Not Laughing Over Cartoons
DAVID Kuhn, male chauvinist pig? The literary agent stirred up a flock of feisty feminists at the Algonquin the other night during a panel discussion led by New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly celebrating her new book, “Sex and Sensibility: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love . . . in 200 Cartoons.” After some panelists and audience members hammered The New Yorker for not running more cartoons by women, Kuhn, a former New Yorker editor, argued the that it isn’t the number of female-drawn cartoons in the weekly, but the percentage of those submitted that make the cut. After he was shouted down by some Amazons, Ann Hall, who worked in the magazine’s cartoon department for years, defended him, saying how the vast majority of submissions came from men. Imagine what the fems would have done to Christopher Hitchens, author of “Why Women Aren’t Funny.”
Say what you will about the tone of this, but remember it’s The Post. It was very civil and an interesting discussion. Nobody hammered anyone, and there were no “Amazons” (whatever they are) at the party! Kuhn and Hall make very good points. However, what is not said here is that our culture still does not encourage women to be funny, although that is changing, thank god. And what is considered funny needs to be wider in mainstream media. I’m talking about our culture, not one particular magazine! Today’s NY Times has two articles about Hollywood that speak to this issue. Will post later.
