Department of English

What do Jessica Rabbit, Power-Puff Girls, Princess Mononoke, and Ranma all have in common? Why have American comics predominantly been a male genre, and where are all the women cartoonists? How does one draw gender into comic strips? How is sexuality depicted in animation films? This course examines gender and sexuality through comics and animation films, and how these genres reflect and/or undermine gender norms and stereotypes. We will view a number of animation films(ranging from Disney to Japanese Anime), analyze comic strips by incorporating gender and queer theory, and look at some of the cultural and historical influences at work in the gendering and eroticization of the graphic arts. Readings and screenings will include: Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Tank Girl, Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality, and Susan J. Napier's Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke.