The thing is, I almost never get catcalled. I mean, I acknowledge that it’s possible that I do get catcalled more often and just don’t notice, because I can be pretty oblivious to what’s going on around me. Like a lot of people in larger cities, I think I’ve achieved a certain practiced level of actively ignoring loud noises. But I can pretty much count the times I’ve gotten catcalled on one hand.
I consider myself a feminist; I define that as “a person who thinks women should basically be treated with respect and paid equally”, and I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. In the same way that catcalls kind of fade into the background noise of an urban environment, a lot of the soft sexism in the comics industry kind of fades into the background for me. It’s dumb, but it’s just what you have to deal with when you’re a lady participating in an art form that’s dominated by men. Since I don’t work for the mainstream companies, and since I self-publish, I don’t often run into the really overt discrimination that you hear about. Usually when people ask me what it’s like being a female comics artist, I say that the biggest difference is that I get asked “What’s it like being a female comics artist” a lot.
BUT. Reading some of the comics from the ladies at Adventure School, I had some memories come back to me suddenly, things I hadn’t thought about in ages. An example: I got my art degree from Beloit College, but I spent my first semester at a different place, a state school in Missouri. When I decided I wanted to major in art, I went and sat down with the head of the art department there. I had been drawing political cartoons for my high school paper, and I was toying with the idea of doing that for a living. The art department chair had a Gary Trudeau original drawing on his wall, so I was really excited to talk to him about it. But when I told him that I wanted to be a political cartoonist – without even opening my portfolio, mind you – this guy* started going off about how impossible it was to break into cartooning, especially for a woman, and told me I should forget about it and try to pursue a more realistic goal. I got up and walked out of his office, and started crying a bit on my way back to the dorm. The head of the art department was going to actively discourage me from doing the kind of art I wanted to do, and my gender was a part of that. I was already pretty sure that college was not for me, but that afternoon I called Beloit College to find out how difficult it would be to transfer there, and within a few months I was gone.
I hadn’t thought about this in years. And even when I had thought about it, I figured it was just one of those minor pieces of bullshit that I would have to deal with, working in comics. But as Adventure School Intrepid Leader Anne Elizabeth Moore pointed out, when I told them this story: the fact that this guy did this meant I had to go through all sorts of extra work to get the same major that a guy would have to. He made it pretty clear that I wasn’t going to get any support or encouragement trying to study cartooning at his school, so I had to interrupt my education and transfer to a different school in a different state.
Beloit was amazing, by the way. My professors didn’t know a whole lot about comics, and weren’t entirely sure what to do with me, but they were incredibly happy to help me set up an independent study, and never once did they show anything less than unbridled enthusiasm for what I wanted to do.
There’s been a lot of internet talk lately about the inherent sexism in comic book art, or the inherent sexism in how women get treated in comic book stores, at conventions, on the internet, on panels, etc. It seems every time someone brings it up, a chorus of defenders show up to shout them down, to explain why it’s objectively not offensive, and we’re stupid to be offended in the first place. Honestly, I start to get angry, but mostly it just makes me tired. I find my energy is better spent ignoring all the bullshit and just making comics.
Does that sound defeatist? I mean, that’s what I did with the catcaller, too. I just ignored him and kept moving. Maybe I should have turned around and yelled at him, but would it have changed anything? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have convinced him to change his ways. He might have even gotten a kick out of me getting angry, or the situation might have escalated. For my safety, for my sanity, my instinct is to just ignore the bullshit. Online, on the comics shop shelves, or in the real world; ignore the bullshit and just keep moving.
OKAY! That got a little more serious than I was planning on it. If you’ve read this far, let me throw some off-topic news into the mix. I will be at CAKE this weekend, at table 22!! Come get some books! I’ll also be on a panel there on Sunday with some ridiculously amazing and talented people. It’s about starting your own micropress, and it should be super informative if you’re into that sort of thing.
As always, if you can’t make it to this or any other convention, you can always buy books and prints from me at Shortpants Press.
PS: *I really don’t want to call him out, so I won’t name him or the school. He probably doesn’t even remember doing this to me. But I went and looked up the school’s website – the guy is still teaching there, and he’s still chair of the art department. Figures.
PPS: I’m really sick of how every post about stuff like this – discrimination or disenfranchisement in comics, and people vehemently defending it – turns into the same exact argument in the comments. Since Sauceome is pretty personal stuff, I’ve always moderated the comments with the passion of an insecure totalitarian dictator, and this post will be no exception.
Hey, you went to Beloit? Me too, from 2002-03 (I transferred after that.) And there aren’t many places more egalitarian and open-minded than Beloit, so that must have been a relief!
