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Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival
More than 60 female comics creators share their personal experiences with sexual violence and harassment through new and original comics Inspired by the global #MeToo Movement, Drawing Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a collection of original, nonfiction comics drawn by more than 60 female cartoonists from around the world. Featuring such noted creators as Emil Ferris, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, MariNaomi, Liana Finck, and Ebony Flowers the anthology’s contributors comprise a diverse group of many ages, sexual orientations, and races—and their personal stories convey the wide spectrum of sexual harassment and abuse that is still all too commonplace. With a percentage of profits going to RAINN, Drawing Power is an anthology that stokes the fires of progressive social upheaval, in the fight for a better, safer world.
Full list of
Rachel Ang, Zoe Belsinger, Jennifer Camper, Caitlin Cass, Tyler Cohen, Marguerite Dabaie, Soumya Dhulekar, Wallis Eates, Trinidad Escobar, Kat Fajardo, Joyce Farmer, Emil Ferris, Liana Finck, Sarah Firth, Mary Fleener, Ebony Flowers, Claire Folkman, Noel Franklin
Katie Fricas, Siobhán Gallagher, Joamette Gil, J. Gonzalez-Blitz, Georgiana Goodwin, Roberta Gregory, Marian Henley, Soizick Jaffre
Avy Jetter, Sabba Khan, Kendra Josie Kirkpatrick, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Nina Laden, Miss Lasko-Gross, Carol Lay, Miriam Libicki
Sarah Lightman, LubaDalu, Ajuan Mance, MariNaomi, Lee Marrs, Liz Mayorga, Lena Merhej, Bridget Meyne, Carta Monir, Hila Noam
Diane Noomin, Breena Nuñez, Meg O’Shea, Corinne Pearlman, Cathrin Peterslund, Minnie Phan, Kelly Phillips, Powerpaola, Sarah Allen Reed, Kaylee Rowena, Ariel Schrag, M. Louise Stanley, Maria Stoian, Nicola Streeten, Marcela Trujillo, Carol Tyler, Una, Lenora Yerkes, Ilana Zeffren
Full list of
Rachel Ang, Zoe Belsinger, Jennifer Camper, Caitlin Cass, Tyler Cohen, Marguerite Dabaie, Soumya Dhulekar, Wallis Eates, Trinidad Escobar, Kat Fajardo, Joyce Farmer, Emil Ferris, Liana Finck, Sarah Firth, Mary Fleener, Ebony Flowers, Claire Folkman, Noel Franklin
Katie Fricas, Siobhán Gallagher, Joamette Gil, J. Gonzalez-Blitz, Georgiana Goodwin, Roberta Gregory, Marian Henley, Soizick Jaffre
Avy Jetter, Sabba Khan, Kendra Josie Kirkpatrick, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Nina Laden, Miss Lasko-Gross, Carol Lay, Miriam Libicki
Sarah Lightman, LubaDalu, Ajuan Mance, MariNaomi, Lee Marrs, Liz Mayorga, Lena Merhej, Bridget Meyne, Carta Monir, Hila Noam
Diane Noomin, Breena Nuñez, Meg O’Shea, Corinne Pearlman, Cathrin Peterslund, Minnie Phan, Kelly Phillips, Powerpaola, Sarah Allen Reed, Kaylee Rowena, Ariel Schrag, M. Louise Stanley, Maria Stoian, Nicola Streeten, Marcela Trujillo, Carol Tyler, Una, Lenora Yerkes, Ilana Zeffren
260 pages, Hardcover
First published September 17, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
November 13, 2019
Powerful testimony to the shitty behavior of men and the strength of the women who have suffered it, survived it, and stood up to tell their stories.
September 9, 2019
Excellent, powerful, infuriating, sometimes even downright lovely comics by a truly impressive array of comics artists, including some personal favorites and several folks whose work I was previously unfamiliar with but quite impressed by. My more in-depth review is now up at tcj: http://www.tcj.com/reviews/drawing-po...
February 3, 2020
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This is a really amazing collection for both it’s breadth and its depth. The anecdotes shared cover a wide range of experiences -- from one artist’s 12-year older daughter’s “no” being ignored by a male classmate to another who’s repeatedly raped by her brother -- by a wide range of voices: queer, trans, non-binary, POC, those living in and outside the US, etc.
