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Issue 4
AO

Issue 4

November 8, 2024

AO

Otto Etraud & Kali

Page one of nine of a cartoon. Text reads ‘What I’ve been thinking about intersexuality is an unpopular opinion. People don’t like these ideas. But I don’t care, I’m going to say what I think.’ There are four panels on this page, all in light greens, pinks, yellow and white. The first one is a head with lines through it and coming out of it, reminiscent of reproductive organs. The second panel is an outline of a person standing in a field. The third panel is of four people standing in a line with light coming out of their hands. The fourth panel is a close up of a person’s head, with light coming out of their forehead, their hand raised to their face and eyes closed, as if in thought.

This page contains pages two, three and four of nine in the cartoon. Page two has four panels. The text reads ‘I really love the story of hermaphroditus, but at first I thought like everyone else. The term hermaphrodite is pejorative and insulting when referring to intersex people. After a while, I researched who hermaphroditus was, and loved their story. More than that, I felt empathy for them’. The image on the first panel depicts two mythical looking people naked in water, seemingly a man and a woman. The second panel’s image depicts an outline of people holding hands in a field with flowers and a white cloud behind them. The third panel depicts an angel like creature flying with light coming out of its eyes, flying over mountains and fields. The fourth panel’s image depicts a naked mythical-looking person lying on the ground, eyes closed, head against rocks with moss on them.

Page three has four panels. The text reads ‘You probably already know who they are, but I’ll tell you anyway. As I know them, in one of several versions, they were the child of Hermes and Aphrodite. In the story, it doesn’t specifically say they have a penis and vulva. It says they have characteristics of both a man and a woman, or things like that, very subtle or ambiguous. What they story does say is that at some point Zeus cuts them with a lightning bolt.’ The image on the first panel is of two people lying down and embracing so it is difficult to tell where one person begins and the other ends. They are lying on a field of flowers and behind them are green vines entangled. The second panel’s image is of green vines and colourful flowers intertwined, reminiscent of reproductive organs. The third panel’s image is of the back of a mythical person with wings and flowers growing out of their back. The fourth image is of a person walking through a mountainous landscape, with vines and flowers growing in the foreground but otherwise barren. They are being struck by lightning. On top of a hill they are walking towards is a mound of boulders.

Page seven contains five panels. The text reads ‘It’s the reason why I’m interested in being visible or heard. Not just for denouncing and reclaiming the brutalities we’ve lived through. But with the power to trace the missing parts of the family to constellate, so other people can feel they’re part of something, and no longer in solitude.’ The first panel depicts a mythical person covered in a tunic. They are holding a bowl and appear to be feeding an ox in a field while another ox looks on. The second panel depicts a mythical person wearing a suit of armour and holding a stick up close. Light is coming out of their mouth. The third image is of a landscape and a mythical person walking along a dotted lit up path. The landscape is barren with sparse trees. The fourth panel depicts colourful floral plants and lily pads and butterflies. The image is full and busy. The fifth panel depicts two small plants intertwined together on a grassy landscape. In contrast it is very simple to the previous panel.

Page eight contains one panel. The text reads ‘I believe Hermaphroditus has been born thousands of times, and will continue to be born until the world someday understands and welcomes them’. The full page image depicts a mythical person with wings standing in a pool of water, smiling, holding an egg like bulb. Growing out of the person and surrounding them are vines with flowers growing out the ends.

Kali Otto Etraud

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I find myself in flowers

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