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Comics: Meet the Artist
With Kathy Guisewite
Cartoonist, "Cathy"
Hosted by Suzanne Tobin
Washington Post Comics Editor
Friday, Jan. 18, 2002; 1 p.m. EST
Welcome to the Washington Post Style section comics discussion, hosted by Comics page editor Suzanne Tobin.
Cathy Guisewite's comic strip, "Cathy," debuted in newspapers in November 1976. The strip chronicles the trials, tribulations and inherent humor in the life of a single career woman. It appears in more than 1,400 newspapers worldwide.
Guisewite was online Friday, Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. EST to discuss "Cathy," the art of cartooning and the place of women in this male-dominated field.
Guisewite has four new books to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the strip. They are titled "Mom," "Love," "Work," and "Food."
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Suzanne Tobin:
Greetings, comics fans! Welcome to "Comics: Meet the Artist" with Cathy Guisewite, creator of "Cathy," who is joining us from her studio in Los Angeles. Welcome, Cathy, and congratulations on the 25th anniversary of your strip!
Cathy Guisewite: Hello, I'm so thrilled that this interview is online so noone can see what my desk looks like 25 years later.
Palo Alto, Calif.:
On a television interview I saw, you appeared to be thinner (if that's possible) than underweight model Kate Moss, but the "Cathy" you draw is decidedly above the insurance industry's "ideal" weight. Both Cathys apparently have a lot of trouble with their relationship with food. I'm not saying there's any relationship between the two of you, but do you think of "Cathy" as having any role in the fight against eating disorders and bad food attitudes? Do you think there are a lot of women who actually look like you but still think they look like "Cathy?"
Cathy Guisewite: One of the bizarre results of my career is that I need to apologize for being thin, and defend myself for being thin, because I've been writing about Cathy and her eating problem for 25 years. I think it's impossible to live in this world and not deal with food temptation and food issues. Where Cathy will gain weight eating chocolate, I'll gain five pounds eating rice cakes. Alot of the people I know who used to gain weight on candy bars, now are gaining on high-energy nutrition bars, which I call self-righteous fat.
Alexandria, Va.:
An old interview mentioned that the Cathy character once had a cousin named "Cellophane," based on Mickey Guisewite. The author once considered reviving her at the time, but I don't remember this character. Was this true?
Cathy Guisewite: There was a character named Cellophane a really long time ago, about 20 years ago, who was loosely based, at the time, on my sister Mickey, who is 10 years younger than me. She was a character who was sort of wild and funky. My sister is now a syndicated humor columnist and Cellophane was never revived in the strip. I feel that Cathy's character is really a combination of myself and my two sisters.
Washington, D.C.:
Cathy: I've enjoyed the comic's recent pokes at office life and technology.
How did you learn to draw? I like your style. It seems more "homemade" than the other comics. Was it hard to get published with a drawing style that is different?
Cathy Guisewite: I avoided all art classes growing up because my older sister was the artist in the family. So if my art style looks more homey, it's because it literally is. I did my first drawings when I was 25 years old and they were just stick figure representations of me, at the time, eating everything in the kitchen. They kind of summed up the angst I felt at being a successful advertising writer by day and an overeater by night. I sent these scribble drawings to my mom to let her know I still had a sense of humor about my life and my mom forced me to send them to a syndicate in 1976, when the world was just rocking with change for women. Universal Press was really looking for a strip that addressed these issues, and while they had had many submissions from men, they thought that my work had an emotional honesty that the men just couldn't approach. They said they liked the "primitive energy" in my drawings and were confident that if I had to do it 365 days a year, I would actually learn to draw. So it wasn't hard getting published. I think I got a contract to do "Cathy" faster than anyone has ever gotten one in history. It was just a miracle in timing, thanks to my pushy mother.
Alexandria, Va.:
It's hard to believe that the strip is 25 years old... while presumably you are also 25 years older (i.e. wiser), the cartoon Cathy is not. What kind of challenges does that present? Had you ever considered "aging" the characters the way "For Better or Worse" does?
P.S. I miss seeing you on Johnny Carson...
Cathy Guisewite: I think the character does age slowly in the strip, although I never really say how old she is. The character has grown and changed with the times. When I was putting together the books for the 25th anniversary, I had to read every strip in the last 25 years, and I was shocked to see how many changes women have gone through but I was also shocked to see how many of us are still struggling with the exact same issues that we were 25 years ago.
In the workplace, for instance, in 1976, all the strips I wrote were about a woman's right to have a job. That discussion is unthinkable now. For most women, working is a financial necessity.
Bethesda, Md.:
Hi Cathy! I'm wondering how we can possibly be related, because you've really hit the nail on the head with your portrayal of your/my parents. And the great thing is, they get as big a kick out of your strip as I do! How do you keep from striking too close to home/getting too personal, and do your parents ever comment on particular strips?
