Liza Donnely – New York Cartoonist
In one second is a political cartoon that targets women’s experiences in modern society. It represents the perspective of specifically an Indian woman living in New Delhi, India, however, the wholistic theme reflects the perspective of women in communities all around the world. The specific choice of an ‘average woman’ may suggest the idea that the actions of groping, jeering, disrespect etc. don’t only target those of specific beauty standards and instead, affect the female gender as a category. This idea can be supported through the simple and also rather conservative choice of clothing the woman wears. She also appears to be free of makeup and other beauty enhancements.
These perspectives around the world support the idea of women being objectified by men in society. The concept of consent is almost foreign for some women in the world. Stereotypically, the identity of women is more restricted to societal ideologies than that of a man in the same society. Due to the historical context surrounding power and authority, males have always received a more dominant position, whether it be politically or in the household.
Without historical or political context, I think general concepts can be understood to an extent by audiences due to the society we all live in. Advancements in communications such as social media and telecommunication have allowed perspectives to spread more freely whether with good intentions or bad. In this case, I think women all around the world can relate to different extents. Regardless of the immediate communities these women live in, I think certain ideologies that apply to women to a certain extent as the majority would have had exposure to basic stereotypes such as beauty. Women who live in suppressed societies can relate to the idea of women being placed in a lower status as opposed to men whilst women who live in more free societies have been exposed to the free reality of the situation and the freedom for men to do as they please.
Without enough respect for women, many do not receive the change to speak out for themselves. Many of the recurring words that women project include “NO” and “STOP”. The text is an important technique in this particular cartoon as it illustrates these ideas in a creative style by surrounding the globe with speech marks to represent the voices of women in all communities. Each word phrase comes across with a strong and powerful connotation and the capital letters also enhance the emotion conveyed.
By a more indirect or almost ‘humouristic’ approach, I think the harsh truth and reality can be conveyed in a more understandable tone that simplifies the idea to the root problem, for instance, in ‘In One Second’, the brutal reality is muted and eliminating the complete extent of abuse can make the issue easier to comprehend. It also encourages us to see the issue from a different perspective which may clear up previous misconceptions that could have clouded our judgement. The cartoon highlights the truth in a creative and illustrative manner and supports the purpose of the creator: to bring attention to society’s treatment and objectification of women all around the world.