Alex cartoon in the Telegraph

[PetraDelphiki]

www.alexcartoon.com/index.cfm?cartoon_num=7376

And the following few!!!

I thought it was great. I've always liked Alex. Must be one of the longest running cartoon strips in the UK now, as I was certainly reading them in The Independent 30+ years ago.

Wunder the cartoon states twice that white men are the only group who are not protected

That's how it reads to me

I don't like it at all

It says men are pushed out when there are recessions, uncritically
But now they can jump on the same protections as women and minority groups have been benefiting from

This cartoon is aimed at white men who whinge about feminism, and about d&i stuff in work etc

It's not positive at all

Alex is deeply cynical about everyone and everything. It's not MRA propaganda.

cartoon states twice that white men are the only group who are not protected

I read it as:

1. A comment on the fact that if anyone can self identify into a group, and that group is automatically the most oppressed and untouchable, then anyone who wants to game / abuse the system, will.

1. A comment on the fact that despite moves to empower minority groups, the way that’s been done and the IDpol oppression olympics stuff just allows white men to take advantage again anyway.

The cartoon would have worked much better if the employee had said he identified as a woman. That would have been much more realistic too.

I agree with ^

I also felt it read as if white men are being discriminated against and so all Jack had to do was pretend to be a woman pretending to be a man to keep his job.

I never read the other character as being a transwoman until they said they were [which I guess is true to life in a lot of cases] but disliked how they were positioned as the 'victim' [the manager who was a real transperson as opposed to a chancer pretending to be one] and left unable to fire an underperforming employee.

I reckon the cartoon was written this way so as not to awaken the ire of TRA MTF trans brigade.

shame it isn’t funny

This.

I’ve read all four, it wasn’t funny.

Sandra draws badly does so much better.

I really didn’t like the insinuation that when the shit hits the fan they fire white men because everyone else is protected. That’s just untrue.
Untrue and unfunny.

I never read the other character as being a transwoman until they said they were

It's a long running character.

Bowlofbabelfish

I agree with both your observations 1&2 ^

I think some who aren't getting it, are maybe meeting the character( and the strip) for the first time.

I'm not even sure funny is the right word - it's more wry observation on the craziness which society is nodding along to and applauding as stunning and brave etc.

The boss is (if you read the cartoon as ongoing) ‘inspired’ by pips bunce.

Theyve (the character in the cartoon) been playing the system with gender for a long time.

It does make sense if you’ve read it for a while. The insinuation isn’t ‘poor white men’ at all. It’s ‘white men find ways to game system and remain on top regardless.’

It’s been in private eye for years and it regularly features characters who are, let’s say, inspired, by real life figures.

I think it says lots of things because the whole ideology is madness. But mostly, if they is no need for hormones or biological changes then anyone can declare themselves "trans" and there is nothing to be said. We don't have any biological tests to demonstrate someone is trans either. It is all in the mind. So it's the ultimate protection.

Yes, it is clearer if you "know" the characters and their story line (and the cynical take on the City more generally

It's both a riff on "playing the victim card", and on the perils of self-ID meaning that anyone can say that they are trans and enjoy the protections of having a protected characteristic, whether they are or not

Here are some of the backstory strips about "Steven" / "Stephanie", to explain some background

I love that this has been quietly bubbling away in the Telegraph for 18 months

Sorry, link failure...

www.alexcartoon.com/archive-result.cfm?action=search&qu=stephanie&start_date=&end_date=

Here

Great Alex cartoons.

Steph is the perfect name for the pathetic chancer.

Sometimes life imitates art.