I saw myself in a lot of these anecdotes. I was raped when I was 23-years old by a friend’s boyfriend. When I was 11, a family friend molested me and attempted to rape me. Without going in to too much detail, neither of these situations were a “typical” rape/assault experience and I didn’t feel like a “typical” victim. For years, I wondered if I was even a “real” victim, blamed myself for what happened to me, and minimized what happened because I didn’t think the incidents were traumatic enough (whatever that means). These stories also don’t cover the innumerable instances of gender-based harassment I’ve faced at the workplace as a public librarian.
I knew that rape, assault, and harassment happened to other people, but I wasn’t accustomed to sharing my story and as a young 20-something year old, was only just starting to see this discourse happening online. Works like this break the silence and shatter preconceived notions like the ones I had. No one should be forced to share their stories but those who can and do are helping many.
So, needless to say, I highly recommend this. Huge trigger warnings, but if you’re in a healthy place, this is 100% worth reading. I’ve discovered a lot of artists I’d like to look further into too, which is always a bonus with anthologies.
This is a really amazing collection for both it’s breadth and its depth. The anecdotes shared cover a wide range of experiences -- from one artist’s 12-year older daughter’s “no” being ignored by a male classmate to another who’s repeatedly raped by her brother -- by a wide range of voices: queer, trans, non-binary, POC, those living in and outside the US, etc.
I saw myself in a lot of these anecdotes. I was raped when I was 23-years old by a friend’s boyfriend. When I was 11, a family friend molested me and attempted to rape me. Without going in to too much detail, neither of these situations were a “typical” rape/assault experience and I didn’t feel like a “typical” victim. For years, I wondered if I was even a “real” victim, blamed myself for what happened to me, and minimized what happened because I didn’t think the incidents were traumatic enough (whatever that means). These stories also don’t cover the innumerable instances of gender-based harassment I’ve faced at the workplace as a public librarian.
I knew that rape, assault, and harassment happened to other people, but I wasn’t accustomed to sharing my story and as a young 20-something year old, was only just starting to see this discourse happening online. Works like this break the silence and shatter preconceived notions like the ones I had. No one should be forced to share their stories but those who can and do are helping many.
So, needless to say, I highly recommend this. Huge trigger warnings, but if you’re in a healthy place, this is 100% worth reading. I’ve discovered a lot of artists I’d like to look further into too, which is always a bonus with anthologies.
November 27, 2021
Trigger Warning: Incest, Rape, and Sexual Violence.
Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a collection of over sixty autobiographical comics collected and edited by Diane Noomin with and introduction by Roxane Gay. The #MeToo is elaborated as a movement, not just a moment, in this diverse, unblinkingly honest anthology of sixty-three autobiographical comics.
For the most part this anthology is written constructed rather well. Each short piece, ranging from a few panels to a few pages, explores the specific cartoonist's experiences of sexual harassment, abuse, and violence in varying art styles and approaches – most don't come to a clear resolution. However, the focus is on exposure rather than neatly sewing up a raw experience. Yet whether they are optimistic or nihilistic, abstract or exactingly inked, each entry presents its own startling truth.
The strength of this collection comes from its diversity both of breadth and depth. The anecdotes shared cover a wide range of experiences from a wide range of voices from queer, trans, non-binary, POC from around the world.
Like most anthologies there are weaker contributions and Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is not an exception. To be clear, it is not the stories that the problems lay, albeit it was a tad repetitive in some cases, but in its construction. Granted some art is better than others as there were a few that was difficult to decipher, but also some comics felt a tad too cluttered, which made the reading experience difficult.
All in all, Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a powerful testimony to the strength of women who has suffered through sexual violence, survived it, and stood up to tell their stories.
Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a collection of over sixty autobiographical comics collected and edited by Diane Noomin with and introduction by Roxane Gay. The #MeToo is elaborated as a movement, not just a moment, in this diverse, unblinkingly honest anthology of sixty-three autobiographical comics.
For the most part this anthology is written constructed rather well. Each short piece, ranging from a few panels to a few pages, explores the specific cartoonist's experiences of sexual harassment, abuse, and violence in varying art styles and approaches – most don't come to a clear resolution. However, the focus is on exposure rather than neatly sewing up a raw experience. Yet whether they are optimistic or nihilistic, abstract or exactingly inked, each entry presents its own startling truth.
The strength of this collection comes from its diversity both of breadth and depth. The anecdotes shared cover a wide range of experiences from a wide range of voices from queer, trans, non-binary, POC from around the world.