(Beloit-related food fact: Michael White, the restaurateur behind Osteria Morini, Marea, and now Nicoletta in NYC, grew up in Beloit, and is basing his pizzas at Nicoletta on the gross cracker-crust pizzas at Domenico’s. Weird?)
Yeah! I went … um a few years before you. Ha! And wow, I had no idea about Michael White, that’s really interesting! I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Beloit, but I certainly don’t remember it for the food. Domenico’s…. shudder.
Beloit party in the comments! *dance*
The best answer to any problem is always “make more comics.” I agree with all of this.
I agree with Eliza. Ignore haters/make comics.
You know, I spent a LOT of energy and time getting riled up about feminism in the past. It *is* tiring, especially when you’re fighting on both fronts. (Am I being feminist enough? Am I being female-chauvenistic?) I don’t think it’s defeatist to simply choose to put your energies in other areas. You prove your point simply by being good at what you do without any regard to your sex/gender.
I think it’s worth choosing your battles either by engaging on a small scale (catcaller) and working bottom up or engaging on a larger institutional/systemic scale (department head) and working top down. Either way the key is that people need to be involved. You may not have confronted directly with either but you’ve help bring us into the story and engaged all your readers so that’s the good fight. Keep it up!
One of the great things about the Interwebs is that, even while misogyny abounds, you also get to hear from folks who a) agree with you, and b) have experienced some of the same things as you have. So you know you aren’t alone or imagining things. Which is pretty powerful itself, I think.
Also, emphasizing what Kristin said: “You prove your point simply by being good at what you do without any regard to your sex/gender.” RIGHT ON.
You guys are all awesome. :D
This is such a wonderful piece. I haven’t gotten cat-called in years (probably helps that I seem to have my kids with me most of the time. I feel like I should rent them out to other women. “Here borrow some kids if you want to go to the store without a hassle. Only 10 bucks a trip.”) But I recall how it would just sort of leave me feeling deflated afterward. What would really upset me at times was when it would happen when I was working. Initially I was scared about losing my job if I responded. I wonder if some men realize that? Do they know what it is like to have someone hassling them about their appearance while they are working?
After awhile the snarky side in me was let loose. (having the support of my bosses helped)
It’s hard to pick and choose those battles. But when one chooses to fight on occasion, it sure is fun to make someone maybe pause and think about their actions.
When I hear women my age say “I’ve never had… so therefore you…” I want to snap back “well goody for you. Next time I’ll will myself into your existence and make the x-problem just disappear.”
I think as long as we aren’t telling other people how to deal with sexism, or even if sexism exists in our professional areas, because come on, then how you choose to cope with things is your call. Sometimes, just getting shit done is exactly the right call, and sometimes maybe making a fuss is exactly the right call. We should have the skills to do both if we want/need to, but also have the right to decide.
You have to put your resources where they support your interests and use your energy best. And, you have to do the best you can with what you have.
i hate to quote ayn rand, even in metaphor, but to me this argument/situation always been kind of reminiscent of her whole thing of one character asking, “what do you think of me?” and the other replying, “i don’t think of you.” women DON’T often think of their gender, in my experience, and in some ways that’s awesome, because ladies devote themselves to being incredible without the horrible icky meta-dimension of “but what does this MEAN for ladies in general?”
buuuuut in some ways i think it means we miss the more systemic ways we’re disregarded. i’m no women’s studies scholar, by any means, but i’ve spent the last eight years of my life explaining to men and women the choices that are difficult for everyone because of gender. and it is still amazing to me how few people see gender as a thing.
so i guess what i mean is, yes, above all, just keep kicking ass, but let’s never pretend that gender isn’t an issue.
nb: this may be my limited experience based on my location. i live in arizona, and DAMN, does everyone love patriarchy here.
bahaha go ahead and delete my comment. in true baranowski form, i am drunk and long-winded at 3:30 AM.
Greta, I would NEVER delete your comments. :D
And you’re right… I want to make it clear that this isn’t a recommendation that everyone respond to discrimination or sexist comments by ignoring them. I just know that I only have the energy for one thing – either I have the energy to get angry and fight back, or I have the energy to ignore the bullshit and keep moving forward. I am infinitely grateful to the people out there who ARE getting angry, getting loud, refusing to let stuff like this go unnoticed.
I have this friend living in France. She wanted to become a construction worker, so she went at a place and the lady told her: ”But you know sweety, you’ll have to lift very heavy things… and this place won’t do no good to your nails neither”… What kind of comment is that to say in front of someone? Just because she’s a girl she’s not allowed to be physically strong and loving to get her hand dirty???