Emma (4) (1981–)

Weird, but very interesting. It's a blog (or essays) in comic form; like Hyperbole and a Half, though less funny and more...political? It's largely, though not entirely, about women's rights, and unfortunately that's political these days. The title piece is about the invisible part of household (or workplace) chores, the planning and remembering and managing part - which is still largely the woman's task at home. There's also several about maternity leave and managing with a new child - about workplace expectations and men's behavior and doctors' and nurses' behavior during and after the birth. A couple about police violence, and about how violence of all sorts is reported (in France, where she's based) - riots are reported but not the causes, attacks by protestors are in focus and protestors dealing with the aftermath of violence directed against them isn't... There are several about how, in different ways and different fields, our expectations affect our behavior - from women suppressing their reactions, to people working "bulls**t jobs" that do nothing but enrich the already rich (but that's the way things are and always were and will be...isn't it?). It's interesting angles on a lot of things, with the simple, blocky images conveying as much as the words. Interesting, worth reading, worth spreading the word about.… (more)

I've not really read graphic books before (well, not since I was very young, anyway), so this gift was a nice introduction to a different genre.

The enigmatic Emma is a thirty-something French computer programmer who also has comic strips in The Guardian and podcasts for the French Culture radio station. She's a young woman with strong ideas on feminism and racism and she's not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

This is a great book - the graphics really stuck in my head about a lot of the points made in a way that pages of text wouldn't. Whilst I wasn't nodding my head at all of her points (perhaps I'm lucky to be married to someone who pulls their weight quite well domestically), she certainly hit the mark in a number of areas, particularly on the topic which led to the title.

I've never classed myself as a feminist (in fact there are areas of feminism that irk me considerably), but (sorry chaps - you may want to stop reading here) I was nodding my head vigorously on the subject of mental load. Like in many households, I end up taking care of all the household admin, whether it's stuff to do with the kids, school, bills, booking holidays, and there is a huge mental stress with always having this endless list of things to do and squeeze in around work. Whilst my husband is generally pretty at doing certain things around the house, it does wind me up that a common refrain is "you just needed to ask me to do x" (after I've spontaneously combusted over something). Emma nails this as a cop out, with women assuming the unwanted role of project manager in the house.

I don't want to male bash here. My husband does the lion's share of the outside work, so from a pure work perspective I'd say we have a healthy split, but I don't think men always appreciate that the job of mentally keeping on top of everything that needs done and ensuring balls don't get dropped gets tiring when it's carried mostly by one person.

Emma tackles other topics in this book too, such as the unhealthy work culture of 'he/she who stays latest in the office must be the better employee', the treatment of coloured young males in France by the police and the court system, motherhood and paternity leave.

All in all I enjoyed this book. Emma really cleverly picks up on some hard hitting points, and the graphics are a terrific way to get the message across.

4 stars - this will encourage me to pick up some more graphic books in the future.… (more)