Published in

Human Parts

Mar 13, 2021

2 min read

This Is Us

The Tale of the Trailing Spouse

Exploring the harmful trope of the non-academic partner

Large text: The Tail of the Trailing Spouse. A sad-looking person stands at the bottom left corner, looking at a trail of footprints that leads to the right corner, where their spouse’s leg is visible mid-step.

Text: When I moved with my partner across the country because they had been offered a postdoc, we met someone shortly after we arrived who said something that bothered me. [A person at a small cafe table with a meal on it, waving his hand in the air. A speech bubble coming from his mouth says, “Oh, so you’re the trailing spouse!”]

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Jett Allen

Jett Allen

Cartoonist and Illustrator. I write and draw about my life, movies, and culture. Queer/Trans: they/them www.jettallen.com | Insta: @jettdraws

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