Almost Laughable: Dearth of Female Cartoonists

[realFedUp]

Almost Laughable: Dearth of Female Cartoonists
Run Date: 04/20/05

By Sheila Gibbons
WeNews commentator

Less than 4 percent of editorial cartoonists on major syndicates are female. That would almost be laughable, says Sheila Gibbons, if it didn't reflect such a sad and serious sidelining of women's wit and wisdom.

(WOMENSENEWS)--As an avid newspaper reader, I am constantly scrutinizing editorial cartoons for a ticklish take on the day's sobering topics.

Rarely do I see a cartoon drawn by a woman.

With our powers of observation sharpened by millennia of child-rearing and society shaping, and the wit and humor we've acquired to cope with those tasks, you'd think editors would be pounding on our doors to hand us paper and pen. So why aren't they?

This question emerged as a part of the latest outbreak of concern about the paucity of women on leading opinion pages. This one was triggered by a nasty row that broke into public in March between news commentator Susan Estrich and Michael Kinsley, editorial and opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times.

While onlookers were left divided about Estrich's zealous attempts to get a steady pundit slot from Kinsley, the incident did call attention to the dearth of female bylines on op-ed pages. Only about 24 percent of opinion writers at the biggest syndicates are women, according to a survey by Editor and Publisher magazine.

Less Than 4 Percent
As disappointing as that number is, consider this: Women are less than 4 percent of those same syndicates' editorial cartoonists.

They are Ann Telnaes, who draws the "Commentoon" for Women's eNews and until recently was syndicated by Tribune Media Services; Signe Wilkinson of the Philadelphia Daily News and the Washington Post Writers Group and Etta Hulme of the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram and Newspaper Enterprise Association.

continued...and one of my fav. female cartoonists:

[Moderator]

1. Care to include a link, so we can read the rest? (n/t)

[AmericanErrorist]

2. Here's a link

http://www.womensenews.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2264

[realFedUp]

3. thanks for posting the link

:-)

[Chalco]

4. I personally am quite concerned about this issue.

My daughter, who's only 12, will more than likely be a cartoonist. However, very few cartoonists at this point are women. There are a couple of cartoon colleges, if I can call them that. One in New York and one someplace else, I can't remember. There are basicly no female faculty or very few. So, I contacted one of them, the admissions guy, and said that I was concerned about my daughter applying to his school because there were no women faculty. I got an incredibly snotty reply back. It's like it's back to 1970 when I was told a woman couldn't get a Ph.D. This really pisses me off because my daughter is already extremely talented.