• Home
  • About
    ▼
    • What is Graphic Medicine?
    • Graphic Medicine International Collective
      ▼
      • GMIC Board Resources
    • Website Team
    • Related Sites
      ▼
      • Medicina Grafica
      • Japanese Graphic Medicine Association
      • Graphic Medicine Italia
      • Pathographics
  • Latest
    ▼
    • News
    • The Graphic Medicine Award
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • Frontline Workers Comics Project
    • Spotlight Archive
  • Reviews
    ▼
    • All
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Graphic Novels
    • Educational
    • Manga
    • Write A Review!
  • Conferences
    ▼
    • 2023 Toronto Conference
    • 2022 Chicago Conference
    • 2021 UnConvention (Virtual) Conference
    • 2020 Toronto Conference
    • 2019 Brighton Conference
    • 2018 Vermont Conference
    • 2017 Seattle Conference
      ▼
      • Home
      • Program
      • Registration (NOW CLOSED)
      • Lodging in Seattle
      • 2017 Seattle Conference Sponsors
      • Call for Art
      • Press/Media Inquiries
    • 2016 Dundee Conference
    • 2015 Riverside Conference
    • 2014 Baltimore Conference
      ▼
      • Home
      • Program 2014
        ▼
        • Program 2014
        • Keynote Speakers 2014
        • Marketplace 2014
        • Juried Exhibit 2014
        • Call for Papers 2014 (closed)
      • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        ▼
        • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Additional hotel suggestions
      • Sponsors 2014
      • Baltimore Restaurants & Attractions
      • FAQs 2014
      • Registration 2014 (closed)
    • 2013 Brighton Conference
    • 2012 Toronto Conference
    • 2011 Chicago Conference
    • 2010 London Conference
  • MultiMedia
    ▼
    • Podcasts
    • A Graphic Medicine Conversation with Sam Hester
    • Graphic Medicine Video Archive
    • Graphic Medicine Exhibits
  • Resources
    ▼
    • The Peter James Burns Scholarship Fund
    • Essential Graphic Medicine: An Annotated Bibliography
    • COVID-19 Comics
    • Reproductive Freedom Comics
    • Frontline Workers Comics Project
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • National Library of Medicine Graphic Medicine Exhibit
    • Liaison Program
    • Publishers
    • RESEARCH
    • TEACHING
    • GRAPHIC MEDICINE CONFAB ARCHIVE
  • Merch/Support
    ▼
    • Bookshop Store
    • 2021 Un-Convention MERCH
    • 2022 Conference Merch
    • RedBubble Store
    • DONATE
  • Contact
    ▼
    • Contact Form/Email
    • Social Media
Graphic Medicine
  • Home
  • About
    • What is Graphic Medicine?
    • Graphic Medicine International Collective
      • GMIC Board Resources
    • Website Team
    • Related Sites
      • Medicina Grafica
      • Japanese Graphic Medicine Association
      • Graphic Medicine Italia
      • Pathographics
  • Latest
    • News
    • The Graphic Medicine Award
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • Frontline Workers Comics Project
    • Spotlight Archive
  • Reviews
    • All
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Graphic Novels
    • Educational
    • Manga
    • Write A Review!
  • Conferences
    • 2023 Toronto Conference
    • 2022 Chicago Conference
    • 2021 UnConvention (Virtual) Conference
    • 2020 Toronto Conference
    • 2019 Brighton Conference
    • 2018 Vermont Conference
    • 2017 Seattle Conference
      • Home
      • Program
      • Registration (NOW CLOSED)
      • Lodging in Seattle
      • 2017 Seattle Conference Sponsors
      • Call for Art
      • Press/Media Inquiries
    • 2016 Dundee Conference
    • 2015 Riverside Conference
    • 2014 Baltimore Conference
      • Home
      • Program 2014
        • Program 2014
        • Keynote Speakers 2014
        • Marketplace 2014
        • Juried Exhibit 2014
        • Call for Papers 2014 (closed)
      • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Additional hotel suggestions
      • Sponsors 2014
      • Baltimore Restaurants & Attractions
      • FAQs 2014
      • Registration 2014 (closed)
    • 2013 Brighton Conference
    • 2012 Toronto Conference
    • 2011 Chicago Conference
    • 2010 London Conference
  • MultiMedia
    • Podcasts
    • A Graphic Medicine Conversation with Sam Hester
    • Graphic Medicine Video Archive
    • Graphic Medicine Exhibits
  • Resources
    • The Peter James Burns Scholarship Fund
    • Essential Graphic Medicine: An Annotated Bibliography
    • COVID-19 Comics
    • Reproductive Freedom Comics
    • Frontline Workers Comics Project
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • National Library of Medicine Graphic Medicine Exhibit
    • Liaison Program
    • Publishers
    • RESEARCH
    • TEACHING
    • GRAPHIC MEDICINE CONFAB ARCHIVE
  • Merch/Support
    • Bookshop Store
    • 2021 Un-Convention MERCH
    • 2022 Conference Merch
    • RedBubble Store
    • DONATE
  • Contact
    • Contact Form/Email
    • Social Media
Home / Comic Reviews / Graphic Non-Fiction / The Times I Knew I Was Gay

