even compare wages at two different types of jobs. Having said that, in my opinion, physical jobs aren't just "manly" jobs, they are for certain kind of people in general. I know plenty of men who are integrating into jobs that are predominantly women, and vise versa, and that's great! If my brother and I applied for a physically demanding job, to be honest, they would hire me (no offense to him, he'll even admit he does not like any kind of manual labor) but if we were applying for a job that included running errands and working with the public, he would get it right away, I would say to hell with that! lol.
Now, my grandfather changed his mind through the years because of this, he has two sons, and a grandson. Whenever he needs the roof swept (yea, he does that lol), lawn care done, painting, moving furniture, any kind of physical help, he calls me or my mother. There are many jobs he told me I shouldn't get because of the work load, and now he asks me if I still consider them and says I would do well. I think through the years that mentality has gotten A LOT better. However, it's not completely gone. I wonder how many other women or young girls peruse a career or hell even just a job, because they were constantly told they weren't suited for job just because the work "may be too hard." Maybe my grandma and mom could have saved their back doing a "manly" job.
I'm not saying that women WANT to work in a "manly" job, I'm just saying that making sure they know the opportunity is there would be a step forward. I think it has definitely gotten better and is getting better. I had considered being an electrician and the field as it is now is filled with women. It's great to see a lot of women working a trade!
If you want to be a nursing aide that's awesome too! Especially if you want a good work out. I know I was lifting way over 100 pounds when I was a nursing aide. They do have better lifts now but man, there were still many times I had to lift a lot of weight. Anyway, enough of me rambling lol just some personal viewpoints. Now for the comic!
Some of the process. Still forgot to set the resolution so sorry if it's blurry. Also, my pen pressure wasn't working and I didn't want to waste time trying to figure it out, it was probably something simple. I was going to do a speed draw but with time, the rendering takes quite a while.
