As usual, there is a treasure trove of WOW news. But first, let’s briefly consider cartoons, a subject near and dear to my heart! And it probably should be yours too, as cartoons sometimes have more impact than a news story or editorial. Lobbing cartoon mockery at politicians who deserve it has been around since the birth of the nation. Like my drawings, they often featured aminals. For all we know, that’s what those cave drawings were all about.
As many of you know, I’ve been cartooning for quite a few years now, but not able to “give up my day job” and earn my living with cartoons alone. So I wondered, is it more difficult to find good-paying work as a cartoonist if you happen to be a woman? And I discovered that yes, it is.
There is not a lot of accessible information online on the topic; google “cartoons" with any subject and the search returns cartoons on the subject rather than writing about the subject as it relates to cartoons. Searchers have to get creative. But I did find this: Being a cartoonist by the numbers - and the numbers are ugly. A nonrandom survey of 186 professional artists revealed that 48% earned less than $12,000 per year. Of those who answered the survey, 51% of men, 16% of women, and 12.5% of trans people earned enough for cartooning to be their only job. The rest have additional jobs or are supported by a spouse. Well then. Now I’m not sure if I feel worse for knowing the odds or better for being in such good company!
In other cartooning news, earlier this week Slate profiled a new Web site, Women Who Draw, led by women who hope to increase the visibility of women illustrators by providing a directory of freelance women illustrators and samples of their work for easy access by art directors, editors, anyone who may need to hire illustrators (to be taken seriously as a cartoonist, call yourself an illustrator, I suppose). Hopefully this will help lessen that professional pay differential at least a little bit.
In further cartooning news, HuffPo interviewed three prominent women cartoonists earlier this year, regarding sexism in the field. They discussed sexism in politics and in cartoons, particularly as it relates to Hillary’ candidacy for President, when they sometimes had to put up with some cluelessness from the men at their workplaces. One of the three is our own Jen Sorensen (if you ever wanted to see Jen in action, there’s even a video, which unfortunately won’t paste here!), www.huffingtonpost.com/… They discuss their own ambivalence about portraying Hillary, understandable given the viciousness of some portrayals by men, but that’s the job. They mostly solve the dilemma by focusing on policy just like they do with male candidates, unlike colleagues who often focus on appearance.
In other news, there is good and bad in the War on Women. So we’ll go over the bad first and end with some good.
Those crazy anti-choicers are at it again.
I can see the blown-up fetus photos being posted in elementary schools next. Because family values:
Oklahoma to Require Anti-Abortion Signs in Public Restrooms
We predicted right (commenting last week, IIRC, that the 6-week ban was designed to make the 20-week ban seem relatively reasonable): Kasich vetoed the 6-week abortion ban, signed the 20-week one.
“You can’t whip up a firestorm of hate and not think it has any consequences”: Abortion Providers See Increased Threat Since Trump's Election
Harassment: Here we go again: NJ state trooper suspended and criminally charged after allegations that he was pulling women over to ask for dates or their phone numbers, then altering the records. So far no indication that his actions went any further, but there's no way a woman in that situation wouldn't find his behavior coercive.
Miscellaneous Craziness:
All rights are equal but some rights are more equal than others. It seems Orwell fits almost every occasion lately:
The Biggest Religious Imposition Fight for 2017
Repeal of Obamacare will hit women harder than men, particularly poor women:
Beyond Birth Control, How Trumpcare Might Affect Women
Russian reality show sends men and women into the wilderness to compete for over a million dollars. No camera crews, just mounted cameras. Everyone gets a knife. Rape and murder do not disqualify the contestants. Although criminals will be arrested later. What could possibly go wrong?
"Everything is allowed. Fighting, alcohol, murder, rape, smoking, anything"
Good News: Fortunately, there’s quite a lot of it. People are fired up to take action:
The first good news bit...Clinton's loss is pushing women to have their voices heard: www.huffingtonpost.com/…
A community college student's photos of Trump's words about women: www.buzzfeed.com/…
Anti-choice activists have long claimed that abortion leads to mental illness — but a new study shows the opposite:
A breast pump commercial with a sense of humor: www.facebook.com/…
A very strong woman:
The above tweet looks fine in draft, so I’ll leave it in case it decides to come back. Meanwhile, here’s a link to the ESPN announcement of the Impact25, espnmediazone.com/… and this is Simone Biles (apparently she won a medal or two):
Taking too long but moving in the right direction: The incoming UN secretary general, António Guterres, has announced that Nigeria’s environment minister, Amina Mohammed, will be his deputy and appointed two other women to key leadership posts. Guterres has made achieving gender parity at the world body a priority of his tenure, which begins on 1 January. Women currently fill less than one in four leadership positions at the UN.
And last but certainly not least, our own ramara had a letter to the editor published in the Arizona Daily Star on Monday. In this case, the story is Medicare and Medicaid, but all of our stories matter:
Action Items:
UltraViolet is collecting stories about how Obamacare is helping people. Please share your story if you're one of the millions: act.weareultraviolet.org…
The Congress of El Salvador is discussing a bill to lift the total ban of abortion in the country. Women in El Salvador are fighting for its approval, but they need your help. Sign the petition! support.reproductiverights.org/...
For those who don’t speak Spanish: Put first name in first box, then last name in second box, then email in 3rd, then zip code. Thank you!
And many, many thanks to the WOW team who contributed links and conversation behind the scenes this week: Besame, NoBlinkers, ramara, and Tara the Antisocial Social Worker. This would be much more work without you!