So, I've been working on this comic for a while, see? It's called The Island: A Modern Fairytale (among other things) and I've been updating it on Destructoid, SmackJeeves, as well as a variety of other websites. Well, I was surfing through the comments on one of the critique forums I had set up when I came upon this:

"Hmmm.

An island... Inhabited by only beautiful women... ruled by an old codger and his male offspring (why?)? And none of the beautiful women have two words of any meaning to say to anyone... Because being beautiful, they are all the same, are boring and have cotton wool in between their ears... I'll stop there. I'm trying hard not to find this comic sexist and so far, I'm failing miserably.

Even if you argue that the prince falls for an uglier woman, so that's obviously not sexist, a wrong plus a neutral don't make a right.

I'm not saying that you're obviously out to demean all women and imply that women are either beautiful and devoid of personality or ugly and charismatic and they aren't capable of ruling their own island without a man around to be in charge (perish the thought), I'm just telling you because you wanted crit on your comic and the latent sexist aspects just jumped out at me and won't let me enjoy it. So you should be aware that this comic may have that effect on some readers. I couldn't *not* post this reply, I know you'll read this and probably think 'huh?!' because I can't imagine you purposefully intended the story this way, but that is actually the main problem - that it's subconscious.

...That there are a lot of stories like this in manga, film, tv, etc. don't make me feel any better

(manga written by a boy I note)"

Here is my response:

"All I can say is, thank God.

JesseYuki, you're the first person to get the idea that the island is sexist. I've actually been worried sick that no one seems to notice that the women of the island all look exactly the same. It's my first time trying to write satire like this, and I'm continually worried that someone is not going to get it, or worse, they're going to think I'm serious.

What does the King do? Exactly what I said he does: He watches the girls play volleyball all day. He's not much of a ruler, and only has any power because he's declared himself the king and wears a crown (the crowns will come into play later in the story). He wants the Prince to marry someone- he doesn't care who- so that he can become king and continue the bloodline.

Why does the Prince find the women boring? Because they all look the same to him: here, beauty has only one definition, and thus has no meaning. When he first sees the girl, he falls in love with her for the exact reason you described: she's uglier. She's different-looking, more exotic, if you will (because really, what does exotic mean, anyway?) and that's exactly what the Prince has been looking for.

The Prince is sexist; the King is most definitely sexist; hell, the Narrator is sexist, to a degree. So, who should you, the reader, sympathize with? Really, it's up to you. I try not to sympathize with any single character more than another. They all make mistakes, and have their own issues that they may or may not deal with by the time the comic is finished.

I honestly have to thank you for calling me out on this; not a single person who has read this has said a single thing about the nature of the story or its characters, and it excites me that someone is willing to at least take a cursory glance at the deeper meaning behind the tale. Believe me, if I wanted this to be a misogynistic romp, the women would have been far more scantily-clad. All the same, thank you once again for actually taking the time to critique my work."

So, I guess I'd better ask the rest of you at Destructoid: Do you think The Island is sexist, subliminally, ironically, or otherwise? Feel free to discuss any parts of the story that I've released. All I'll say is that we're only halfway done with the story- we're just getting started...