Or: women political cartoonists and why we need more of ’em.
I thought it was about time I introduced Stephanie McMillan to those of you who read this blog, but don’t know about her (and possibly don’t check my blogroll; hey, that’s okay, forgive you). I came upon her when this brilliant cartoon did the rounds:
This was up on Stephanie’s site, Minimum Security, in April 2006, in response to Republican Senator Bill Napoli‘s support to a legislation in South Dakota limiting abortion services access to (in his words):
…a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married.
The rest of us, married or otherwise, virgin or otherwise, religious or otherwise, clearly don’t count. So Stephanie felt, if anti-abortion politicians can be so certain about telling women what to do with their bodies, why not let them deal with other decisions women make? All other decisions…!
Seeing Stephanie’s work – and now I’m hooked – made me miss Maya Kamath (1951-2001) even more than usual. Maya was India’s best known woman political cartoonist, and as Manjula Padmanabham (cartoonist, artist and writer) said about her in tribute:
Maya’s political opinions were expressed with a cool yet distinct humour — a sense of irony combined with an understanding of the political forces of the day. It’s a quality that cartoonists must have deep within them… She wasn’t pointlessly vicious and she often cut to the heart of the issue, just by the way she used symbols.
The World of Maya is her collection of work, spanning 15 years and over 5000 cartoons.
Why is it that there are so few women political cartoonists? Or women cartoonists in general? And why should their gender identity preclude recognition of their political astuteness and artistic skills?
Anyhow, it was a joy to discover Stephanie, as it was a joy to know Maya and her work. Stephanie, I wish I could have introduced you to Maya. I think it would have been a riot.
You’ve been tagged.