Reading List: Take it as a compliment

Take It as a Compliment
by Maria Stoian

Bringing together the voices of males and females of all ages, the stories in this collective graphic memoir reflect real life experiences of sexual abuse, violence and harassment.

The day before yesterday I promised I would come back on the topic of gender violence, trying to go together through the 16 days of activism bridging together November, 25th and December, 10th. I’ll do it my own way and, as I’m used to writing a lot about comic books on this pages, I’ll start by recommending some readings.

The first book I suggest should fill your awareness library is this collection of short graphic stories, portraying the inner voices of people who have experienced gender violence and harassment.

Each experience is brought to life by Maria Stoian’s exceptional artwork. Her unique and varied styles powerfully reflect the tone and mood of the different stories and in just a few pages express the complex emotions felt by victims of sexual abuse.

The title itself gives me goosebumps, because it’s a tough skin I’ve tried to grow across the years, failing epically in recent times. Take it as a compliment. He doesn’t know better. Take it as a compliment. He is inconsequential. Take it as a compliment. Nothing physical happened. Take it as a compliment.

Covering acts such as sexual violence, public sexual harassment, domestic abuse and child abuse, this is a reminder for survivors that they are not alone and a call for all of us to take action. The stories clearly show that assault of any type is not an honour bestowed on anyone. It is not a compliment.

From a graphical point of view, it is clearly not my style, but the usage of color is as powerful as it can be and the sketch lines cut the skin diving deep, crawling underneath that bark skin of mine.

Grab it. Let me know what you think.