Japanese Cartoon Porn Helped Me Understand My Trans Identity
In 2003, I was 13 years old. The Iraq War was just starting, the Pioneer 10 satellite had broadcast its final radio signal, and I was seated at a public computer in upstate New York, looking at porn. My house was still connected to 128k dial-up, and I was forbidden from having my own AOL password; as such, I spent an hour a day at the library whenever possible, browsing assorted Flash cartoon sites and quietly investigating the wide world of adult entertainment. (To the librarians: I am sorry for sullying your hall of learning. I had no choice.)
Since I’d already been reading comic books for eight years, it should come as no surprise that my smut of choice as a teenager was the cartoon variety. I’d open up Internet Explorer, navigate over to Penisbot (I know), and search their galleries for something different than the creepy Simpsons-cest that dominated the cartoon porn landscape. For the most part, everything I found was solidly heteronormative, with a few lesbian scenes here and there. And I didn’t think to question it.
Until Tilt Mode.
Created by an artist known only as Locke (who also published a few stories through Eros Comix, an adult-oriented imprint of Fantagraphics Books, but has since faded into relative obscurity), Tilt Mode is the story of Amanda, a student who discovers while…
