Angelina Jolie and Audre Lorde: The Female Body


breasts and angelina jolieYesterday, the top news in the morning was Angelina Jolie’s breast surgery. I wrote about it on my Forbes column. My thoughts were inspired in part by a book I read several years ago, Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde. In the book, she explores the choice women have of breast prothesis. Written in the 1980s,  Lorde was one of the first feminists to write about how breast prothesis “seems like a cover-up in a society where women are solely judged on their looks.” (Wikipedia)

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Gallery of Mother Cartoons


I thought you might enjoy  some of my cartoons over the years on mothers. My mother made me laugh more than she made me cry–and for that I cannot thank her enough. Were she alive, I would watch New Girl with her and laugh, just as I do with my daughters now. Here is a piece I wrote about her in my Forbes Column. I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day, however you do or don’t celebrate it.

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Good Normal, Or Questions After Cleveland


new good normal_edited-2Today I did a piece on the horrid events in Cleveland, and the happy outcome. I couldn’t not write about it, but it was a strange subject to take on. Let me know what you think, it is here on my ForbesWoman column.  It seems to me this is a wake-up call for all of us. Above is the cartoon that goes with the article. I cheer Amanda Berry and her courage, all of the women and the young child, as well as Charles Ramsey who went against the normal  behavior of “not getting involved.”

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Freedom and Fun: The Caen International Cartoon Festival


Along with fifteen other cartoonists, I was fortunate to be invited to participate in the third annual International Cartoon Festival in Caen, France.  The Caen Memorial Museum, which hosts this event, is a very moving place and it was a wonderful gathering, with cartoonists from around the world.  In keeping with the emotional events that took place in the Normandy invasions, Stephane Grimaldi, the director of the museum, seeks to bring people, events and exhibits to Caen that promote peace and freedom of expression.  Below is a list of the participating cartoonists and a selection of some of the cartoons and people that were there.

BERTH

France

BRUNOR

France

CARALI

France

CARUSO

Brésil

CHAUNU

France

DANZIGER

Etats-Unis

DONNELLY

Etats-Unis

HADDAD

Liban

JIHO

France

KAP

Espagne

KAZANEVSKY

Ukraine

KIANOUSH

Iran

KICHKA

Israël

MIX & REMIX

Suisse

ROYAARDS

Pays-Bas

WILLIS FROM TUNIS

Tunisie

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On The Aftermath Of The Boston Marathon Attacks


 

Boston marathon typed captionMy thoughts are with Boston, the injured and the families who lost loved ones. I really have nothing else to say. Hopefully we can move on, and help our children adjust to new realities as we encounter them.

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Worlds, All Over The World


paris homeless_edited-2I was just in Paris on my way to an the International Cartoon Festival in Caen. I couldn’t help but notice that Paris has a fair number of homeless on the street. I know New York does as well–perhaps we have different ways of coping with the state of our homeless population. Every city deals with it differently. But however it is handled, one thing is clear: the span between the haves and the have-nots is still much too large. Globally.

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Increase The Fun: Allow Same Sex Marriage


same sex marriage-cakes sized_edited-1The US Supreme court is currently debating some very important cases having to do with same sex marriage. It’s all over the news, as it should be. I support the right for gays and lesbians to legally marry, to have hospital rights, inheritance rights, joint tax rights, all of that.

If we increase the number of people being allowed to enter into matrimony, there are so many benefits. It makes a lot of people and children happy. I have been married for twenty-five years, and it has been a wonderful ride. And a funny one. Marriage is funny, admit it.

If gays and lesbians are allowed to get married across the country, then we would have twice the love, twice the levity.

And even more material for humorists.

For a slide show of my marriage cartoons, visit my Forbes column!

Also, my husband, Michael Maslin and I wrote a book on the subject: Cartoon Marriage: Adventures in Love and Matrimony With The New Yorker’s Cartooning Couple

| Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Steubenville Case and The Power of Humor


rape humor-1Had it not been for social media, we might not know about the horrible things that were done to the young woman that night in Steubenville, Ohio. Sadly, the attitude and behavior of the young football players, to a degree, is perhaps played out all over the country every weekend. Alcohol fueled rowdy group conduct can lead to horrible misconduct; in this case, it led to a form of gang rape.

This morning, I watched a video of one of the young men who was present that night. Watch it at your own risk–it is disturbing.  The cell-phone video is trained directly on one young boy for twelve minutes as he delivers one liners about rape, death and the young woman,  over and over again to the laughter of a some in the room. My shock at what was being said was compounded with wondering why is the camera focusing solely on him.  At one point, the person doing the filming is heard to laughingly say to his subject, “I’m going to watch this over and over again.”  It dawned on me: this young man in front of the camera is a wanna-be comedian. He is telling jokes made at the expense of a passed out, violated young woman (who is not in the room).

There is a strain of comedy in our country that makes fun of others beyond the bounds of civility.  I am not saying that derogatory humor aimed at insulting, harassing, belittling and ridiculing women is gang rape, but it is a kind of shared, group attack that many feel is okay to do. Because it is shared by a large number of people in the room (auditorium,  computer screen), it is somehow acceptable.  Humor is a powerful tool and when used in this way is extremely hurtful to others, and worse. It continually perpetuates disrespect and hate in our society.

Posted in News, Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Sheryl Sandberg Is Not Perfect and Other Things I learned From ‘Lean In’


Sandberg's book copy

Sheryl Sandberg is the CEO of Facebook, and she has been in the news a lot lately. Primarily because she wrote a book about business and women and why there are not more women at the top of companies (or countries).  “Lean In” is part memoir, part advice book, and I enjoyed it. She doesn’t discuss humor, but she does mention Nora Ephron, thankfully!  Read my full piece on my Forbes column

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Are Vaginas Necessary?


International women's day vaginaI spent a good part of this week thinking about what I could post about International Women’s Day, which is today. And of course, trying to think how to draw a cartoon about the day which is not typically a “funny” day.  Finally, yesterday, I put my post up on Forbes.com, and it seems to have hit a nerve. I got a lot of hits in less than 24 hours. Maybe the world is changing, and caring about women? Who knows…  Please let me know what you think, either here or there!

Posted in Random but Relevant | Tagged , | 6 Comments