IF THIS IS ALL YOU GET: a comic by Lauren Weinstein
From the awesome The Big Feminist BUT: Comics About Women, Men and the IFs, ANDs & BUTs of Feminism
About the Author
Lauren Weinstein is a cartoonist, illustrator and painter. She has published three books: Girl Stories, Inside Vineyland and Goddess of War. Her work has been included in The Best American Comics, An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Kramer’s Ergot, and The Graphic Canon. She has won and been nominated for an Ignatz. Her comic “Carriers” was also nominated for Slate‘s studio prize for Cartoonists and won a gold medal from The Society of Illustrators. Clients include Nautil.us, The New York Times, Glamour, and The Paris Review. She is currently working on a teenage memoir tentatively entitled, How To Draw A Nose.
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I loved this comic. Definitely want to see more of Lauren’s work now. Thank you!
This is fantastic! Lauren really nailed the internal struggle of a creative mom with her comic! Can’t wait to read more.
I love this, Lauren! You absolutely nailed my feelings on “balancing” work and motherhood (including the flashback to high-school vows never to have kids.) <3
Beautiful! I never stayed home with my son but can absolutely related to the dichotomy of being a creative, working person and wanting to be a supportive, loving mom. You can have both, you really can, but it does require shifts and compromises from both perspectives. But I see it this way: being creative MAKES me a better mom!
The statement “I actually get to raise my kid” presented in contrast to those of us who have to use childcare because both parents in the relationship work in fields that do not allow us to work while caring for our child in parallel seems like a nasty dig. Do I not “actually raise my kid” because I use childcare so I can go to my work in the emergency department? What the heck? This panel actually made me gasp with hurt.
I think it bothered me more because it felt so out of place in a comic that I otherwise appreciate for it’s perspective of balancing art and motherhood, and in a magazine that I usually appreciate for it’s willingness not to pit mother against mother.