Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tits and Clits!!

The ultimate dilemma upon discovery of the thing.

Doubtful...

A concerned almost rapist reminds the young lass to lock her doors.

Too true.

Distractions from masturbation are the worst.

What a catch phrase.

When choosing an underground comic it's important to choose wisely. I of course, gravitated towards the publication titled 'Tits and Clits' (GREAT title), since I have both I felt I could probably relate to the subject matter. Turns out, I was right. This little comic is made by women about sex from a female perspective - one of my favorite things. Considering the time period and the culture of feminism at the time I found the themes they cover to be pretty revolutionary. 

I always think of feminism of the seventies to be a little more academic, middle class white ladies working towards equal rights and equal pay - which is true. However in 'Tits and Clits' they cover masturbation, humerus rape scenarios, girl on girl homosexuality, and women of color. These are all subjects I enjoy reading about in popular third wave feminism, but when I think of Gloria Steinem or The Feminine Mystique these conversations aren't a part of the dialogue. It makes sense that these subjects were talked about and obviously concerns to women of the seventies, of course these were topics they were talking about. Perhaps I was a little naive in thinking that these issues were off limits. 

When it comes to the artwork I loved the joyfulness and the range of styles, some look like 'For Better or For Worse', some have a dark sketchy quality and some look like a derivative of superhero comics. It certainly isn't 'drawn well' but it encapsulates a specific kind of raw energy. These girls are angry, hilarious, upset, and horny and they refuse to apologize for the way they feel and I think the way they draw lends to that attitude. This esthetic is something that really attracted me to feminism in the first place, particularly the Riot Grrrl movement and feminism of the nineties. It's delightful to see that these big topics, rape, sexual autonomy, masturbation, etc. were a part of the overall discussion all along.  

No comments:

Post a Comment