Cathy Guisewite: I'm blessed to have parents with a great sense of humor about themselves, and when that doesn't work, they have a great capacity for denial.
Arlington, Va.:
I love Cathy's dad! How do you draw his acceptance and love of Cathy and his complete confusion about women in general with such accuracy?
Cathy Guisewite: I love my dad too. And in the case of both of Cathy's parents, they are the two characters I don't even try to disguise. My experience is that, on some level, all men are completely confused about women. So it's not an area where I have to invent anything, I just write down what I've noticed. My father has spent the last 50 years waiting outside of places for my mother and me and my sisters--outside the ladies room, outside the store at the mall, sitting in the car in the driveway, waiting. I think one of the things that gave him the most joy when my sisters and I got married is that he would have someone to wait with.
Southern Maryland::
I am 55 and single and have been reading "Cathy" since it began. You've hit the nail on the head so many times I think you are looking over my shoulder! "Cathy" is just like real life, especially her thoughts about her mother and dieting. I don't know about the relationships -- I don't do relationships.
I just picked up the "Girl Food" cookbook. Did you have any input regarding the recipes? Is that what "Cathy" eats?
Cathy Guisewite: The "Girl Food" cookbook was divided into the five main food groups as Cathy and I would describe them--Romance Food, Swimsuit Food, Sweatsuit Food, Grownup Food and Consolation Food. And the specific recipes were developed by somebody else, but, of course, I had to taste them all in order to endorse them. For instance, one of the Swimsuit Food recipes is entitled "Why Did I Buy an Itsy-Bitsy Teeny Weeny Bikini Linguini" or in Consolation Food, there's "Who Needs Him Anyway Mashed Potatoes."
Alexandria, Va.:
Why haven't all the earlier Cathy strips been released in book form? Many of the strip's contemporaries are fully available in print, even if not still in print.
Cathy Guisewite: This year, in honor of Cathy's 25th anniversary, I created four new books, titled "Food," "Love," "Mom" and Work." And together they are a celebration of 25 years of the four basic guilt groups. In each book, I went through 25 years of work on the subject, broke the subject into chapters, and did alot of new writing to lead the reader through the evolving relationship.
For example I looked at all of my favorite Mom strips from the last 25 years, and broke them into chapters like "Mom the Psychic" and "Mom the Miracle Worker." Doing each of the four books was a wonderful experience for me. It's like assembling the scrapbook about our lives that none of us have ever gotten around to doing. In the "Love" book, for instance, I did a whole chapter on "Mr. Wrongs" and another chapter on "Where the Boys Are," which is all the places we've gone looking for Mr. Right over the years, from the singles bar to the sushi bar to the juice bar.
Suburban Maryland:
Are we ever going to see Andrea and her family again?
Cathy Guisewite: When I adopted my daughter in 1992, I suddenly had a hard time writing about children in the strip. I guess I never want my daughter to feel like I was using her for subject matter, but it's been a long time since Andrea and her family were in the strip and I miss writing about them, so it's possible I'll have them come back.
Alexandria, Va.:
I'm highly attracted to the Cathys of the world, and not to the Sports Illustrated models I'm supposed to like. The fictional Cathy could probably never imagine a NORMAL man liking a fuller-figured woman, and not just for her looks. It would probably just make her more paranoid than ever! There was in fact another old character, an anti-Irving who worshipped Cathy. It's simply that the Cathy character as Everywoman is smarter, more lovable, desirable, and holding up better than she realizes.
I married one of the above. We've followed the strip for years. And there were only a few Cathy strips I didn't "get" without a woman's explanation.
But there are fans as well as non-fans who think Cathy needs to evolve. I've said to them, only as the author wants it. She has done difficult issues outside of the strip and they get surprised. Have you had this same reaction?
Cathy Guisewite: I have had that same feedback that the character needs to evolve. My response is that she HAS evolved. Every human I know still struggles with food issues, still has the same fight every morning about getting up and exercising, still turns into a 5-year-old when dealing with their Moms, still wrestles with money problems, still faces the same power struggles at work, still faces the same infuriating fashion expectations. If Cathy suddenly was blissfully in a relationship and toned and trimmed and proud of everything in her life, there would be nothing to write about.
I get way more feedback from people who say that they love Cathy because she's not afraid to admit that she doesn't have it all together every day, and in this world of ever more perfect role models for women, who are doing everything, they say it's refreshing to read Cathy and know that there's somebody else out there who's still hauling around a 40-pound purse full of dreams.
Washington, D.C.:
Okay, let's cut to the chase. Cathy & Irving. A walk down the aisle for the two of them in the future?
Cathy Guisewite: I feel like the single women of the country would come and kill me if Cathy ever got married. I was single for too long, and it was hard enough to see all my friends get married without having to deal with Cathy getting married.
Lorton, Va.:
Now that you are married, is it harder to see the issues of the single woman from the inside of Cathy's mind? Are you ever tempted to "marry her off" and set up a whole new scenario?
