In Mint Condition

The portrayal of Jewish women (usually by men) in mass media has been marred by the overuse of familiar negative stereotypes – the Ghetto Girl, the overbearing Jewish mother, and the materialist “Jewish-American Princess”. The appearance of Jewish characters in comic stories during the Golden Age was rare and the appearance of Jewish women even rarer. When such appearances occurred, they tended to be minor roles or stereotypes. This was even the case when women were the artists, as the writers and editors they worked for were men.

With the advent of second wave feminism in the 1960s and the rise of the underground commix movement, we begin to see stories of Jewish women told by the women themselves. Among the types of narratives found in comics and graphic novels by Jewish artists are: the Birthright Israel experience, December dilemma, fashion ethics, women sages, pregnancy, single motherhood, miscarriages, and the ordination of women rabbis.

This is a portion of a larger exhibition created by the Beth Tzedec Museum and is presented in honour of International Womens Month. Thank you to Dorion Liebgott and Terri Humphries from Beth Tzedec, panel creators Martin Batista, Brian Dias, and Mikko Valhalla, and volunteers Gella Rothstein and Emily Snow.

Accompanying zoom lecture:

From Dysfunctional Families to Dirty Knickers: A Herstory of Jewish Women’s Comics with author Dr. Sarah Lightman. In the comic book world of superheroes and villains, history has often overlooked the significant contributions made to this medium by women. In celebration of International Women’s Day, join Eisner award-winning British writer and graphic novelist Sarah Lightman as she dives into the careers of Jewish women comic artists – whose work explores family, motherhood, miscarriages, identity, queerness and more!  This lecture will take place on zoom on Thursday, March 6th from 1-2:30pm.