Tag: women

Packed House For Cartoonists Who Are Women in NYC!

Photo by Michael Maslin
Who knew that an exhibition about women cartoonists from The New Yorker would draw a huge, standing-room only, out-the-door-and-around-the-block crowd ?  When the room downstairs was full, they sent people to the second and third floors (where the bar was) and to the lower level (where the food was).  The evening was the opening event, and included a lively–at times hysterical– panel discussion with cartoonists Roz Chast, Liana Finck, Carolita Johnson, and New Yorker cartoon editor Emma Allen.  It was so much fun!  I selected and moderated the panel, and each participant was so funny and told stories and shared what the life of a cartoonist was like. Then we showed cartoons that are particularly feminist in tone, and talked about those. 
I curated the Funny Ladies At The New Yorker, Then and Now exhibition to include original art from 1925 through 2018. It is based in part on my book, Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons,a history of the women who drew for The New Yorker from the very first issue of the magazine in 1925. But the motivation for the show was also to celebrate that on Dec 4, 2017,  for the first time in its history,  the magazine published the first issue ever that included more women drawing cartoons than men. 
The show runs until Oct 13. There will be another panel event on Oct 11th!  It’s at the Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd, NYC. It’s a wonderful three story townhouse museum dedicated to art and illustration!  They have a restaurant bar on the third floor, check it out.
The Society of Illustrators, photo credit Steffen Kaplin, @Spinitsocial
Outside the Society of Illustrators. Photo credit Steffen Kaplin, @Spinitsocial

 

The panelists. Standing: Carolita Johnson, Emma Allen, Roz Chast; seated, Liana Finck, Liza Donnelly. Photo by Stephen Nadler.
Some of the cartoonists whose work is in the exhbition. Sharon Levy, Roz Chast, Liza Donnelly, Carolita Johnson, Liana Finck, Emily Sanders Hopkins (nee Richards), Sophia Warren, Mary Lawton, and Maggie Larson. Photo by Michael Maslin

 

    (Above photos credit Steffen Kaplan,  @SpinItSocial)

And here are photos of the exhibition:

 

 

Photo credits: @SpinItSocial, @lizadonnelly

 

 

 

Appearing In Parade Magazine

I remember when I was growing up, along with the comics in the Washington Post, I always looked forward to the Sunday magazine, Parade. It was visual, so right down my alley.  I am very pleased that this week, I appear in the online version of Parade. Journalist Dr. Nancy Berk did a wonderful job interviewing me in advance of my speaking at the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop next week, April 5th in Dayton, Ohio. Also thrilled about that! Thanks to my friend and very funny comedian Wendy Liebman, for making that happen. Wendy is an instructor at the workshop every year. I can’t wait!

UN Women Interview: Cartoons can help

Recently, I was interviewed by the United Nations initiative, UN Women. Their mission is to help women around the globe, as “the global champion for gender equality, working to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. We are trusted partners for advocates and decision-makers from all walks of life, and a leader in the effort to achieve gender equality.”
It was such an honor to be interviewed by them. I hope my work can in some small way help women around the world.

The Politics Of Women And Clothing

I drew this sketch recently for my New Yorker’s Daily Cartoon submission. They didn’t take it, but I wanted to publish it anyway. It’s in response to the woman in Saudi Arabia recently who posted a video of herself in a mini skirt and subsequently got arrested. She was eventually released. While we in this country are aghast at what is policed re women in Middle Eastern countries, it is important to remember what Western countries do, and how they police what women should and shouldn’t wear.

Women are told what to wear and if we are not wearing what a culture deems “correct,” we are “corrected,” so to speak. Society is beginning to notice how wrong victim blaming is, when a woman who is sexually assaulted while wearing a short skirt is?—?in many parts of the country?—?accused of “asking for it.” CBS News reported last week that in the US Congress, sleeveless dresses are not considered “proper business attire,” and thus women are open to being barred from entry if so clothed. In response, Representative Martha McSally wore a sleeveless dress in Congress, in violation of a rule that women are not to do so; and there was even more pushback. There are more examples, and many of them are much more subtle.

Every day is a political day for women around the globe. Here’s to more pushback.

#ShePersisted: Women’s Voices

COretta and Elizabeth

While taking a walk yesterday, an image for a cartoon came to me and I seized it. I stood on the sidewalk and drew it on my phone. Sometimes I feel an idea has to go out right away and be a part of the national (or global) conversation. To wait is to lose an opportunity, a chance to hopefully contribute to the conversation. It depends on the idea of course, but this topic was one that I wanted to be a part of.

While giving a speech in the Senate chambers, Senator Elizabeth Warren read the late Coretta Scott King’s letter critical of Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for Attorney General. Senator Warren was told to stop talking by Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell’s reason for instructing Warren to sit down and stop talking was based on a Senate rule from 1902, wherein members are not supposed to speak ill of other members?—?however, there are many examples online of just this being done at other times by male members of the Senate, and not being censured. This act on the part of Senator McConnell?—?a white man shutting down two women, one black, one white?—?was so odd and alarming that it immediately gave Warren and King’s words much more power. Even though Sessions was confirmed the next day.

Their voices were amplified.

Bravo, Elizabeth Warren and Coretta Scott King.

Happy Women’s Equality Day

Equality DayOn August 26th, 1920, the 19th Amendment went into law and women were finally allowed to vote in the US after decades of effort on the part of brave women and men. This day is marked every year now,  and called #WomensEqualityDay. But what many men and women in this country don’t realize is that women are not currently equal under our laws. Here is Liza’s post on Forbes about a new documentary that helps bring understanding on this, and how the US is failing to be a global leader in the fight for #WomensRights.

Liza will be appearing on a panel tonight at the United Nations in New York , as part of an initiative of the office of UN Women, to discuss these issues and help find solutions.