Dykes To Watch Out For

Over 40 years of keeping our eyes peeled

Ashley Sudeta

Widely known for creating the Bechdel-Wallace test, Alison Bechdel isn't a film critic or sociologist, but a cartoonist. She’s penned several graphic memoirs in the past decade (with “Fun Home” even becoming a musical!), but from 1983 to 2008, her primary project was her comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For.”

While working office jobs in Manhattan, Bechdel began drawing single-panel comics of "deranged women doing different things." The first was a naked woman holding a coffee pot, labeled "Marianne, dissatisfied with the breakfast brew." Marriane was the foremother of many dykes to come. Bechdel began creating multi-panel strips as her work was picked up by feminist newspapers. She established a consistent cast of characters after she moved to the Twin Cities in the late 80s.

If you look closely (or scour Reddit), you’ll notice “Dykes to Watch Out For” takes place in the Twin Cities. Madwimmin Books is based on Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, a feminist bookstore that operated in Minneapolis until 2012. At one point, characters chat about whether one’s vote counts more if they’re from North Dakota. Still, the comic has an almost universal feeling. These dykes could be anywhere.

Bechdel’s characters inhabit the space between real and stereotypical, creating representation that’s both relatable and humorous. They share vegetarian dinners, attend protests, and maintain a level of political outrage. Still, each character is distinct in their values and worldview. Social justice worrier Mo, too cool Lois, and longtime couple Clarice and Toni are as different as they are similar. Their relationships have a realistic clash, and there’s a beauty in the way they support each other, even as they drive each other crazy.

There’s a lot of confusion about what it means to be a lesbian. In high school, a guy told me being a lesbian is about trying to be prettier than other girls. My mom once said every lesbian couple has a man and a woman. Bechdel clears away this uncertainty. Dykes are students, mothers, and workers. Dykes are immigrants, dreamers, and organizers. Dykes are deranged women and gender-benders. They’re your friends. Dykes are everywhere.