Help Shape Some OJST Policy (poll) (Patreon)

Hey Patreon, we’ve got a question for you!

We’ve been debating something behind the scenes, and we’d love your help settling it:

How do you feel about sexually explicit content… when it’s the author drawing themselves?

We’ve tried to create the vibe that Oh Joy Sex Toy is like chatting with a friend at a coffee shop... if your friend sometimes casually goes into depth about butt stuff. But when it comes to autobiographical comics, opinions vary on how explicit to get:

If an author shares a personal experience and wants to draw themselves in the act- their own rendered genitals, doing the deed - how does that land for you? Can it feel too real, like an overshare? Breaking a hidden reader-author line and agreement? Or does it feel honest and normalizing, as a meaningful way to connect with the author and their story? How best to keep that coffee-shop friendly vibe?

We often aim for a middle ground: allowing the explicit moments when they serve the story, and pulling back from explicitly showing them when they don’t. Instead, we encourage our authors to use fictional characters as body doubles and visual analogies, or zooming out and simplifying the art to be less realistic. But it's a tough, ambiguous line to find, much to everyone's frustration.

So now we’re asking you, dear reader:

How do you feel about sexually explicit content … when it’s the author drawing themselves?

• It's a bit much. Be suggestive, not explicit, unless it's necessary.

• I like a balance! Show it when it serves the story, but don’t linger or overly focus on it.

• I want to see it all! If the artist wants to share, let them.

We'll leave this up for a while and check back in. 

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While we'll read comments, we're not likely to reply, and would kindly ask you not to mention any specific artists or comics we've had on the site! Please keep your notes agreeable and kind!