Comics By Women: Different perspectives. (12 points)

 Comics by women: Different perspectives. (12 points) 

Back in elementary school, I always assumed that girls were better artists then boys, since girls had some pretty nice handwriting while us boys often got work sent back to us because the teacher couldn’t read our chicken scratch. Even today, I attend an art school where my female peers outnumber the males by quite a large margin. As such, it makes me wonder how many great artists were suppressed throughout history because they were women. Picasso, Dali, Da Vinci - All men hailing from a time when art made by women was not publicly accepted and this left out of the pages of history. Today however things are finally different and girl creatives can finally have their work published and recognized by the public. Reading the featured comics this week has my interests for varied perspectives piqued.  

This One Summer by Jillian and Marika Tamaki is a really interesting coming of age story exploring a wide range of emotions and how they affect person to person interaction. jealousy, grief, anger, sadness, disgust are all laid bare before the reader. I was particularly moved by how Rose’s crush on the cashier got so far into her head. She got angry at her friend because of it, she began to hate his girlfriend out of jealousy and even started blaming her for getting pregnant, without even understanding the situation herself, especially since her mom continues to experience extreme grief after losing a baby. Her actions aren’t out of malice but out of confusion and longing to understand the world, all the while not understanding her own pubescent feelings. The comic really captures the experience of youth in general. The desire to feel smarter and more composed than the adults that surround us, the longing to take on the world our way, the feelings here are very close to my feelings around Rose’s age, but also different. I don’t think I started liking girls until a number of years later and this part of the story is distinctly sourced from the experience as an adolescent girl and not an adolescent in general. The complicated emotions of a first crush, the pushing away others who might get in your way of it, the desire to believe that your feelings are correct are all really interesting takes on the experience of youth and I’m glad I got to experience them through This One Summer, especially since it knew just the right moments to focus on to really build up a feeling in the viewer. 


Also a story from a distinct women's perspective is Diary of a Dominatrix by Molly Kiely. It tells the story of a not that into it dominatrix and her very into it clientele. She presents the air of having everything all figured out and being decently happy with the things her job gets her. Independence and her day to day dealings are the main details covered by the comic, with a few tips and tricks into being a dom here and there. Despite having a good system going on, I don't think the main character is totally happy with her life and longs for something more stimulating in a way. The best way I can describe the feeling of this Dominatrix centered comic is with another Dominatrix centered comic, and I wouldn't have it any other way.



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