1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Some of the sharpest wit and comic strips these days 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: is women's work. Kathy Guy's White Draws for every Woman, 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: besieged by the colliding demands of bosses, boyfriends, and a 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: mother who brandishes a copy of Bride's magazine. Lynn Johnston 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: voages her strip in the heat of domestic chaos, and 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,639 Speaker 1: in three short years, the Pattersons of For Better or 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: For Worse have edged out the Bumpsteads as the first 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: family of the funnies for more of the best work 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: in cartoon humor. Our men are making their own work. 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: This was an ad that appeared in newspapers across the 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: US in two advertising the two most prominent women working 12 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: in comics at that time, Kathy of Kathy and Lynn 13 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: Johnston of For Better or For Worse with the Universal 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: Press Syndicate one of the most popular comic pages of 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: the day, Accompanying their pictures and sample comic strips. Kathy 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: is shopping for a dress, Johnston's exhausted super mom Ellie 17 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: Patterson is talking about birthday parties with her kids. And 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: the men making their own mark. Yeah, that's a list 19 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: of Universal Press indicets other comic strips seventeen of them 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: all written by men representation when Kathy was not the 21 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: first woman to grace the pages of the Funnies, far 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: from it, but she was certainly held up with others 23 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: as an example of feminism winning. As we discussed in 24 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: the last episode, it uh wasn't. But what Cathy's success 25 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: did demonstrate was that women writing about their own experiences 26 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: was a winning formula after the Women's liberation movement in 27 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 1: the US. This opened doors for artists like Lynn Johnston 28 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,639 Speaker 1: and many others, a legacy that contributed to the semi 29 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: autobiographical comic work that's published in papers, but let's be honest, 30 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: mostly online today. But it's not quite that simple. Women 31 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: had been writing about their experiences long before Kathy. Their 32 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: histories are present, but their work wasn't regarded with the 33 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: same ever rents that the infinity amounts of men in 34 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: their midst were. And that's what we're exploring today. The 35 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: women who laid the foundation for Kathy's work to thrive, 36 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: the radical writers on the fringes working at the same 37 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: time who were changing the game independently, and the people 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: she shared the Funny Pages with. You mean the men 39 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: I shared the pages with. Oh my god, Kathy. Well, yeah, 40 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: like at first, I'm going to talk about the women 41 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: that came later too. Are you going to talk about 42 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: dale Bert? I mean, as little as I possibly can, 43 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: But Kathy, could you give me a second? I can't 44 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: leave until one of us says a pivvy one liner. 45 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: Sorry that since they started doing the show, Kathy has 46 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,520 Speaker 1: just been like appearing to me like a sleep paralysis demon. 47 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: I'll be falling asleep and then there she is too 48 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: dimensional at the end of my bed and the dressing 49 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: room at the mall. A Come on, Kathy, You're more 50 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: than a dressing room gag. You're better than that. You're right, 51 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: I'm working on it. Well, I think you're doing great. Sorry, everyone, 52 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: I just need to like shut my eyes for a 53 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: few seconds. And then she tends to disappear. Hi hi hi, Hi, 54 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: Hi Hi, Cathy. Please, I need to start the show. Okay, 55 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: I think she's gone. This is ac cast. She burst 56 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: into the world in nineteen seventy six. She's at work, 57 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: she's out on dates, and she don't like politics from 58 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: Mama and heurban to with Theminis friends and she's fighting 59 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: all the stands. It with chocolate and hand Kathy she's 60 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: fighting back to stress the success. Let's got her some slack. Oh, Cathy, 61 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: My Cathy and Cathy, She's gotta like go in ay. 62 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: There's no out that women were always popular in the 63 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: funny pages, which started around the turn of the twentieth century. 64 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: The thing is that these characters were overwhelmingly designed, written, 65 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: and plotted out by men. When comics first came into 66 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: newspapers in a big way in the early nineties, Characters 67 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: like We Need the Breadwinner by Martin Branner showed a 68 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: young woman who worked to support her parents and adopted brothers. 69 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: Characters like Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray, one of 70 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: the most successful comic strip characters ever, began as an 71 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: anti New Deal and anti Labor Union propaganda character. That's right, 72 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: Annie is a Jeff Bezos simp. It makes me sick. 73 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: Blondie was launched in ninety by cartoonist Chick Young, who 74 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: had gotten successful doing quote unquote pretty girl comics like 75 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: Beautiful Bab and Dumb Dora. Blondie is still in the 76 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: papers today and began as a flapper girl who dates 77 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: and Mary's industrial air dag Wood. By the nineteen eighties. 78 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: Here's how Blondie sounded in TV specials m Hi, Honey 79 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: day wood Core and I have just been to a 80 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: wonderful seminar called how to spend quality time with your husband? 81 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: And you don't say now, All I need is a 82 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: quality husband to spend time with. Okay. Some other classic 83 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: comic strip women Lois of High and Lois created by 84 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: a man. Betty Boop definitely created by a man, although 85 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: side note the Betty book character was originally a black woman, 86 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: but was pretty swiftly whitewashed once she began appearing in papers. 87 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: The character and Nancy created by men. Broom Hilda created 88 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: by a man, Betty Veronica man. And while some of 89 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: these women and girls were funny and dynamic, Nancy was 90 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: a trickster, wonder woman beat the hell out of people. 