It's the comic strip dozens of newspapers didn't want you to see. Why? Because it cuts a little too close to the truth, in my opinion. Gary Trudeau's "Doonesbury" cartoons lately have been bad PR for the Texas and Virginia lawmakers pushing sonogram bills. They make those lawmakers look like bullies.
And you know what? They are. I'm not surprised that some newspapers in Texas and Virginia refused the carry the cartoon. They may say the cartoon was in bad taste and indecent. I think it was just a little too accurate for their comfort. Take a look and see what you think.
Here's yesterday's controversial Doonesbury cartoon. And here's today's follow-up.
Take yesterday's strip: A woman comes in for an abortion and the receptionist sends her into the "shaming room" and informs her that "a middle-aged, male, state legislator will be right with you."Because isn't that what the sonogram bill is about -- shaming women out of getting an abortion? Isn't that what we've all been talking about for the past couple of weeks, the relentless slut-shaming of women by legislators and conservative pundits?
So that last panel would have been a funny one-liner (to some of us, anyway) but Trudeau takes it a step further today and actually has "Sid Patrick" (a stand-in for Sid Miller, one of the Texas state legislators who sponsored the sonogram bill), meet the woman in the shaming room. He asks her, "Do your parents know you're a slut?" Oh yeah, Trudeau went there.
The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram said they didn't publish the controversial Doonesbury cartoon because "Trudeau's language, accompanied by graphic images," was just as crude as Rush Limbaugh's attack on Sandra Fluke. They're talking about the word "slut," of course. But I think there's a problem of context that the editors are missing. There's an enormous gulf between the way Rush called Sandra a slut (repeatedly) and the way Trudeau lampoons the idea of a legislator calling a woman a slut, or implying that she is one. Can you see the difference?
So now every time someone, anyone, uses the word "slut" they're getting censored? What about "vaginal probing" -- it's vulgar if Gary says it, but not if it becomes a law? No matter. By censoring Doonesbury, the papers have actually given the strip way more publicity than it would have gotten otherwise. And we're definitely talking about it now.
Did you find the Doonesbury comics offensive? Do you agree with them?
Image via photosteve101/Flickr
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Comments 19
hahaha... I don't think I'd ever choose to have an abortion but I understand why women make that choice (and I don't pretend its easy for the majority.) Creepy old men need to be called out for thinking way too much about other peoples bodies. Why not run a genetic screen/swimmer count/signed document by one or more women that you will raise you want to have children and plan to raise them, for men before prescribing viagra? Seems reasonable...
my local paper (i live in ny state) didnt print it either, but they did run it online with an explanation that due to language they didnt want it on a page many kids go to. i can buy that, but i did laugh when i read it.
I couldn't see any graphic images in the cartoon either. Is a clipboard considered graphic now?
like
I love the scarlet letter on the clipboard, classic touch.
And yes, I believe it's being banned because it hits too close to the truth.
I've never been a fan of this comic, but I'm going to start reading it now.
Abortion isn't a bad word, you're allowed to say it - without spaces in between the letters.
Secondly, they are making fun of the bill designed to humiliate and violate the privacy of women seeking abortions, not abortion itself.
Just wait until they get to the wand of shame. I'm sure you'll love that one. :o)