Like most anthologies there are weaker contributions and Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is not an exception. To be clear, it is not the stories that the problems lay, albeit it was a tad repetitive in some cases, but in its construction. Granted some art is better than others as there were a few that was difficult to decipher, but also some comics felt a tad too cluttered, which made the reading experience difficult.
All in all, Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a powerful testimony to the strength of women who has suffered through sexual violence, survived it, and stood up to tell their stories.
June 1, 2021
A little repetitive and some of the pages were hard to read because they were all black and white but also very cluttered. Still really good and important. It was like the graphic novel version of not that bad!! Loved it!!
Want to read
August 29, 2019What led me here: "Body of work: how the graphic novel became an outlet for female shame" by Kristen Radtke in The Guardian.
July 2, 2024
(3.5 ⭐ , rounded up)
Such a unique way to call attention to the pervasiveness of sexual violence.
Not as quick of a read as I'd anticipated though, I think because the text was so tiny at times and I was reading the ebook on my phone via Hoopla.
Such a unique way to call attention to the pervasiveness of sexual violence.
Not as quick of a read as I'd anticipated though, I think because the text was so tiny at times and I was reading the ebook on my phone via Hoopla.
January 3, 2020
Each individual story is powerful, but as a collection, it's awesome and devastating, as well as inclusive along all sorts of axes. I had to take my time with this collection as I found it brutal to not take a break between stories. I'm surprised that there weren't more well-known contributors (although there certainly are a few), but this was a great opportunity to be exposed to new-to-me artists.
September 8, 2020
This is an extraordinary collection that I cannot recommend enough. Especially to men. We need to know what women go through, fellas. Here's a very easy way to hear a bunch of stories about the awful experiences women have in regards to sexual violence.
And I was delighted to find so many creators that were new to me. All but one of the contributors I had not heard of before. And this book is just full of incredible work.
Check it out!
And I was delighted to find so many creators that were new to me. All but one of the contributors I had not heard of before. And this book is just full of incredible work.
Check it out!
August 10, 2023
Super weird to review this in a traditional way when this format and the stories don’t fit in that realm. How can you rate experience?
Despite that, I’ll tell you why I rated it. I enjoyed the different illustration styles, storytelling and how distinct each voice was. This is a moving collection and each story is important; I’m sure every womxn can find a shared experience in this, which is the sad and infuriating point.
Despite that, I’ll tell you why I rated it. I enjoyed the different illustration styles, storytelling and how distinct each voice was. This is a moving collection and each story is important; I’m sure every womxn can find a shared experience in this, which is the sad and infuriating point.
January 10, 2020
This is a hell of a collection.
July 29, 2020
This is a very depressing, yet inspiring compeliation book about rape, and sexual assault, and all things that have been done to women. It is each woman’s story.
The best way to sum up this very powerful book, is to comment on the comment one of the chracters makes after the daughter bites someone because they wouldn’t stop harassing them. “Sometimes, a person just got to be bit.”
There are some really horrid men out there, and the cartoonists lay it all bare, so to speak.
Highly recommended, but be prepared to be outraged.
The best way to sum up this very powerful book, is to comment on the comment one of the chracters makes after the daughter bites someone because they wouldn’t stop harassing them. “Sometimes, a person just got to be bit.”
There are some really horrid men out there, and the cartoonists lay it all bare, so to speak.
Highly recommended, but be prepared to be outraged.
December 25, 2020
Best book I've read all year. Definitely took awhile to read...I had to pause after each story. This collection really shows how powerful visual storytelling can be...how it can capture experiences in really nuanced ways. Also, this book introduced me to dozens of artists I wasn't familiar with.
March 19, 2021
I don't usually like graphic material but the subject matter was so important that I was able to appreciate it. The collection shows diverse responses to sexual violence and harassment. The only thing they agree on is the desire to survive and find ways to cope with the consequences to their lives.