91 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: Many of the women who appeared in the funnies in 92 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: this era were defined by their roles as wives, mothers, 93 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: and girlfriends, or the fact that they were not these 94 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: things as in early Winny winky strips was the whole joke. 95 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: They were all white, well, Broomhilda was green, and most 96 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: were linked to men in the nuclear American home in 97 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: some way. And again, comic books are out of my 98 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: purview here, so we're sticking to the American newspaper pages. 99 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: So yes, there were many women drawn on the pages, 100 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: but rarely were they drawn by women. But that's not 101 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: to say that women were completely absent from comic strips. 102 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: Here are some of the creators who paved the way 103 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: for our Kathy. Oh and also who will not be 104 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: speaking for a couple of minutes. Okay. Like the messy 105 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: and choppy American feminist movements we discussed last week, women's 106 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: presence and the funny pages tended to fluctuate throughout the 107 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: twentieth century, and in its early years women were relatively 108 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: successful in the space. Some women were introduced into the 109 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 1: industry by working on a team with their significant other. 110 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: This was a pretty common practice in the creative arts 111 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: in general, but others busted onto the scene completely on 112 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: their own. Blondie is the most famous example, but flappers 113 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: had a major presence in comics, with creators who were 114 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: women of the time as well. Cartoonist Ethel Hayes created 115 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: Flapper Fannie, in which cartoonist Gladys Parker took over later 116 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: in its run, and Parker went on to launch her 117 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: own clothing line in a brief career as a Hollywood costumer. 118 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: Off of the strip's success, Ethel Parker also made a 119 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: strip called Gay in Her Gang in Night, and Anita Lows, 120 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: who had already made history as the first woman to 121 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: be a contracted screenwriter back in nineteen twelve Titanic Gear, 122 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: wrote the successful graphic novel Gentleman Prefer Blonde, which was 123 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: later turned into the famous Marilyn Monroe vehicle. But the 124 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: earliest ancestor I can find to a Kathy style cartoon 125 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: is an artist named Fay King. Fay King wasn't the 126 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: first woman to become an editorial cartoonist in the US. 127 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: That distinction belongs to Edwina dum who became a full 128 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: time cartoonist in nineteen fifteen, but King's style and references 129 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: to her own life kind of remind me of a 130 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties era. Kathy King was born in eighteen eighty 131 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: nine in Portland, Oregon. She went to college. She was 132 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: one of the first women to own a car in 133 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: her area, and she had a highly publicized marriage and 134 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: divorce with a famous Danish lightweight boxer. He had five 135 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: times fast Oh my god, famous Danish lightweight boxer, and 136 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: she worked as a feature writer and cartoonist for a 137 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: few different newspapers. Even more so than Kathy Guys White 138 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: and the Kathy character whose lives are tangentially related at best. 139 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: Fay King was usually the main character in her comics, 140 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: and she frequently made strips that featured herself and her husband, 141 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: and later on veiled commentary when that marriage ended. You know, 142 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:55,079 Speaker 1: the marriage to the famous Danish lightweight boxer. These depictions 143 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: of her and the people in her life were not 144 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: always flattering. We see fay King draw on often as 145 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: a nervous wreck and her husband as a bizarre, macho womanizer. 146 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: She was a flapper who, if you remember, was working 147 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 1: at the height of the suffragette movement and with continued 148 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: success after women's suffrage was granted in Here are some 149 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: of the headlines that fay King's work would generate in 150 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: the twenties. Judgment by their past wives, fay King advises 151 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: flappers girls who married guys twice their age, would do 152 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: well to consult other women they wooed one and then 153 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 1: cast off. Women now read newspapers, fake King observes wow. 154 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: Unlike characters like Blondie, a flapper whose experience was manufactured 155 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: by chick young fay Kings. Flappers came from a personal 156 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: place and were often just her life. In the twenties, 157 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: King worked among a number of talented women, including illustrators 158 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: like Nell Brinkley, Eleanor Shuer, Edith Stevens, Ethel Hayes, Dorothy 159 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: if and Virginia Hugett. Here's a quote from a comic 160 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: historian and an artist in her own right, so legendary 161 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: that I've got an entire section on her later in 162 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: this episode. Her name is Trina Robbins, and she literally 163 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: wrote a book on this era in women's comics called 164 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: The Flapper Women Women Cartoonists of the jazz Age, And 165 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: an interview with bust she said this, there's this myth 166 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: that women didn't draw comics, or that they had to 167 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: change their names. This is untrue. If you were good, 168 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: they published you. Women were drawing comics and people loved them, 169 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: just as many women read newspapers as men, and the 170 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: editors were smart enough to carry the strips the women liked. 