[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-women-and-the-angouleme-grand-prix":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"What a scandal! France's top comics prize, a major feature of its annual Angoulême International Comics Festival announced its \u003Ca href=\"http://grandprix.bdangouleme.com/11/liste-candidats.html\">30 nominees\u003C/a> for the Grand Prize... and not one of them was a woman. At least ten of the nominees withdrew their names, and the festival is grudgingly backtracking and adding some women to the list. In Britain, I know we tend to look up to the French comics culture because it's so much more developed and generally popular than in Britain, but the prize revealed a real core where it's still a very old-fashioned men's club. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/angouleme2_zpspzjc78fu-a1a118b174.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWhenever there's an international comics furore, it's always a clue to jump onto Twitter to see if anyone's drawing anything. And some did!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Louison_A\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/louison_tweet_zpsdiinsdgo-a74bb55d6d.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for more under the cut!-->\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BrigidAlverson\">Brigid Alverson\u003C/a> was quick to report on it for Comic Book Resources:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2016/01/nine-creators-withdraw-names-from-angouleme-grand-prix-list/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/cbr_blog_zps8elbt3up-a261f9ceb7.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>Read the rest of the article here\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nThe insult to women comic creators was so blatant that it got people rallying around the Twitter hashtag \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23womendobd&src=typd\">#WomenDoBD\u003C/a>, letting people know about female creators they might not have been aware of. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sketchrobin\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/robin_french_tweet_zpsdwxzizdr-91c91419ef.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nOne of the creators I didn't know about was Japanese artist \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaoru_Mori\">Kaoru Mori\u003C/a>, creator of The Bride's Story books. (So many amazing pictures popped up \u003Ca href=\"https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kaoru+mori&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie0vSN-JXKAhUJWRQKHUrlCh0Q_AUIBygB&biw=1294&bih=755#tbm=isch&q=kaoru+mori+bride%27s+story&imgrc=_\">when I did a Google Image search on her\u003C/a>!) Thanks for the tip, \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Iron_Spike\">@Iron_Spike\u003C/a>! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/bridesstory_zpsuvtx0nd7-d654cd8f18.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSome people posted lists of women they thought ought to be considered for the Grand Prix:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ExLibrisNora\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/nora_tweet_zpsqixtzdoq-093656013a.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nWhat surprised me most was that the judges seemed surprised by the outcry at the announcement. I would have thought they'd be a bit embarrassed and regretful if they truly believed there weren't any deserving women artists, and have prepared a statement. But it's like they just didn't think it was an issue.  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/angouleme_zps6ylmutnc-9eaac56e0d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI do hope this doesn't discourage women from thinking they can't rise to the top of the comics profession (in France and elsewhere) and that the outcry will inspire them to try to become some of the best comics creators in the world. And that the men's club will open up, learn about them, and encourage them. Last year I posted this article right after the Charlie Hebdo killings and outcry, and I think it's still very relevant: \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/686575.html\">\u003Ci>I want to make cartoons & comics but I have no idea where to start!\u003C/a>\u003C/i> This walks people through some of the basic questions they might have. (Do share if you think anyone will find it helpful!)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/686575.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/angouleme_tweet_zpsy3xf6n7h-6c80692000.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nIf you understand French, you can watch Angoulême Executive Office Franck Bondoux being grilled on television about the committee's decision:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://m.canalplus.fr/?vid=1348099\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/franck_telly_zpslgnjlo3d-33b3ee5703.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nAnd \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/robsalk\">Rob Salkowitz\u003C/a> has written about it for Forbes: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2016/01/06/creators-protest-snub-of-women-for-comics-most-prestigious-award/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/forbes_angouleme_zpskrwbsth7-a2476351c7.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>Read the article here\u003C/i>\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/douglasnoble\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/doug_tweet_zpsw3m3xhlf-ca0528d280.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nYou can keep checking the \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Angouleme?src=hash\">#Angouleme\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomenDoBD?src=hash\">#WomenDoBD\u003C/a> tags for updates.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ci>Edit: Further update from Brigid Alverson on CBR:\u003C/i>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2016/01/angouleme-to-add-women-creators-to-list-of-grand-prix-nominees/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/cbr_angou2_zpslw2r7k7w-c48c00bd55.jpg\">\\r\nRead the article here\u003C/a>","2016-01-07T09:08:00.000Z","women-and-the-angouleme-grand-prix",[],"women and the angoulême grand prix",1776628728092]