wowowow.com , the new website created by  Joni Evans, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Leslie Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Jane Wagner, Candice Bergen and others, is featuring the book on their books page.  It also includes a slide show of some of the cartoons.

http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/05/05/review-sex-and-sensibility-edited-by-liza-donelly/

Many thanks to Amanda Recupido who regularly attends our events for the book and writes on galleycat about the issues. see below.

I love The New Yorker, and love its history. It is an important part of my life and has given me the creative outlet for my work all these years. Since its founding in 1925, The New Yorker has always been receptive to women artists, as I said in my book on the history of the women cartoonists of the magazine (Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and their Cartoons). My interest is in women, and any cultural difficulties we encounter. I teach Women’s Studies at Vassar, and my interest is academic, really. Not that I don’t want to help somehow, I do. I think conversation is the way to help.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/lecture_circuit/sex_sensibility_contributors_probe_gender_imbalance_in_new_yorker_cartoons_83994.asp

Below is the article in the Sunday NY Times by Manohla Dargis, “Is there a Woman in this Multiplex?” that details the lack of women acting/directing movies in Hollywood. Or if they do, the roles are pathetic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/movies/moviesspecial/04dargi.html

And, by A.O. Scott, “Here Comes Everyboy, Again” in the same Times section about the state of humor in Hollywood–that it’s all about men rejecting adulthood. In other words, adolecent male humor still prevails!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/movies/moviesspecial/04scot.html

 

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.

We had a lively time at the Algonquin on April 30th! The panel discussion got heated when discussing the gender gap of women cartoonists at, and submitting to, The New Yorker–but all agreed eventually that there are not a lot of women doing this! This needs to change. At any rate, here is one photo of us gals in the library of the Algonquin (where Ross and others would play poker) after the panel, signing books. Carolita Johnson, Marisa Acocella Marchetto, Victoria Roberts, Barbara Smaller and myself in the back.