171 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: Nel Brinkley was a major leader in this time as well, 172 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: creating the young, working, attractive suffragist illustrated ideal through a 173 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: character style that became known as Brinkley Girls, and she 174 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: wrote some of the most overtly feminist comic strips of 175 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: the time. In a strip called Dimple's day Dreams, a 176 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: flapper named Dimple would fantasize about becoming the president, or 177 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: an aviator or a chorus girl, things that weren't attainable 178 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: at that time. Virginia Hugett's work centered on girls from 179 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: working class backgrounds, and she made strips like Molly the 180 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: Manicure Girl or Babs in Society, a strip about a 181 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: shop girl who suddenly inherits a massive fortune. And what 182 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 1: was more, this community of women comic artists knew and 183 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: liked each other. Brinkley and King would often draw each 184 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: other and took turns doing illustrations in court at the 185 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,079 Speaker 1: highly publicized case of the Albert Snyder murder, which I 186 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: could make an entire podcast about what a Wikipedia rabbit hole, 187 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: And instead of focusing on the murder victim, the husband, 188 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: Brinkley and King of course drew the murderer Ruth his wife. 189 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: It's all very cool. Moving right along onto the comics 190 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: of the Depression and World War Two era. Unlike the 191 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: early days of flappers and first wave feminism. Most of 192 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 1: the women appearing on the funny pages at this time 193 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: were created by men and tended to fall into predictable categories. 194 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: You recognize these the lionized mother, the heavily sexualized loose girl, 195 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: and the occasional film fatale professional. My favorite of these 196 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: was a character called Brenda's Star. It was a strip 197 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: that followed the soap opera e story of a reporter 198 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: named Brenda Starr who had this wild romantic life and 199 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: would solve crimes. It was originally conceived by a male artist, 200 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: Dale Messick, but was soon taken up by women until 201 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: its conclusion in two thousand eleven, and even inspired a 202 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: B movie featuring the character starring Brookshields back in the nineties. 203 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: She's much more than a woman, much more than your 204 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: average reporter. Give me the White House, please, much more 205 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: than any man good handle they want you. And just 206 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,200 Speaker 1: as many of the mainstream feminist movements were gate kept 207 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 1: by race, women who were given a platform in the 208 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: early comic strip days were overwhelmingly white, with some exceptions. 209 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: Enter Jackie ORMs. Jackie ORMs was born in nineteen eleven 210 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went on to 211 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: become the first black woman to be a nationally syndicated 212 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: comic artist, writing a number of popular strips over her career. 213 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:23,319 Speaker 1: Because of the deeply normalized segregation in the US throughout 214 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: her life, Orms's work appeared primarily in black newspapers, most 215 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: prominently The Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender. Her work 216 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: gained a huge following and was said to reach over 217 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: one million people a day. Lankston Hughes even once said 218 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: in the late forties that quote, if I were marooned 219 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: on a desert island, I would miss Jackie Orms's cute drawings. 220 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: That's so cool. Her first strip in nineteen thirty seven 221 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: and thirty eight was called Torchy Brown in Dixie to Heart, 222 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: and it was the story of a teenager from Mississippi 223 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: who became famous singing at the Cotton Club, which was 224 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 1: a nightclub in Harlem that ran in the nine twenties 225 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: and thirties that ended up launching the careers of many 226 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: famous black performers while still being operated under Jim Crow's 227 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: segregation laws. That is, it was at first a whites 228 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: only and later a segregated club. Torchy was a hit 229 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: with readers immediately, and the character made a huge comeback 230 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties with Torchy and Heartbeats, where Jackie 231 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: ORMs updated the protagonists as an adventurous young woman who 232 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: dates around in search of true love while pursuing her dreams. 233 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: Most famously, Torchy had a storyline in nineteen fifty four 234 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: where she and her boyfriend, a doctor in a predominantly 235 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: black neighborhood, talked about how environmental racism affected his patients 236 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: after waste from a local chemical plant began to leak 237 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: into the local water supply. In the studio of Jackie Arms, 238 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: one of the few women cartoonists, the popular comic strip 239 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: characters of Torchy and Heartbeat and Patty Joe literally spring 240 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: to life. Syndicated in scores of news papers, her cartoons 241 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: reached more than a million raiders each week. Torchy became 242 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: a fashion icon, and not by mistake. Alongside the comic 243 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: strip that ORMs drew, would often be a paper doll 244 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: model of Torchy with several outfits, giving young black women 245 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: an outlet with which to see themselves in the fashions 246 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: of the day and act out their own stories with 247 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: the paper. Doll Ormes's most famous work was called Patty 248 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: Joe and Ginger, a comic strip that ran from to 249 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six and consisted of two black sisters, one 250 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: a chatty kid and the other a tall, lean teenager. 251 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: The format was very simple, and each one panel strip, 252 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: Patty Joe the kid, would make a comment about modern 253 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: life to her sister Ginger, who never spoke. Depending on 254 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: the occasion, Ginger reacted with shock, or annoyance, or tenderness 255 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: to whatever Patty Joe sets through. Patty Joe Jackie ORMs 256 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: was able to use an innocuous, seeming kids Say the 257 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: Darndest Things format to launch biting commentary on the oppression 258 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: experienced by Black Americans of this time. ORMs this strip, 259 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: from the day after the white murderers of young Black 260 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: boy Emmett till We're Found Not Guilty in has been 261 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: cited as one of the most important works in the 262 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: strips run. In it, Patty Joe stands in the kitchen 263 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: doorway as the ever silent Ginger hides a newspaper with 264 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: the news of the not guilty verdict hidden behind her back. 265 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: Patty Joe says I don't want to seem touchy on 266 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: the subject, but that new little white tea kettle just 267 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: whizzled at me. Patty Joe was very much the star here, 268 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: and it led to one of the most successful comic 269 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: strip merchandising moves in the early history of comics, and 270 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: a very important one in addition to the