Editing 779: Anxiety

{{comic
| number    = 779
| date      = August 13, 2010
| title     = Anxiety
| image     = anxiety.png
| titletext = Don't need any, thanks. I have a backscattering fetish.
}}

==Explanation==
Some people are upset about airport security policies that mandate the use of {{w|backscatter X-ray}} machines, since the machines can create an image of the subject naked. [[Black Hat]] is selling {{w|Sildenafil|Viagra}} for men as means to thumb their noses (so to speak) at the system by forcing the security guard to see them with erections. The problem with this approach is that, presumably, the time spent in a line of this length will be far too short for the Viagra to have any effect whatsoever. However, judging by the security guard's thought bubble, he is already looking at an image of a guy with a large erection, the guy who is the current subject inside the scanner.

In the title text, one of the people in the line explains has a fetish with being X-ray scanned, and so thus doesn't need Viagra to achieve the above effect.

==Transcript==
:[There is an airport security checkpoint where a queue of ten passengers is waiting to go through a backscatter x-ray scanner. Near the back of the line, Black Hat is standing next to a stand and a sign which says "Viagra $20". One passenger next to him is drinking a glass of water, probably after having taken the pills; another is contemplating the sign.]
:Security Guard (thinking): Oh god.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Sex]]
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-Some people are upset about airport security policies that mandate the use of {{w|backscatter X-ray}} machines, since the machines can create an image of the subject naked. In protest, the travellers in the lineup (or at least the male ones) are taking {{w|Sildenafil|Viagra}}, sold to them by [[Black Hat]]; there is a heteronormative expectation that the male security guard will be disgusted at being forced to look at erect penises. (An expectation which is supported by the guard's thought bubble of 'Oh god', which could either be in response to seeing what Black Hat is doing or in response to an unseen person, presumably sporting such an erection, already in the scanner.)
+Some people are upset about airport security policies that mandate the use of {{w|backscatter X-ray}} machines, since the machines can create an image of the subject naked. [[Black Hat]] is selling {{w|Sildenafil|Viagra}} for men as means to thumb their noses (so to speak) at the system by forcing the security guard to see them with erections. The problem with this approach is that, presumably, the time spent in a line of this length will be far too short for the Viagra to have any effect whatsoever. However, judging by the security guard's thought bubble, he is already looking at an image of a guy with a large erection, the guy who is the current subject inside the scanner.
-Given Black Hat's personality, it is unlikely he himself is doing this in protest; rather he is monetizing the opportunity, a supposition reinforced by the inflated price ($20 for a single dose) at which he is selling the medication.
+In the title text, one of the people in the line explains has a fetish with being X-ray scanned, and so thus doesn't need Viagra to achieve the above effect.
-An alternate interpretation is that many men feel self-conscious (or anxious, as the name puts it) about their size when flaccid,{{citation needed}} and thus might wish to "put their best foot forward" and look their best, as it were.
-Realistically, given the size of the line, there would be insufficient time between consuming the pills and entering the scanner for them to take effect.
-In the title text, one of the people in the line explains he has a {{w|sexual fetish|fetish}} with being X-ray scanned, and thus doesn't need Viagra to achieve the above effect.
 ==Transcript==
-:[There is an airport security checkpoint where a queue of ten passengers is waiting to go through a backscatter x-ray scanner. Near the back of the line, Black Hat is standing next to a stand and a sign which says "Viagra $20". One passenger next to him is drinking a glass of water; another is contemplating the sign.]
+:[There is an airport security checkpoint where a queue of ten passengers is waiting to go through a backscatter x-ray scanner. Near the back of the line, Black Hat is standing next to a stand and a sign which says "Viagra $20". One passenger next to him is drinking a glass of water, probably after having taken the pills; another is contemplating the sign.]
 :Security Guard (thinking): Oh god.
@@ Line 29: / Line 23: @@
 [[Category:Physics]]
 [[Category:Sex]]
-[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
-[[Category:Aviation]]