The 1970s: Anger and the Humourless Feminist

Abstract

Streeten analyses the emergence of the angry feminist stereotype and its conflation with humourless, drawing on Sara Ahmed’s ideas on happiness and the “feminist killjoy” (Ahmed, The Promise of Happiness. Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2010). The cartoons contradict this stereotype, relying on a superiority-driven style of humour, incorporating satire with elements of aggression. In production processes, the focus on individuality, regarded as counterproductive to feminism, is manifest in the case study of protest comic Why Miss World? produced by the Women’s Liberation Workshop. Yet, cartoonists also responded individually to feminism, and Streeten considers the cartoons of Jacky Fleming as an example. The collective was a key aspect of political organisation, protest and cultural production, and the work of The See Red Women’s Workshop is presented as a case study.