Patty Joe 271 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: paper dolls that appeared alongside the strip. Much like Torchy, 272 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: Jackie ORMs oversaw the release of a Patty Joe doll 273 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: between nine in ninety nine that gave young black girls 274 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: a toy of the character that many modeled their behavior on. 275 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: In a toy market where very often the only representations 276 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: of Black women and girls relied heavily on Mammy stereotypes, 277 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,639 Speaker 1: the Patty Joe doll was a big deal, and ORMs 278 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: oversaw the production herself. The sharp commentary that ORMs made 279 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: in her work didn't come without consequences. The powers that 280 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: be viewed her very much as a threat. According to 281 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: Matthew Tuche at the African American Intellectual History Society, the 282 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 1: FBI had a file on Jackie ORMs that went from 283 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight to nineteen fifty eight. At the height 284 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: of the Red Scare, the agency interviewed her, and agents 285 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 1: would sometimes come to follow her to the bookstore she 286 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: frequented in not just a stunning waste of government funds, 287 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: but an attempt to establish a connection between ORMs and 288 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: the communist part. Her FBI file was two hundred and 289 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: eighty seven pages long, longer than Jackie Robinson's file by 290 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,360 Speaker 1: over a hundred pages, which brings me to this panel 291 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: of Patti, Joe and Ginger from the period that ORMs 292 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: was under surveillance. It would be interesting to discover which 293 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: committee decided it was Unamerican to be black. This strip, 294 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: of course, is a reference to the House of Unamerican 295 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: Activities Committee during the Red Scare, and it makes sense 296 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: why this committee was on Jackie Orms's mind in particular. 297 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: ORMs retired from cartooning in ninety six, was a founding 298 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: board member of the Disabled Museum of African American History, 299 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: and was a longtime member of an antique doll enthusiast 300 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: club in Chicago. Her legacy continues now through the ORMs Society, 301 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 1: an online collective that promotes black women in the comics industry. 302 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: Another icon of the Depression era, was an artist named 303 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: Marge Buell. She worked professionally just as Marge Love, a 304 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: mononymous artist. Very confident. Marge was born on a farm 305 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen o four. She worked her way up in 306 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: the industry as a magazine illustrator and started the beloved 307 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: strip Little Lulu in nineteen thirty five, about a young 308 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: girl who's known for challenging boys to prove that she 309 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: can do anything they can. The comic only ran for 310 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 1: ten years, but You'll set the stage for women to 311 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: merchandise the hell out of their most popular characters. As 312 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,400 Speaker 1: Kathy Leader Would, Lulu outlived the strip through merchandizing, through 313 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: cartoon shorts in the nineteen forties, through an anime in 314 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, through an HBO animated series in the nineties. 315 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: Like Kathy Leader Would, Lulu was also used heavily in 316 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 1: American commercials. She was a spokes cartoon for Kleenex, tissues 317 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: for Pepsi, and she was featured in a permanent Time 318 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: Square billboard for over ten years. Yet Clean Next tissues 319 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: in the economy Back and to Jeff any tissue You'll 320 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: never and back for the new pack of clean Up 321 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: four hundred gives more more for your money than ever before. 322 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: Like Kathy guys White would be later, Marge was heavily 323 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 1: involved in the marketing of her character, and it paid 324 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: off in a huge way. She sold off the copyrights 325 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: to Lulu in nineteen seventy one, doing very well for herself. 326 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: Little Lulu would go on to inspire Friends of Lulu, 327 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: a nonprofit that ran from eleven to promote comic books 328 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: by women and to get girls involved in making comics themselves. 329 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:35,159 Speaker 1: The nineteen forties also brought a series of successful strips 330 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: about teenage girls, lining up pretty closely with the explosion 331 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: in marketing to American teenagers, and these strips tend to 332 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,120 Speaker 1: be pretty lighthearted and mostly about teen girls pining over 333 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: teen boys in strips like Lynda Walter's Susie Q. Smith, 334 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,120 Speaker 1: which she wrote with her husband, and Hilda Terry's Tina 335 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: and Hilda. Terry fought very hard to be the first 336 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: woman to be accepted into the National Cartoonist Society and 337 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: was finally successful in nineteen fifty one. Nineteen fifty one, 338 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: there was also wartime propaganda comic strips. Gladys Parker, who 339 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: had been working back since the Flapper strips in the 340 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties made the comic Betty g I to inspire 341 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,479 Speaker 1: women to get involved in American war efforts, and then 342 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: went on to create a semi autobiographical comic called Mopsi 343 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: in ninety nine. Mopsy was a protagonist that was an 344 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:30,120 Speaker 1: absolute dead ringer for Gladys Parker herself, in a move 345 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: that mirrored many American women's experiences in World War Two. 346 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: Mopsie worked as a munitions plant worker and a nurse 347 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,919 Speaker 1: in the comic strip and then was fired from her 348 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: defense job in nineteen seven and had to leave the 349 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:47,199 Speaker 1: workforce d pressing. However, you should google a picture of 350 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: Gladys Parker. She's I think my new style icon. She's incredible. 