tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747226941560881392.post1205252872234514552..comments2024-03-11T23:29:51.142-04:00Comments on Attempted Bloggery: Gardner Rea: Is Wife-Beating Funny?docnadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13176391968160060126noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747226941560881392.post-86657777246117018882014-05-06T00:37:24.388-04:002014-05-06T00:37:24.388-04:00I don't see much of a social agenda here. I th...I don't see much of a social agenda here. I think Rea's primary intention in this cartoon was to be humorous rather than feminist or "anti-sexist." I'm sure he means to mock the consoling friend's unhelpful attitude, but again I find nothing funny in this ugly scenario.docnadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13176391968160060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747226941560881392.post-70453226594393860972014-05-05T15:25:06.301-04:002014-05-05T15:25:06.301-04:00A blogger [http://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2...A blogger [http://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2014/03/gardner-rea-is-wife-beating-funny.html] commented on this 1936 New Yorker cartoon: <br />"Sexist cartoons were commonly published at the time in many mainstream media including the New Yorker, and many of them were to my mind quite funny. Yet I do not recall very many cartoons that tried to make a joke about violence against women.<br /><br />"Here we have a single panel gag cartoon about a victim of wife-beating--domestic violence or spousal abuse in today's parlance--being consoled ineptly by a supposed friend. I see nothing humorous about this situation. The victim has a black eye and the plaster on the wall is broken, presumably by the force of her impact. What on earth were the editors thinking?"<br /><br />I think the blogger entirely missed Rea's point. While the conventional wisdom of the time was that a woman should suffer the abuse of one's husband willingly -- better to be beaten than abandoned. Rea was pointing to the foolishness of this view. It was a strong anti-sexist statement.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01738378023575141298noreply@blogger.com