Almost Laughable?

As an avid newspaper reader, I am constantly scrutinizing editorial cartoons for a ticklish take on the day's sobering topics.

Rarely do I see a cartoon drawn by a woman.

With our powers of observation sharpened by millennia of child-rearing and society shaping, and the wit and humor we've acquired to cope with those tasks, you'd think editors would be pounding on our doors to hand us paper and pen. So why aren't they?

This question emerged as a part of the latest outbreak of concern about the paucity of women on leading opinion pages. This one was triggered by a nasty row that broke into public in March between news commentator Susan Estrich and Michael Kinsley, editorial and opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times.

While onlookers were left divided about Estrich's zealous attempts to get a steady pundit slot from Kinsley, the incident did call attention to the dearth of female bylines on op-ed pages. Only about 24 percent of opinion writers at the biggest syndicates are women, according to a survey by Editor and Publisher magazine.

Less Than 4 Percent

As disappointing as that number is, consider this: Women are less than 4 percent of those same syndicates' editorial cartoonists.

They are Ann Telnaes, who draws the "Commentoon" for Women's eNews and until recently was syndicated by Tribune Media Services; Signe Wilkinson of the Philadelphia Daily News and the Washington Post Writers Group and Etta Hulme of the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram and Newspaper Enterprise Association.

Ten years ago, the same three women constituted all the women drawing for major syndicates, according to Editor and Publisher.

"Since I was hired at the San Jose Mercury News in 1982, only one other woman has been hired as a full-time cartoonist at a major daily newspaper," Wilkinson wrote in the Winter 2004 Nieman Reports, "and that was in 1994 when I was hired at the Philadelphia Daily News."

Satire is a potent weapon. Editorial cartoonists use it to grind big axes, to prick the egos of the arrogant and to illuminate injustice, greed and dishonesty. It makes no sense, from a journalistic or societal perspective, that pens this powerful are in the hands of so few female cartoonists.

Few Women on Smaller Papers

There are female editorial cartoonists who work on a freelance basis or draw for smaller-circulation newspapers, but there aren't many of them, either. Just over 6 percent of members of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists are women.

Telnaes said the nature of the craft may pose special difficulties for women. "It's forceful, in your face. I don't think women were encouraged to do things like that, at least when I was growing up."

Strong women speaking their minds are not popular, said Telnaes, pointing to negative media coverage of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Teresa Heinz Kerry. The same resistance, she said, carries over to an opinionated woman drawing strong cartoons.

"Originally, I thought the coverage of Hillary and the type of woman she was had more to do with her personally, but now I'm beginning to see it's not her; it's the type of woman that America, and our media, have a problem with."

But more female cartoonists, says Telnaes, could help editorial pages hit far more funny bones. "I just spoke to editorial page editors at the American Press Institute, and what makes guys react to a cartoon is different from what makes a woman react."

One Full-Time Slot in Canada

Sue Dewar is editorial cartoonist of The Ottawa Sun. Her cartoons are syndicated to major Canadian dailies and mid-sized community newspapers. She estimates that five women currently contribute editorial cartoons to Canadian news organizations, but she is the only one with a full-time newspaper job -- a position that wasn't easy to come by.