351 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: The nineteen fifties was not a good time for honestly, anybody, really, 352 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,400 Speaker 1: anybody who wasn't a white guy in America, and women's 353 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: presence in the funny pages dipped. In their place came 354 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: the Donna redified domestic goddesses that exemplified the indoctrination that 355 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: set the stage for Betty Free Dance, the feminine mystique 356 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: to become such a hit among white middle class housewives 357 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: who had been pushed out of the workforce after the 358 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: war ended. You've got Lois of High and Lois a 359 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,880 Speaker 1: suburban housewife. You've got flow from Andy Capp, the long 360 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: suffering wife who deals with her husband's womanizing and excess 361 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: drinking like it's her job, which it kind of was. 362 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: And into the sixties, as the civil rights movement and 363 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 1: social unrest surrounding the Vietnam War dominated headlines, not much 364 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: of this was reflected in the funny pages. For the 365 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: most part, the medium was stuck about ten years in 366 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: the past in the comic strips that took awards home 367 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: at the Alley Awards for comics were Peanuts by Charles Schultz, 368 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: a soap opera strip called on Stage by Leonard Starr, 369 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: and Dennis the Menace, not exactly strips that reflected social progress, radicalism, 370 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 1: or gains made by these movements, and that applied to 371 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: the feminist movement as well. But when the newspapers wouldn't 372 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: carry the radical messaging of the time, a bunch of 373 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: women decided to do it themselves, enter the underground comics movement. Well, 374 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: the newspaper pages lagged far behind the times in the 375 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: fifties into the sixties, and seventies. Prior to Kathy, Beginning 376 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: in ninety six, another comic scene was thriving, that being 377 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: underground comics, comics with two MS and an AX by 378 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,959 Speaker 1: the way, a scene that was very vibrant in the 379 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: US and the UK. For as long as there had 380 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,959 Speaker 1: been illustrated comics, there had been poorn knockoffs of comic 381 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 1: book characters, but in the late sixties, illustrators began to organize, independently, publish, 382 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,199 Speaker 1: and create their own X rated characters. They're basically the 383 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: edge lords of the late sixties, very much a part 384 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll era with 385 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: its start in the early sixties with stuff like Stacts 386 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,199 Speaker 1: Adventures of Jesus. The big thing about underground comics was 387 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: that they were completely uncensored. Are Crumb, one of the 388 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 1: most prominent artists of this movement, spoke to what the 389 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: scene meant in an interview from He said this, people 390 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: forget that. That's what it was all about. That's why 391 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,719 Speaker 1: we did it. We didn't have anybody standing over us 392 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 1: saying no, you can't draw this or you can't show that. 393 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: We could do whatever we wanted, and so they did 394 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,479 Speaker 1: whatever they wanted. Centered in the San Francisco area. At 395 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: the height of free Love, Crume and Company started a 396 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: number of self published comics issues full of truly some 397 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: of the most fucked up things You'll ever see in 398 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 1: your life. ZAP Comics, a project helmed by Our Crumb, 399 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,959 Speaker 1: became a flagship publication for the movement and launched a 400 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: number of artists after getting get start sold on the 401 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: sidewalk of Hate Ashbury out of a baby stroller by 402 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: Crumb's then wife. So yeah, these were the edge lords 403 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: of the sixties and seventies. The comics were shock, talking hard, 404 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: and not in the way that all radical artists liked. 405 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: The movement was built around drawing and saying whatever you 406 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: want and consisted of almost completely white guys. Artist Grass 407 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: Green was one of the only black artists involved in 408 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: underground comics, and so that meant that sometimes they were 409 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: just saying funked up stuff for the sake of saying 410 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 1: fucked up stuff. And the comics from these majority male 411 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: collectives would often feature themes like incest, murder, rape, and 412 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: pretty aggressive able is um and you guess it, misogyny 413 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,399 Speaker 1: ran rampant. This brings us back to Trina Robbins, the 414 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: world's leading historian and women comics artist, who was also 415 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 1: at the helm of creating space for women in the 416 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: underground comics movement. Robbins didn't want to get involved in 417 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: zap comics. She wanted to start her own thing, and 418 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: this was a fairly controversial move. Robbins said this of 419 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: our Crumb's work. It's weird to me how willing people 420 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: are to overlook the hideous darkness in Crumb's work. What 421 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: the hell is funny? Ab out rape and murder? And 422 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: this resistance made a lot of sense for the time. 423 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: By the late sixties, the second wave of feminism was 424 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: well underway in the US, and by vent, Trina Robbins 425 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: had had enough of the misogyny in existing underground comics. 426 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: After meeting fellow cartoonist Barbara Willie Mendez, the two decided 427 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: to make their own comics and recruited other women to 428 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,920 Speaker 1: do it with them, artists like Meredith Kurtzman, the daughter 429 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: of Mad magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman, like Carol Kaylish, like 430 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: socialist cartoonist Lissa Lions, and Michelle Brand to make the 431 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: first issue ever of women's underground comics. Called it Ain't 432 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 1: Me Babe. Here's an interview Robin's did in about her 433 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: motivation to start comics of her own. I mean, for 434 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: the longest time, if you wanted to draw comics, you 435 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: really had two choices. One was mainstream and mainstream you know, 436 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 1: the big two, Marvel and DC was all about guys 437 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: punching other guys. You know, That's basically what it was about. 438 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: And this isn't something that women and I don't awful 439 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: autaman to, This isn't something we want to draw, This 440 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: isn't even something we can draw. You know, I'm not 441 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: very good at guys punching each other. It's not what 442 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: I do. And they but the other alternative was the Underground. 443 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:26,439 Speaker 1: But the Underground was completely male dominated mail and and 444 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: it was all about sex and drugs and rock and roll, 445 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: and you know, the sex part was extremely misogynists towards women. 