About that Punch an' Pie comic...

So, I read the comic Punch an' Pie by Aerie (creator of Queen of Wands) and Chris Daily (creator of Striptease). Daily draws and inks the comics while Aerie was doing the script. Recently, however, Aerie was forced to yield to real life and turned most of the control over to Daily (though, as I understood it from a post, she outlined the plot of the comic). So, I have no idea if today's comic (WARNING for domestic/physical violence) was Aerie's idea, or if she just wanted Lucy and Heather to have a dramatic break-up and Daily filled in the blanks.

Naturally, I was appalled and find the comic deeply problematic. That said, it remains to be seen how this will be handled. If, as I sincerely hope, Heather is the one who ultimately comes off as the worst person in this scenario, then maybe a powerful statement will be made about domestic violence and how there's never any excuse to hit your partner. Ever. (And please, don't play that old canard of, "What about if you're being attacked? Huh? Can't you defend yourself?" because that's a fucking strawman. We're talking about what's on the page. A person slapping another person out of anger, not out of self defense or retaliation for a physical attack.)

My fear, which is being played out in comments on the comic's page and elsewhere, is that this will be seen as a positive act on Heather's part. After all, Lucy was being a right proper bitch and needed to shut the fuck up, right? Heather has a history of not always standing up for herself, and now she's standing up for herself. Trouble is, she's doing so in the wrong way. And to further confirm my fears of how this will play out, I had an interesting exchange over in punch_an_pie

One the one hand I kind of feel like Lucy deserved it. It shut her up. On the other hand, I'm not really okay with anyone hitting anyone. And someone commented that it almost looked like Lucy was trying to provoke Heather into that.

My response:

One the one hand I kind of feel like Lucy deserved it. It shut her up.

You know, abusers and apologists use this line all the time. Or say, "She provoked him/her into hitting her."

And regardless of if that's the reaction Lucy wanted, it's still wrong, and I can't condone violence in that form, especially if the reasoning is that someone needs to shut up.

"Shut up!" and "Get out!" screamed at the top of her lungs might have worked just as well, or if Lucy refused to leave, "Get out, or I will call the cops," as I do believe Lucy wasn't exactly paying rent.

Yes, Lucy was being cruel and a jerk, but Heather's actions make both of them come out looking like assholes--Heather more so than Lucy now. I'm really hoping Heather winds up appalled by her actions and it's not played off as a moment that should be cheered/as her standing up for herself in a positive way.

And of course, I'm not saying we shouldn't ever write or draw comics where domestic violence/partner abuse happens. It's something that needs to be discussed and talked about, but when we do it, we need to make sure we clearly establish that no matter the reason, striking another person in anger should never be condoned. It should especially not be condoned if the reason is, "That person needed to shut the hell up." Victims of abuse are silenced every single day for the exact same reasons, and it's not right then. It's still not right even in a fictional setting.