Cathy Guisewite: First of all, I've always written more about the differences between men and women than about Cathy's "singleness." So, in fact, being married has been a great help to me because I now actually live with a man and can be astounded by the male brain on a daily basis.
Cathy, Rockville, Md.:
Cathy: How much longer do you plan on doing the strip? Any thoughts about retiring? I only ask because of rumors about other folks planning to retire their strips, or retiring and leaving the strips to other folks. Also, if you were to retire, would you let others carry on, or would you like to just see Cathy the strip retired, too? Thanks for answering and have a great day.
Cathy Guisewite: I feel like as long as the swimwear manufacturers continue to design bathing suits like they do for us, I feel obligated to keep doing the strip. I would never let anyone else do it for me. As for retiring, like many women out there, I have two children, a 9- and a 5-year-old, and I'm looking at the cost of college educations beginning in 2011, so I'm going to be working as long as I can hold a pen.
Washington, D.C.:
Is Cathy a virgin?
Cathy Guisewite: It's none of your business.
Rockville, Md.:
I really think it is time Cathy stops anguishing over bathing suit season, her weight, her looks and start to become more comfortable being a full figured woman! She is never wanting or lacking for a boyfriend, can't she stop being a stereotype? It's getting pretty old and it doesn't and shouldn't apply to modern working women! THANKS!
Cathy Guisewite: When I was working on my new book called "Food," I really looked at Cathy and my relationship with food. We all wish that it didn't apply to the "modern working women," but the fact is that food is one thing that we all have to have a relationship with, and that the pressures and time constraints of modern life don't leave alot of time women to plan the healthy balanced meals that our mothers--many of whom stayed at home--did. And also, for every magazine article, which I love, about accepting your natural God-given shape, there are 40 articles about getting flat abs by the weekend, and not just losing weight, but remolding your shape. So it's hard to live in this world without being bombarded by messages that say, "If you just did this, you could look or feel a teeny bit better." I think every human I know is on a quest to be a little better than they were the day before, and that's really what the comic strip is about. I remember walking into an office the day I had really decided to accept myself the way I was, which was about 25 pounds over the "ideal" weight at the time, and facing three co-workers who had just go on the high protein diet and quickly lost 10 pounds. And I found myself not being so much tempted by food, as being tempted by a diet. So it's a daily struggle.
Alexandria, Va.:
When some people think Cathy has fallen behind the times, I think instead that you've chosen not to stir up some angry issues, even though you can handle them. But I also think it would give you more force if you did choose to do so, without compromise to the strip itself. Might this be so?
No one blinks if Doonsebury says something like that, but they would if you did.
Cathy Guisewite: I feel that my job is to provide relief, especially to women, on the daily stumbling blocks that we all encounter. Often, the little issues, like our relationship with the stuff that's piled up on the inside of a car, is a microcosm of a bigger issue, like all the stuff that's piled up in our heads.
Alexandria, Va.:
On the old Cathy message board, some people asked me for a copy of the animated specials but I couldn't make one. I even had some of the Betty Crockers and McDonald's commercials. Though it won an Emmy, were none of the animations released on video?
Cathy Guisewite: No, they weren't.
Alexandria, Va.:
Might some future Cathy collection have more strip-related history from the author? She comes from a good writing background. Contemporaries like Lynn Johnston, Bill Watterson, Berke Breathed et al have written detailed, interesting cartoonist bios in their collections.
The closest has been the original "Cathy Chronicles" and the 20th anniversary book
Cathy Guisewite: In my four new books, "Food," "Love," "Mom" and "Work" I did a lot of writing about myself and how the strips evolved out of my own experiences, so they're very autobiographical. I'd say that the four books with the new writing are really a complete emotional biography.
Alexandria, Va.:
Could the "Cathy for Glamour" strips be collected and reprinted? Those dealt with controversial issues, but were thoroughly in character with the main strip. Many fans don't know about them.
Cathy Guisewite: It's a good question, I never thought about it. They were strips that "Glamour" magazine commissioned me to do each month for a column called "Viewpoints," which dealt with all sorts of contemporary issues. I'll think about it now. Thanks!
Claymont, Del.:
Cathy's cute and funny but I wish she was tougher. She should take kickboxing or karate. Irving's a schmuck. She needs a real man! Or at least to enjoy being single. WORK IT GIRL!
Sorry, just had to add my .02 cents!
Cathy Guisewite: Thanks for the great input.
Cathy Guisewite: Goodbye and thanks for all your questions. If you see a sweet woman with her arms loaded with my new books, and a little sign saying, "Buy one," you'll know you've just run into my mother.
Suzanne Tobin:
That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
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Suzanne Tobin:
I'm so sorry we weren't able to get to all the questions, but feel free to write to Cathy Guisewite in care of Univeral Press Syndicate, 4520 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri, 64111. And tune in two weeks from now, when Bob Thaves of "Frank and Ernest" will be joining us live online.
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