446 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: It was all male gaze and male viewpoint. So there 447 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: was until Babe, until It Ain't Me Babe, there was 448 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: nothing really for women. So suddenly we had another kind 449 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:50,440 Speaker 1: of comic with another kind of contributors. And the cover 450 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,440 Speaker 1: of It Ain't Me Babe does not shy away from 451 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 1: iconic women of the funniest pages. It references them explicitly. 452 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 1: The cover has Olive Oil Popeye, it has Wonder Women, 453 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: It has Little Lulu from Marge member Her. It has 454 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,439 Speaker 1: Mary Marvel, She and a Queen of the Jungle, and 455 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: Elsie the Cow, who I guess was a mascot for 456 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: a dairy company. And these characters are all charging together 457 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: with their fists raised and furious in solidarity. The cover 458 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 1: reads it ain't Me Babe, Women's Liberation, and the contents 459 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,199 Speaker 1: are much the same. The majority see women reimagining themselves 460 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,959 Speaker 1: as the centered parties in fables and fantasy stories and 461 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: even Sunday funnies. My favorite one of these is called 462 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: Breaking Out. Artist Carol Kalish imagines the existing women in 463 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: the comics banding together for world domination. Little Lulu decides 464 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: to stop trying to prove to boys that she's worthwhile 465 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: and strike out on her own. Supergirl gets sick of 466 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: Superman's condescension. Veronica realizes that Betty is far more important 467 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: to her than Archie. Petunia Pig tells Porky to cook 468 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: his own dinner, and they all strike out on their 469 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: own to create a women's only clubhouse. It holds Up 470 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: It Ain't Me Babe was a huge success, selling over 471 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: forty copies from an independent printer. So early on, Trina 472 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: Robbins was rightfully confident that there was a whole market 473 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: for women in the underground, and two began a longer 474 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: sustaining project, Women's Comics, spelled w I M M E N. 475 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 1: In the first issue alone, Women's Comics addresses teenage abortion, 476 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: female masturbation, leaving an abusive marriage, leaving a job where 477 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: a woman is being sexually harassed, and one written by 478 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: Robbins herself called Sandy Comes Out, which was one of 479 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: the first lesbian coming out stories and comics ever. Because 480 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: they were uncensored, these strips are deeply unapologetic. Women's Comics 481 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: had no interest in engaging in both sides is um, 482 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: and they feature women who take radical views without explaining 483 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: or apologizing. You don't like that they don't want an abortion, Okay, 484 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: oh well, you don't like that she wants to leave 485 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: her husband, leave her job. Isn't straight? The collection offers 486 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: no explanation and no apologies. A number of women whose 487 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: work appeared in the pages of Women's Comics went on 488 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: to have pretty impressive careers. And there was Lee Mars, 489 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 1: who began as an assistant on comics like Little Orphan, 490 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: Annie High and Lois and Prince Valiant, who went on 491 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: to create her own radical works that embraced body positivity 492 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: and queerness through her strip called Pudge Girl Blimp from 493 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,959 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three to seventy seven. There was Aileen Kominski, 494 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: who did a comic about an insecure, misfit masturbaiter called 495 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 1: Goldie Neurotic Woman. There was Diane Newman, creator of the 496 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: violent and impulsive icon D D. Glitz. There was Sharon Rudol, 497 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,280 Speaker 1: who went on to write the graphic novel biographies of 498 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: famous political activists. And this was a roster that grew 499 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: with each passing issue. And once again, while the collection 500 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: grew more diverse in including more queer women, later in 501 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: his run, it remained overwhelmingly white. A lot of these 502 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: comics can't really be done justice here. What you need 503 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: to know is that they were unapologetic, edgy, sometimes in 504 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: the right direction, that sometimes in a direction that very 505 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: much doesn't age well. They were explicit, and they were 506 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: touching on women's issues that would have been virtually impossible 507 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: to do in the funny pages that they were commenting 508 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: on and sometimes directly parodying. What you also need to 509 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: know is that the politics of the era and the 510 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 1: fact that there is a majority of white CIS authors 511 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: means that there are many comic strips that other non 512 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: white or non SIS women in a way that is offensive. 513 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,120 Speaker 1: The comic was designed to provide opportunities to women as 514 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: time went on. The collection was not just a platform 515 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: these ideas, but to provide opportunities to women comic artists 516 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: as time went on, making point to cycle out the 517 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: editors regularly to ensure that new artists and ideas and 518 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: issues would be introduced. In the nineteen seventy three issue, 519 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: editor Lee Mars explains what Women's Comics is about. The 520 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: Anthology of Women Cartoonists is intended to give support and 521 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: encouragement for aspiring women cartoonists throughout the country. We have 522 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: no desire to be an exclusive, divisive or female chauvinist group, 523 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: of fear, some of our friends have expressed. We do 524 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: hope that publication of high quality beginning work will give 525 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: our womenist artists a chance to be seen and a 526 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: foothold in the industry based on their talents of mind, 527 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: hand and eye, rather than more traditionally requested parts of 528 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: their anatomy, and provide good comic entertainment for all. Women's 529 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: comics also drew a clear line between the radicals that 530 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: appeared in their pages and the more liberal American feminists 531 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: women who are associated with the now the National Organization 532 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: Women or MISS magazine, as edited by Glorious Steinham. Women's 533 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: comics had an issue with MISS magazine, specifically after the 534 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 1: comics