Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

I think there are more male cartoonists simply because cartooning is something that you're drawn to as a child, and in the past cartoons have not only been aimed at boys, but were seen as an activity that only boys did -- boys read comics and played baseball; girls played with dolls and had tea parties. I'd like to think that times have changed enough that the percentage of female cartoonists will eventually rise.

I'm guessing that all of the talented ladies out there end up having kids/ getting married and then start to think that they are too busy. And maybe thery are! I guess a girls just got too many other priorities.

As for me... I EMBRACE the trade. If I ever make it in this.... (i hope!) I will shout it off the rooftops from my female lungs!

I want it on record that I have never, ever had a tea party.

Yep, they'll rise. After all... I didn't play with dolls OR tea parties. I played in the dirt.

Sorry ladies, I shoulda put those activities in quotes... I want it on record that I have never played baseball!

I wonder if cartooning is just something that only a very few girls are drawn too, perhaps due to the traditionally violent nature of most comic books, or maybe women prefer to spend a long time on a single piece of art instead of many small pieces that tell a story together?

I only know that I'm a complete tomboy (Tonka trucks and dirt when I was a kid), I'm also an artist and I work in IT which has always been a male-dominated field, and I've never felt any desire to get into cartooning or comic books, not even to read them. Maybe they're just intrinsically a guy thing?

I was a digital colorist for a year, coloring syndicated dailies for national papers. I'm a girl!!

Let's go burn our bras. Or something.

Oh! That's dangerous.... darn those cotton-poly fiber blends!

Cartooning has been a bit of a boys' club for a long time--like many, many other fields. It's changing. Lynda Barry is one of my very favorite artists out there, and there are many talented women like Carol Lay over at Salon that don't get nearly the coverage they deserve (she is a master storyteller, in my opinon). There's Marjane Satrapi, (Persepolis) too, who is coming out with a new book very soon. Many female cartoonists were part of the comix scene in the 60s, like Lee Marrs (Pudge, Girl Blimp)--she's worked on many superhero comics since, but not been as recognized as her male colleagues. You only hear about R. Crumb, but there were a lot of women doing some exciting work at that time. Sadly, much of what they did is now completely out of print, and so it gets forgotten. Trina Robbins, author and cartoonist, has some excellent books out there detailing the history of women and comics.

I think it's like anything else; girls don't believe they can do it until they see other women doing it, so they don't try...they go into advert illustration or paint on the weekends instead. It's changing now, and it's very exciting.

I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was growing up, drawing strips for years as a kid, and even did my high school paper's cartoon strip, etc., I ended up going fine arts, but was always drawn to illustration and cartooning. Presently cartoon styled illustration is part of my portfolio, but to have aimed at being a syndicated cartoonist or something of that caliber for some reason wasn't my ambition. Is/was it my personality make-up? Was I more interested in marriage and family? Do I/Did I lack the skills and drive to be a "real" cartoonist? What does differentiate us from men in this respect? I wonder what the statistics are on women who wanted-to-be cartoonists? I know I'm still asking the question and offering little in the way of a possible answer.

On a side note, I was reading an old article (c. 1980) that was asking a similar question pertaining to woman and guitar playing. The question, "Why are there virtually no female counterparts to guitarists such as Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Segovia, etc.?" The article states that woman guitarists (such as Bonnie Raitt & Joni Mitchell--who're still going strong today) are mostly noted for their singing and songwriting. That article was written 25 years ago. I don't think much has changed in 2005. It's still a small handful of women who are noted as 'master guitarists' in their genre, and I can't really name anyone who stands out primarily for their musicianship (e.g. Alison Krause's vocals are touted more than her fiddle playing.)

I brought up the woman musicians as what might be a parallel to woman cartoonists, or women in particular artistic vocations.

More food for thought, I guess. I look forward to checking out the site.

So there are so many male cartoonists? Well I am sure there are many male people in the USA doing comics because most stuff are just Action Comics like Batman, X-Men and stuff. I kind of think the whole situation is a little bit different in Asia and Europe. There are MANY female mangaka and comic artists in Japan and they are doing a much better job than the males in my opinion. I also think there are many female comic artists in Europe. Only 4% I guess there are at least 25%. Show me that I am wrong IF I am because everybody can make up random numbers just like 4%.

MasterM, I hear what you're saying but it's a recognised fact that the comic industry has always been dominated by the male. And your point about the asian manga industry having a lot of women cartoonists is incorrect. The Manga industry consists predominantly of male illustrators as opposed to popular belief. I think the reason for this might be the focus on the female mange character, therefore one naturally assumes it's women who draw them..But in all honesty, look at the ridiculously tiny skirts those anime girls wear and you know a man was behind the concept. ^^

A fact that contradicts this though, is Sailor moon. Created by a women, suprisingly enough.

Hi everyone,

My name is Jenny and I am a sociologist/anthropologist researcher for the University of Concordia in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Just to let you know, I am conducting an intensive research on women in the comic book field for my thesis. I am looking for people to interview on the matter. I have already contacted the friends of loulou site which has been very productive but would love to hear from women comic book fans. My e mail is women.comicbooks.research@gmail.com if anyone is interested. Thanks so much and keep up the debate!

I know woman who draws perfect cartoons and comics and make money on it. Also she working in adult industry. So, I don't know - maybe she is exception of rule?

It's just like everything else; why are there so few comediennes, rockstars, recognized artists, scientists, Supreme Court justices, presidents, etc... The domestic stereotype is a load. We're shut out, save for the ocassional 'token'.... Aggresive? 'Bitch'. Patient? Too 'innocent'...There's an answer for everything.

BTW; Grown women calling each other 'Girls' doesn't do much for being taken seriously.....really.

Oh for heaven's sake. Calling each other 'girls' is the least of our worries. Politically correct nit-picking on gender language is a waste of energy that should be spent creating more amazing comics.

I'm a woman, and I'm a girl, and I draw comics, so there.

I do believe there are more women than men in the Manga industry in Japan at least, and that said industry is relatively free of sexism. In Japan there are many publications dedicated to female audiences of various ages and interests. There's an established culture of comics drawn by women for women (and girls) that appeal to female aesthetics, tastes, fantasies and exploitative entertainment that paints guys as anywhere from objects, to unreal ideals, to genuinely accurate portrayals to caricatures and victims of perverse female fetishes.
The same is true for male audiences.

I've known a few women interested in cartooning on its own... but I've yet to see much compelling material come out of the mainstream comic genres that really addresses female interests or inspires girls specifically to take up the ink and pencil. It seems to be an acquired taste.
And yet most of my female friends (and quite a few of my little sister's) are finding themselves inspired by and attracted to what manga has to offer them. The one thing I can put it down to is that while comics have for many decades been a niche market where you have to change your tastes to "understand" what the medium has to offer, manga has always been aimed at the general public, catered specifically to the readers tastes by way of weekly popular voting.

Which means more women are targeted, attracted and interested as a result. Or something like that. :/