Dumbing of Age is an Absolute Gamechanger for Trans Representation

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The long-running webcomic Dumbing of Age has found a subtle but genius way to depict its Trans characters using some impressive detail. Finding a way to create a Trans character in fiction is difficult. With a culture that expects full disclosure of a Trans person's identity, most stories end up just having the character or narrator directly tell the reader that they're Trans. This sets a pretty negative precedent because it establishes that Trans people are nothing more than their identity. Rather than them just so happening to be Trans while also being their own character, audiences mostly assume someone is cisgender until told otherwise. However, one webcomic has shown an absolute genius way for future artists to go about this.

Dumbing of Age is a webcomic that focuses on a wide cast of characters attending Indiana State University. Each character walks along a different path as they explore their first time being on their own as adults. Due to this wide cast of characters, there is a great deal of diversity. There are characters with different backgrounds in race, ethnicity, neurodivergency, sexuality, culture and more. Because of this, there are Trans characters that do make appearances, and how they're depicted is a gamechanger for the visual medium.

Related: Sailor Moon Gets a Trans Twist in Glorious New Webcomic

Series creator David M. Willis has shown some clear detail when drawing the eyes of his characters. Some have clearly colored pupils while others can have the traditional comic strip «bean eyes.» However, when the college students' parents begin to appear, there's an interesting detail that begins to form. For people identifying as a binary gender, their eyes match the parent that's their opposite. For