were refused ad space in the feminist magazine Long 535 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: story Short. For a time, MISS Magazine was, according to 536 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: Trina Robbins, too afraid to have their magazine pulled from 537 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: the shelves for quote unquote advertising pornography, and the artists 538 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: of women's comics were rightfully piste. Miss would later reverse 539 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 1: this decision, but come on, Steinham. Here's one of my 540 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: favorites from women's comics in nineteen seventy three, in a 541 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:38,560 Speaker 1: strip called Reactionary Comics by Marjorie pachet Sky. The conversation 542 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: is between two women. Oh. It says here that um 543 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 1: men are becoming quite enthusiastic about women's lib Don't I 544 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: know it? Mine just liberated me by taking up with 545 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,520 Speaker 1: that redhead who runs the food co op. But I'm 546 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: supposed to have his dinner ready whenever he shows up. Yeah, 547 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: come to think of it, mine sits at home while 548 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: I go to work, and they still won't lift a 549 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: finger when it comes to doing housework. I pay his rent. 550 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: I'm not going to wash his socks too. We could 551 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: pick up a couple of losers, but the swing is 552 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: around here is solo grade. They'd probably try and snatch 553 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,279 Speaker 1: our purses. And when you do get down to the 554 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,319 Speaker 1: nitty gritty, everyone is so liberated that there's not a 555 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: bit of affection, not to mention plain old manners. Well, 556 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: we could get liberated all the way. I read this 557 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:28,440 Speaker 1: article in the New Cosmo, The Lesbian Experience. You're a 558 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,320 Speaker 1: great kid and everything, but I sort of had something 559 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,480 Speaker 1: in mind with great, big arms to put around me. 560 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: This character has a thought bubble where she's thinking of 561 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 1: a completely erect penis. The other character replies, sigh, we 562 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: might as well go to the laundry room with burno bras. 563 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,879 Speaker 1: When we get done, it'll be time to watch Mary 564 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: Tyler Moore right on, Sister not bite my ass. This 565 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,960 Speaker 1: trip embodies the early issues of women's comics for me. 566 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,319 Speaker 1: It features two women talking in a pretty dated way 567 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,960 Speaker 1: about their frustrations. They have interesting talking points. They're resenting 568 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 1: how women's liberation had been intended to free them of 569 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:09,839 Speaker 1: the demands that men put upon them, but instead empowered 570 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: men to ask more of them. Now that they have jobs, 571 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:15,920 Speaker 1: why not pay his rent and cook his food. Similar 572 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: topics are explored in the early days of the Kathy 573 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:22,279 Speaker 1: comics in the nineteen seventies, where men asked Kathy to 574 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,239 Speaker 1: pay the check as some sort of proof of her 575 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 1: own liberation. It's not an acknowledgement, it's a challenge. In 576 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, Alien Kaminsky and Diane Newman departed the 577 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,879 Speaker 1: collective due to differences in opinions on both feminism and 578 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 1: Trina Robbins ongoing criticism of Our Crumb, who Kaminsky was 579 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: in a relationship with and is still married to today. 580 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:49,280 Speaker 1: Kaminsky and Newman started a separate women driven comics collective 581 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:53,040 Speaker 1: called Twisted Sisters that ran from nineteen seventy six to 582 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 1: ninety four and featured pretty significant crossover with artists who 583 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: appeared in women's comics well. This came out of an 584 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: in ternal conflict. This meant that the community had actually 585 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: expanded and began to provide even more opportunities for aspiring artists. However, 586 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,520 Speaker 1: while women's Comics and Twisted Sisters were doing what quite 587 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 1: literally no one else was at this time, and this 588 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 1: space was very hard one, having been created outside of 589 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:22,640 Speaker 1: the male dominated underground comics movement that was sometimes actively 590 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,960 Speaker 1: hostile to them. The issues that exist and are explored 591 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: in women's comics are the same ones that surrounded the 592 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:33,719 Speaker 1: second wave feminist movement at large. Women's comics, while increasingly 593 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: inclusive as time went on, remained overwhelmingly white for the 594 00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 1: duration of its run, and while women of color were 595 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: included in the collections fairly often, they were more often 596 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:47,200 Speaker 1: than not written by white artists. In many cases, particularly 597 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 1: early in women's comics run, white women draw and write 598 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:54,120 Speaker 1: black and brown characters as other whether it be playing 599 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:58,640 Speaker 1: into tired exotic stereotypes of Asian and African women to 600 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,960 Speaker 1: set up a narrative where white women dominate or escape 601 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,160 Speaker 1: Western white patriarchy, or by using non white women as 602 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 1: side characters with no purpose but to serve as plot 603 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,840 Speaker 1: set up for white protagonists. In the Western world and 604 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 1: especially interesting issue came in nineteen where women's comics observed 605 00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:21,160 Speaker 1: the bi centennial of America by using women's stories and 606 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:25,279 Speaker 1: their historical erasure to tell the nationalistic display of this 607 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,800 Speaker 1: year to fuck off. On the cover is Betsy Ross 608 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: wearing a soldier's uniform and holding a gun, but still 609 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: being handed the fabric for the American flag by a general. 610 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,280 Speaker 1: Can you have it ready by next week? He asks? 611 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,839 Speaker 1: Indigenous women are acknowledged in this issue, although as far 612 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: as I could tell, no Indigenous cartoonists contributed. Queen Lilio 613 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: Collani and Harriett Tubman were celebrated the Salem which trials 614 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,239 Speaker 1: were addressed. The first woman to run for president was spotlighted. 