If you’re looking for an image that concisely expresses all the nuances of an issue without ambiguity and remains coherent, you’ll be looking forever. If the ally rat was visibly noncomformist, it would imply that only outsiders can protect those persecuted by general society; if the trans rat appeared unperturbed or unharmed, it would appear that the ally rat or even the struggle as a whole is of little consequence; and so on and so forth for every alteration that could be suggested.
All imagery, and all human expression period, consists of tradeoffs in the necessary communication shorthand that is inherent to everything less than total telepathy.
Yeah that’s fair, I don’t think anyone can reasonably expect perfection.
But the posturing of the two characters evokes a very clear Strong / Weak dichotomy that I feel persecuted groups may not wish to connect with, while feeding into the savior complex of privileged groups.
I still like the overall messaging to privileged groups. It tells them the right thing to do. But I understand why there has been negative feedback from those that are meant to be portrayed by the persecuted character.
If you’re looking for an image that concisely expresses all the nuances of an issue without ambiguity and remains coherent, you’ll be looking forever. If the ally rat was visibly noncomformist, it would imply that only outsiders can protect those persecuted by general society; if the trans rat appeared unperturbed or unharmed, it would appear that the ally rat or even the struggle as a whole is of little consequence; and so on and so forth for every alteration that could be suggested.
All imagery, and all human expression period, consists of tradeoffs in the necessary communication shorthand that is inherent to everything less than total telepathy.
Yeah that’s fair, I don’t think anyone can reasonably expect perfection.
But the posturing of the two characters evokes a very clear Strong / Weak dichotomy that I feel persecuted groups may not wish to connect with, while feeding into the savior complex of privileged groups.
I still like the overall messaging to privileged groups. It tells them the right thing to do. But I understand why there has been negative feedback from those that are meant to be portrayed by the persecuted character.