Hillary Clinton as Threat to Gender Norms: Cartoon Images of the First Lady

Although it is the norm for cartoonists to employ satire that distorts the truth, there is still the danger that sexism or other biases may be present in cartoons. The cartoon images of Hillary Clinton suggest a backlash against the professional woman, as evidenced by the obsession with Hillary among cartoonists, the continual use of cliches and stereotypes, and the overt sexism in the images and symbols used to depict her. Cartoonists see Hillary violating gender norms. Cartoon images fall into the following categories: gender reversals, Hillary as radical feminist and emasculator, domestic imagery, woman as body, the public woman, cherchez la femme, and the wife the husband wants to get rid of. The work of Susan Faludi on the backlash, Judith Butler on gender, Germain Greer on the role of the First Lady, and John Fiske on discourse and media events is useful in analyzing the cartoonists' stance toward Hillary Clinton.