615 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 1: The list goes on. These themed issues became a feature 616 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: of the collection. We saw the work issue, the fashion issue, 617 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,440 Speaker 1: the occult issue, the three D issue, I Kid you 618 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:06,320 Speaker 1: Not The book came with three D glasses and gave 619 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: me a my grain. There was also the child Psychology 620 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:14,880 Speaker 1: issue that explored how girls are socially conditioned to accept 621 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:19,440 Speaker 1: a whole lot of ship. Another standout was the Men's issue, 622 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: in which women artists put the let's say female gazed 623 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,200 Speaker 1: on issues of masculinity. Here's one last favorite of mine 624 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 1: from the nine Horrible Relationships issue from Angela Bocage. Titled 625 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:35,040 Speaker 1: New Age, Same Old Ship. It parodies a shock jock 626 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: radio show that shows how women have handled domestic abuse 627 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:41,680 Speaker 1: from their partners throughout the years. It starts with a 628 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:44,879 Speaker 1: woman from eight with a big smile and a black eye, 629 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:49,359 Speaker 1: saying this, it really was thoughtless of me, even at 630 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,240 Speaker 1: our family meals. I knew he wanted the plates warmed, 631 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,360 Speaker 1: so when I forgot when Chuck's boss was at dinner, 632 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: well maybe I was asking for this, but I can't 633 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,360 Speaker 1: even see it, can you. I like these new makeup 634 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:08,480 Speaker 1: formulas today they do cover We hear similar phrases from 635 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:12,719 Speaker 1: different women from n N. The final woman in the 636 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:16,920 Speaker 1: strip is from and stands with a fat lip, smiling 637 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: in front of a cooing baby in a high chair. 638 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:23,320 Speaker 1: She says, this, Gerald a model husband. In so many ways. 639 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,319 Speaker 1: You can get really stressful around here for someone who's 640 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,680 Speaker 1: used to an optimal office environment. And if that gets 641 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,239 Speaker 1: to Gerald sometimes and he acts out, well, when you 642 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: consider I had a better chance of getting killed by 643 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,239 Speaker 1: terrorists and getting married much less to a guy with 644 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:42,960 Speaker 1: a job, well, the bottom line is I created this reality. 645 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:49,160 Speaker 1: I take responsibility for my life, even forgetting battered, and 646 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:53,440 Speaker 1: I feel damned bloody. That terrorist statistic she's referring to 647 00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,800 Speaker 1: is totally bogus, and the author knows it. She includes 648 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 1: a parenthetical saying that quote. This dubious statistic was actually 649 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,520 Speaker 1: reported in one of the USA's bougies newsies to scare 650 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:09,600 Speaker 1: eighties spinsters. Unquote. That bougie newsy was Newsweek. That dubious 651 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 1: statistic was from a study that claimed that women over 652 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,040 Speaker 1: forty had less than a three percent chance of getting married. 653 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:20,560 Speaker 1: As they put it, it was more likely a woman 654 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 1: of that age would be killed by a terrorist than 655 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,319 Speaker 1: be married. This stat was repeated ad nauseam and had 656 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,719 Speaker 1: a hold on the culture for some time, even though 657 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,240 Speaker 1: it was completely fake. I remember it most clearly appearing 658 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 1: in Sleepless in Seattle. To conclude the comic strip, the 659 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: host of the fake shock Jock radio show returns and says, this, okay, 660 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:44,160 Speaker 1: lots of you got it on the nose, so to speak. Betty, Shadow, 661 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,840 Speaker 1: Shock Treat, and Cathy all died of injuries. So remember, 662 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,600 Speaker 1: get hit, get out. This is women's comics and the 663 00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: underground movement at its best edgy and shocking, but also 664 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,880 Speaker 1: with a clear perspective and purpose. I'm very glad that 665 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,160 Speaker 1: these collections were made and think that their legacy is 666 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:07,760 Speaker 1: still felt today. By over financial struggles and internal issues, 667 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,640 Speaker 1: the comics stopped publishing. So no, Kathy guys White was 668 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,960 Speaker 1: far from the first woman to work in comics in 669 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,799 Speaker 1: a major way and never claimed to be. And maybe 670 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,440 Speaker 1: you've heard about some of the women in this episode before. 671 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,879 Speaker 1: Maybe you haven't, but it's clear that the Jackie ORMs 672 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,760 Speaker 1: is of the world. The fay Kings, the women whose 673 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,840 Speaker 1: work thrived in their day in spite of pop culture 674 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,640 Speaker 1: history at large letting them fall to the wayside in 675 00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:36,880 Speaker 1: favor of their white male cohort, were important and warrant 676 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:40,320 Speaker 1: continued discussion. The last handful of years have brought marginalized 677 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,440 Speaker 1: people erased from history back into focus, and the comics 678 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 1: industry should be a part of this discussion. Basically, what 679 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: I'm saying is, give me my Jackie ORMs biopic yesterday. 680 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,839 Speaker 1: In part two of this episode, will be looking at 681 00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:56,840 Speaker 1: four comic artists working at the same time as Kathy 682 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: guys White, Alison Bechdel, Gary Trudeau, Aaron McGrew r and 683 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,040 Speaker 1: Lynn Johnston artists who, like Kathy, took some risks and 684 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,880 Speaker 1: the way that the culture responded to those risks is telling. 685 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:15,360 Speaker 1: That's coming up Wednesday on ac Cast. Oh Jesus passed 686 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:19,800 Speaker 1: the Lane cuisine. Let's just eat chocolate, dude, And before 687 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:22,080 Speaker 1: we go, I wanted to add a maya culpa to 688 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:25,960 Speaker 1: our last episode. I quoted a writer named Robin Morgan, 689 00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:30,799 Speaker 1: who a listener graciously informed me is a notorious transphobe. 690 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,120 Speaker 1: I was not aware. I feel very foolish for not knowing, 691 00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:36,840 Speaker 1: and I apologize for the oversight and anyone that it 692 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:41,000 Speaker 1: may have upset. Fuck that at Cast is an I 693 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:45,320 Speaker 1: Heeart radio production hosted, written, and researched by me Jamie Loftus. 694 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:48,320 Speaker 1: The show is executive produced by the wonderful Sophie Lichterman, 695 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,680 Speaker 1: edited by the wonderful Isaac Taylor. Music is from Zoey 696 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:55,360 Speaker 1: Blade and the slapper of a theme comes from Brad 697 00:42:55,520 --> 00:43:00,840 Speaker 1: dick Art. Voices you heard today include my Mommy, Joel Smith, 698 00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:05,680 Speaker 1: not my my mom, Comma Joel Smith. Joel Smith is 699 00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 1: not my mom. It would be cool. Also Caitlin Toronte 700 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:14,000 Speaker 1: and Jackie Michelle Johnson as Kathy, see you Wednesday,