Out of the more than sixty presented, the ones I liked best were (in order of the contents): The Smell of Your Hair by Cathrin Peterslund, Borders Broken Edges Blurred by Sabba Khan, Destroy Everything You Touch by Rachel Ang, Beehive by Marcela Trujillo, Got Over It by Lee Marrs, They Aren't Dancing by M. Louise Stanley, Asian Girls by Meg O'Shea, Sleeping Fury by Liz Mayorga, Accidental Rape by Joyce Farmer, Blackie from the Deuce by J. Gonzalez-Blitz, She Bites Back by Tyler Cohen, The Promenade by Sarah Lightman, Fire by Kelly Phillips, Let's Not Get it On by Nina Laden, Self-Forgiveness by Kat Fajardo, Two Words by Minnie Phan, Unraveling by Georgiana Goodwin, Photographs of Wild Beasts by Kaylee Rowena, Hanging with the Guys by Siobhan Gallagher, Surprise Bogs by Caitlin Cass, A Lifetime by LubaDalu, and How Cartoons Became My Friends Again by Emil Ferris
Out of the more than sixty presented, the ones I liked best were (in order of the contents): The Smell of Your Hair by Cathrin Peterslund, Borders Broken Edges Blurred by Sabba Khan, Destroy Everything You Touch by Rachel Ang, Beehive by Marcela Trujillo, Got Over It by Lee Marrs, They Aren't Dancing by M. Louise Stanley, Asian Girls by Meg O'Shea, Sleeping Fury by Liz Mayorga, Accidental Rape by Joyce Farmer, Blackie from the Deuce by J. Gonzalez-Blitz, She Bites Back by Tyler Cohen, The Promenade by Sarah Lightman, Fire by Kelly Phillips, Let's Not Get it On by Nina Laden, Self-Forgiveness by Kat Fajardo, Two Words by Minnie Phan, Unraveling by Georgiana Goodwin, Photographs of Wild Beasts by Kaylee Rowena, Hanging with the Guys by Siobhan Gallagher, Surprise Bogs by Caitlin Cass, A Lifetime by LubaDalu, and How Cartoons Became My Friends Again by Emil Ferris
November 28, 2019
There are approximately eleventy-bazillion stories in this collection. Some of them are horrifying. Some of them are revolting. Some of them are bizarre. A lot of them are depictions of the banal, everyday, ordinary results of a culture that tolerates and even promotes toxic expressions of masculinity. It's not fun to read, but it's somewhat validating. Hopefully shedding light will make these stories less ubiquitous for my daughter's generation.
July 24, 2019
Excellent book!
September 17, 2019
Check out my full review of this powerful, evocative anthology at The Beat: Click here.
December 18, 2019
"what would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? the world would split open." -muriel ruckeyser
March 8, 2020
This an important collection with some great artists but with the short page number for each story, I was left wanting more.
June 25, 2024
The most harrowing haunting stories are those that are true.
July 11, 2024
This is a great anthology including a wide range of stories and perspectives, showcasing the many ways how sexual violence touches and sometimes defines our lives. It was also generally lovely to see such a variety of styles and so much creativity, ruthlessness, and vulnerability. At times reading through this book was grim, but it was also inspiring and the last comic was a beautiful send off. It’s amazing how powerful sharing your story can be.
June 20, 2020
Great anthology of the all-too-common experience of sexual violence. In the introduction, Roxane Gay talks about the importance of visual communication for people to make sense of things beyond language, and it’s clear many have used this as a means to do just that. Lots of familiar and new voices here, I am especially looking forward to seeing more work from Trinidad Escobar and Sabba Khan.
August 30, 2020
Very good but harrowing read. So many stories, familiar, resonant, deeply disturbing, beautifully drawn. Definitely need to read something fun after this, though.
September 9, 2020
... wow...
February 11, 2024
An anthology of very powerful stories!
November 5, 2020
Timely and important book for the #metoo times. Graphic artists tell their stories and we are able to connect the visual with the words. It took me a long time to get through this book because the stories often hit an emotional chord and I had take a break to allow my emotive gut reaction to heal.
October 8, 2019
A beautifully-illustrated book full of unique and heart-rending stories. Sometimes funny, other times serious, this is definitely something I want to look at again and again!
The content is heavy but meaningful, and I could relate many of the stories shared in this collection because of experiences that have happened to me or those I know. It is definitely a worthwhile read, and gives a valuable insight into the minds of women who have suffered trauma and are still experiencing the ramifications from that.
The content is heavy but meaningful, and I could relate many of the stories shared in this collection because of experiences that have happened to me or those I know. It is definitely a worthwhile read, and gives a valuable insight into the minds of women who have suffered trauma and are still experiencing the ramifications from that.
November 9, 2020
A gem of a book. Not an easy read on a smaller device as some of the comic writing is too small.
October 3, 2019
Compelling, gorgeous, powerful graphic stories of survival.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews