This little cartoon refers to the invasion of personal space or the personal bubble. The setting seems to be an employers office for an interview with the man on the right being the interviewer and the man on the left being the interviewee. Normally at a job interview, the two people involved do not have a previous relationship, which makes this invasion of space even more unwanted. Also, many people would consider the invasion of space to be unprofessional. So, making a move like that in an interview setting could cost you the job. Many people would be turned off by someone feeling comfortable enough to get that close to them without even knowing what type of person they are.
Someone’s personal bubble refers to the space that is constantly around us no matter where we are separating us from others. A mans personal bubble is much lager than a females because males are less comfortable that females being social and closely surrounded by others (Gambles’ 101).
The artist chose to use men in this cartoon to make the point more dynamic I think. Women are much more willing than men to let people into their personal space. Also, women will not get as offended or weirded out by someone entering their personsl bubble without their consent. It is vary rare that a situation like this would actually occur and a man would be comfortable with it. In my opinion, men feel like it is a question of manhood letting a man freely get that close to them. If you are best friends or really close, I can understand two men being that close in proximity to one another. You feel comfortable with each other, and youare non threatening to each other. But if you have never met before (as in most interview situations) it wouuld be very uncomfortable for at least one of the persons involved.
Also, when it comes to space invasion, people of greater power are usually the ones to invade space (Gambles’ 101). This cartoon shows the total opposite of that. The potential new employee does not seem to be getting off on the right foot with his potential new boss. If the interviewer decided to walk over the the side of the table where the interviewee was, that would be seen as more social nomal, and probably both people would be more comfortable under those circumstances.
Gamble, T. K. & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (100-101)
Melanie Bahr's Gender Comm Portfolio 
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