The Times I Knew I Was Gay

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Author: Eleanor Crewes

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Publish Date: October 2020

Publisher: Scribner (imprint of Simon & Schuster)

Catalog ID: ISBN: 978-1982147112

Where to buy: https://bookshop.org/lists/recently-reviewed-on-graphicmedicine-org

Author website: https://www.eleanorcrewesillustration.co.uk/

Review

by Soph Myers-Kelley

 

The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes is a largely light memoir but also potent coming home story for people of the LGBTQ community. It offers what has historically been a non-traditional story about coming out; a story where the person in question does not know they are in the closet, much less how to get out of it. The art is soft black and white drawings that are warm, friendly, and comforting. The book reminded me of many slice-of-life anime, so if you want a book to read on a cozy night, this is the book for you. It’s also messy, breaks the 4th wall, and entertains throughout.

This book does deal with sexuality, compulsive heterosexuality, relationships & dating, and some drinking, so it would be appropriate for ages that can navigate those subjects (with adult support if needed). The book is not explicitly medical-focused but does focus on coming out and the lgbtqia+ community.

Ellie is a strong, curious, funny, and personable protagonist who we see grow up from a precocious child into a steadfast and dedicated adult in the UK. Ellie connects with friends and digs deep into rock, goth culture, and spooky stuff like ghosts. She shares her childhood fascination with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the lesbian romance with Willow and Tara in the show. She becomes obsessed with the red-haired Willow character, emulates her attire whenever possible, and talks about Buffy nonstop at school. Willow is with her throughout her rebellious childhood into adulthood, and she finds she has more in common with Willow than she first realized.

Ellie has a much harder time transitioning from primary school to secondary school. This is a big time when she starts to notice differences in how other girls talk about boys, how they grapple with puberty, and how they start to treat Ellie herself. She escapes on summer family vacations to Italy and dreads the day she must return for school.

As Ellie becomes a teenager and an adult, we see more explicit interest in her friends in dating and sex, whereas pre-teen Ellie has little interest in sex. Ellie’s story is a textbook example of compulsive heterosexuality, where she works desperately hard at dating and believing she hasn’t found the perfect man yet and that her attraction to women can be explained away.

There’s a small but important scene concerning one of her first jobs in a restaurant and feeling a kindred relationship with the other woman (Rose) working there in the kitchen. The men in the kitchen bully and crudely warn Ellie that this woman is a lesbian who might “turn her”. As Eleanor writes “It was simply the first time I had experienced men (not teenage boys) taking something from me that they’d already decided was theirs to take” (142). Whether due to the work environment or some other reason, Rose eventually quits, and Ellie shortly follows her.

Ellie’s first time coming out is not what we generally see in movies, either. She comes out drunk with friends after a New Year’s Eve party; only to go right back in the closet again for some time. Surprisingly, coming out to friends and family is much easier than coming out to oneself. But the story is a triumph; it shows that throughout all this self-discovery one can discover oneself and find friends, community, and romantic partnership that accepts this newly discovered self.

 

____________________

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Soph Myers-Kelley is a medical librarian, herbalist, and activist living in North Carolina. They can be contacted at https://www.smyerskelley.com/ and followed at https://www.instagram.com/sophmyerskelley/

 

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Graphic Medicine

Graphic Medicine is a site that explores the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare. We are a community of academics, health carers, authors, artists, and fans of comics and medicine. The site is maintained by an editorial team under the direction of the Graphic Medicine International Collective.

Subscribe to Graphic Medicine

Join our email list to keep up with the latest Graphic Medicine news!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Visit Our Sister Site for Spanish Readers

Visit Our Sister Site for Japanese Readers

Visit Our Sister Site for Italian Readers

Visit the Pathographics Project

© 2007 - 2023 Graphic Medicine International Collective

WordPress Developer