Woman World

Super fun!

The set-up: The world slowly changed as male babies stopped being born and the remaining men died off with the passage of time. But then natural disasters destroyed civilization, leaving the surviving women in a fairly functional post-apocalyptic dystopia (or utopia depending on one's point of view) of small communities where they live and work together.

The execution: The story is told in a series of one- or two-page gag strips that were originally released on Instagram. Not only are they funny, they hang together well enough to weave an engaging tapestry of relationships: friendly, professional, familial, and romantic.

I would love to see a sequel filling out the details of events mentioned in the epilogue.

Student Review By: Sara R (Grade 12)
Grade Range: 9th Grade and up
Literary Merit: Excellent
Characterization: Good

Review:

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal follows a group of women and their attempt to deal with the end of the world. The end was brought about by a genetic defect which slowly caused every man on earth to die, and for only women to be born. Only Grandma Ulaana remembers anything of society from before the last man died, and she teaches her curious granddaughter everything she can. The rest of the women live in a settlement named “Beyonce’s Thighs”. The women in the book spend time pining for each other and questioning what life was like when men still existed.

The witty, feminist humor in this book was like a breath of show more fresh air. I adored how Dhaliwal portrayed the “end of the world” storyline while still being humorous. It was a nice change from the typical darker storylines found in books like this. Every single character was hilarious and relatable for women everywhere. I greatly enjoyed the diversity between the women and how each of their viewpoints were represented within the story. I enjoyed that even though the book was done in a series of small comics, the story was still linear and easy to follow. The author’s message was subtle, hinting at how women are often treated in today’s society and the roadblocks they often face simply because of their gender.

Recommendation: Anyone who enjoys feminist humor, wonderful art, and a good “end of the world” type story. show less

This was clever and super cute, and after Y: The Last Man I was hungry for a positive narrative about a world without men (although of course there's always Ammonite). Still, I wish I could have experienced it in serial form, because I think it loses some of its humor read in one sitting.

I'm ambivalent about how Dhaliwal handles the issue of trans folk - on one hand this is a silly fantasy story about being a woman in a binarist society, so obviously you should make it inclusive of trans women. On the other hand the story erases non-binary people and this bums me out. I think the correct solution is a mini-comic about Non-binary Nation, which is an island off the coast of Woman World (transportation between the two realms provided by show more the Femme Ferry). show less

Women are the paradigm shift when men are extinct from the planet. A nostalgic girl wonders about past life with boys, as women grow into what they have been fighting for all humankind (men’s extinction haha jk) this is a quandary of a read. For feminist, we wonder do men need to step down for women to not be interrupted when speaking (more of a social intrapersonal faux pas then simply binary thought). Yet, it exists and that iconography or symbol of female engendering being or not having enough intelligence to speak or let’s say rule has loomed in some cultures. Albeit, speaking in anthropological terms, there have been an endless list and still exist in certain ‘primitive’ societies where the misleading characterization of show more primitive and also to note, male dominant species is problematic (which may be a biproduct of funny in the sense of faulty eugenics.) As all real liberated and working feminism includes people of color ,bipoc, to understand that nuances of oppression and why in some way females and males hold equal footings of power as in the ‘platonic form’ of it. Yet, how and why is there that binary power struggle. Men and women, women and men, all quest for a sense of dominance despite denial or ignorance. We see individuals grouped in subgroups and larger macrocosmic realms but tend not to acknowledge that as a whole we are social creatures that work in tandem to repress and subvert our own bodies and minds. Controversial, yes, but empowering thought becomes a chimera in destitute times, almost as though a graphic novel with sci-fi inclination. Woman World is funny and tongue-in-cheek. show less

The adult graphic novel Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal is a funny, tender, thoughtful exploration of an exisential crisis amongst a tribe of women as the try to rebuild the world after all human men go extinct. The body, racial, sexual orientation and age diversity is amazing. @aminder_d I ♥️ this book.

Not quite sure how I feel about this one. I was a fan of the online comic and wasn't sure what to expect of the published version.

Like Go to Sleep (I Miss You), Woman World is mostly just a collection of the webcomics in print form--a big part of the reason I got this from the library instead of buying it. Like collections of Sunday comic strips, there's no linear narrative to tie everything together, though there are central recurring characters and a few story arcs.

Dhaliwal's multi-frame Instagram posts were much better suited to conversion into book format than Ngozi's rectangular Check, Please! panels were. Most of the comic "strips" appear on a single page so that it's easy to tell them apart...but not all of them do. There were show more a handful of times when a comic stretched over two pages, which left me (briefly) wondering why the punchline panel was supposed to be funny until I read the next panel and realized it was a continuation.

Unlike Go to Sleep (I Miss You), Woman World has a few new pieces scattered throughout: a little introduction with some background on why there are no men and why buildings are abandoned and run down, three images of a pair of statues of women as they break down over time, and a little afterword to provide some closure. I totally get wanting to add some value to the book to justify getting people to buy it and the afterword gave me a couple chuckles...but I honestly would have preferred more one-off comics.

Part of Woman World's charm, when it was online, was the complete lack of explanation about what had happened to make men disappear/die off. The comments exploded with "but how does THAT work?!" when one of the main recurring characters mentioned that she was trans. So trying to give background on what happened just made the whole situation weirder instead of keeping the, "just run with it" vibe, especially since in the very first comic it seems like the men just suddenly disappeared. And I don't know how to feel about those statues... On the one hand, they're classical statues of ideal versions of women, so their breakdown could show that the women are breaking free from old ideas. However, they seem like a pretty liberated lot from the start and don't have any discovering-new-freedoms arcs. My first thought when I saw the second image was actually, "wait, does this represent society breaking down?", though the community itself contradicts that.

Anyway, it's a collection of cute and quirky webcomics that probably doesn't need as much thought as I've given it here. It’s charming and will probably give you a chuckle, as long as you’re not offended by nudists, transwomen, or lesbians. It’s a bunch of women doing their thing and saying and doing things that they might not say or do if men were still around. Pick it up at the library for a quick, fun read! show less

Hysterical (appropriate word) for this graphic novel. Thought provoking premise on a future of only women. Provides laughs, feel good moments, retrospection and introspection. Highly recommend.