美国国家公共电台 NPR After Decades Of Comics, 'Cathy' Cartoonist Found Writing 'So Liberating'（在线收听）

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

When Cathy Guisewite's comic strip "Cathy" hit newspapers in 1976, it struck a chord with a lot of women. Fans identified with the character's self-deprecating humor and relentless insecurity about her looks, her weight and, most of all, men. Now Guisewite has a new book of essays that expands on some of the themes she explored in her comic strip. It's called "Fifty Things that Aren't My Fault." And NPR's Lynn Neary caught up with Guisewite in New York City.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE: Cathy Guisewite was celebrating a birthday. She had set a table in her hotel room complete with flowers, cupcakes and place cards, hand drawn with the image of her famous character Cathy. But it wasn't Guisewite's birthday.

CATHY GUISEWITE AND LYNN NEARY: (Singing) Happy birthday...

CATHY GUISEWITE: (Singing) ...To "Fifty Things that Aren't My Fault."

NEARY: (Laughter).

GUISEWITE: (Singing) Happy birthday to the book.

NEARY: Excellent.

GUISEWITE: Thank you.

NEARY: I don't believe you're really going to eat a cupcake (laughter).

GUISEWITE: I'm really going to eat a cupcake - eat this one right here.

NEARY: For all the jokes Guisewite made over the years about her character's obsession with food and weight, she herself is tiny. Though, she swears she was 40 pounds heavier when she got out of college. Guisewite says she argued against naming her comic strip "Cathy" because she didn't want people to think the character was based on her own life, even though it was.

GUISEWITE: I'll say that Cathy was kind of my heart. Other stronger characters in the strip, like Andrea, were more my brain. But Cathy was kind of my heart. That was me.

NEARY: Before she started "Cathy," Guisewite had a successful career in advertising - eager to take advantage of the new opportunities opening up for women. But she felt caught between what she calls the two Bettys - the 1950s icon of the ideal homemaker, Betty Crocker, and the new, vibrant feminist voice of Betty Friedan. She wanted what both had to offer.

GUISEWITE: I wanted a career. I wanted my independence. I wanted to put off marriage and children, you know, and have my own success. But I also really wanted a boyfriend. You know, I was in my mid-20s. I wanted somebody to love me.

NEARY: Guisewite found an outlet for her insecurities in the comic strip. She was not alone in feeling unsure of her footing in the new world that had been opened by feminism. The comic strip was immensely popular. But there was also a backlash. In her new book, Guisewite defends herself against her critics.

GUISEWITE: (Reading) Some people thought my work reinforced the negative stereotype of women being obsessed with shopping, weight and love. But it wasn't my fault we still live in a world that partly judges women by what we wear, how much we weigh and whether or not and who or how we love - not my fault that with every new glorious possibility for women came an extra sense of isolation when we not only couldn't keep up but were told we shouldn't talk about the things that held us back.

NEARY: Guisewite retired the comic strip in 2010, when she needed more time for her aging parents and her teenage daughter. As she commuted between the two, she jotted down her thoughts, which is how the book began.

GUISEWITE: When I started writing these essays, it was like coming home and taking off the Spanx. This was so liberating. I loved getting to write longer and more thoughtfully about a lot of the same things I wrote about in the strip.

NEARY: Guisewite still uses humor to sift through her feelings. And she still obsesses over food and clothes and the people she loves. But she hopes she's gained some wisdom that she can share with a very different generation of women.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Are you guys getting books?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yes. We're going to buy books.

NEARY: Young women lined up to meet Guisewite after a book event at The Wing in New York's Soho neighborhood. The Wing is a communal workspace and a kind of social club for women only. This generation has inherited the feminism that was brand-new when Guisewite was young. Stephanie Roman says they're still dealing with some of the same issues.

STEPHANIE ROMAN: I'm a body image coach. So the whole theme about food and dieting and trying to accept ourselves and willpower and lack of willpower - whatever it might be - is still definitely a big thread in my life, for sure.

NEARY: A lot of these women remember reading the "Cathy" comic strip as kids. Jessica Schwartz sports a Cathy button that reads, I don't have time for this midlife crisis.

JESSICA SCHWARTZ: Cathy was such a real-seeming woman - I mean, screaming and pulling her hair out and freaking out about tiny things. Literally, the most relatable comic character ever.

NEARY: And does it really speak to you now, now that you're having a midlife crisis?

SCHWARTZ: Heck yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

NEARY: As Schwartz approaches Guisewite, she pulls something out of her bag. It's a cake pan in the shape of Cathy's face.

SCHWARTZ: I just wanted to show you.

GUISEWITE: Oh, my God. You have the cake pan.

SCHWARTZ: The cake pan.

GUISEWITE: You have the cake pan.

SCHWARTZ: And I brought these pictures...

GUISEWITE: Oh...

SCHWARTZ: ...Of some cakes I've made...

GUISEWITE: ...My.

SCHWARTZ: ...Over the years.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Those are good.

SCHWARTZ: (Laughter).

GUISEWITE: Those are great.

SCHWARTZ: I've made them for birthdays, baby showers.

GUISEWITE: (Laughter).

SCHWARTZ: This is a meatloaf I made in the pan.

NEARY: Guisewite is clearly delighted "Cathy" means so much to these young women. She hopes her book, like "Cathy," will feel like someone's best friend, the kind of friend who knows exactly what to say when you need some reassurance.

GUISEWITE: I know just how you feel. It doesn't mean you're inadequate. It just means you had a bad day with a, you know - with the frozen chocolate at the back of the freezer.

NEARY: Guisewite's advice for the young - never lose your sense of humor.

Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE SEA AND CAKE SONG, "ANY DAY")