RADAR Alert: "Curtis": Wife Can Break Husband’s Arm if he Forgets their Anniversary

	posted by Matt on 11:34 PM January 23rd, 2005
	Contact Ray Billingsley (the comic strip artist) and King Features Syndicate (which distributes the comic strip) and tell them the following: The Curtis comic strip which ran on January 18, 2005 represents mean-spirited and highly inappropriate humor. The comic strip reinforces a societal double-standard which warns, "There is no excuse for domestic violence" when the victim is female; but then says, "But it's perfectly fine for a wife to injure and maim her husband." Mr. Billingsley's comic strip is extremely offensive to the hundreds of thousands of men who suffer from domestic violence each year. Click "Read more..." for background and contact information.

	These are the people to contact: 1. Ray Billingsley: kfs-cartoonists-at-hearst.com 2. King Features Syndicate a. Rose McAlister, Promotion Manager: kfs-public-relations-at-hearst.com or telephone: 212-455-4180 b. Keith McCloat, Vice President: telephone: 1-212-455-4000 or snail mail: King Features, 2nd floor, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019 3. Your local newspaper, if your paper features the "Curtis" comic strip. Folks, this "humor" is downright offensive. Would King Features run a similar comic strip if the butt of the joke was a woman? Then why do they tolerate this double-standard? ------------------------------------------------------------- BACKGROUND INFORMATION Ray Billingsley is an artist whose comic strips “always try to influence his young readers in positive ways,” according to his own description. His Curtis comic runs in more than 250 newspapers nationwide. On January 18, the Curtis comic went like this: Frame 1: Hearing the sound of a baby crying, Greg runs in the front door. Greg exclaims to his wife, “Diane, what is THAT?!” Diane deadpans, “It’s a baby, Greg!” Frame 2: Greg responds, “I know what it is! I mean, Why is it HERE?” Frame 3: Diane explains what the baby is unable to say: “I’m from next door! My daddy got a black eye and a broken arm, and mommy had to rush him to the emergency room!” Frame 4: Greg is appalled. He wonders, “Oh, man! Poor guy! What happened?” Diane then lands the punch line: “He forgot her birthday for the third year in a row.” You can see the comic strip by visiting the website of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. However, if your computer has Norton Internet Security, you may first need to adjust your Privacy Control. If you are unable to see the actual comic strip, the information about the four frames presented above is accurate and complete. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WANT TO RECEIVE YOUR E-LERTS AND PRESS RELEASES WITHOUT DELAY? To have our E-lerts and Press Releases e-mailed directly to you, visit RADAR at http://www.mediaradar.org. In the left-hand column, enter your e-mail address where it says, “Subscribe to the RADAR E-lert!” Your e-mail address will be kept strictly confidential, and will not be released to any outside group.

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Curtis (Score:1) by Kyo on 11:10 AM January 24th, 2005 EST (#1) The sardonic "It's a baby" line bugs me almost as much as the 'real' offending line. Must she treat her own husband with such contempt?

Re:Curtis (Score:1) by The_Beedle on 12:55 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#2) If tomorrows strip has the neighbor battering mom rightly in jail, this protest is going to look a bit silly.

Re:Curtis (Score:0) by Anonymous User on 01:28 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#3) That's what I was thinking, too. But I doubt that will happen. I have seen this "Curtis" strip before. It isn't unusual for Billingsley to show his female characters dominating, belittleing and shameing the male characters. I think he is just another example of yet another wussie-poopie, self hateing man, who not only thinks that female on male violence is funny but sexy and acceptable, as well. Un-fortunately he's a member of a rather large club in this country.   Thundercloud.   "Hoka hey!"

Re:Curtis (Score:2) by mens_issues on 01:51 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#4) The following strips didn't have that. Actually, the baby ends up preferring the Curtis's father over his mother. Steve

Re:Curtis (Score:0) by Anonymous User on 07:13 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#5) I disagree. It doesn't show that it's alright for a woman to hit a man. It shows that when a man is not emotionally strong and always just tries to please his wife, the wife won't respect him. If the husband was a strong man who his wife looked up to and respected, his wife wouldn't hit him.

Re:Curtis (Score:2) by Luek on 10:10 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#9) If tomorrows strip has the neighbor battering mom rightly in jail, this protest is going to look a bit silly. Sounds like a good story line. Maybe you should contact Mr. Billingsley and suggest it to him? kfs-cartoonists@hearst.com I have already written to him but did not suggest that the abusive wife should be put in jail. Of course, any response I get from him about this particular strip I will post here.

Re:Curtis (Score:1) by Hunchback on 09:25 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#8) I've been reading Curtis for years. It has a lot of playful violence between the characters, especially between the two brothers. No biggie, and it's no worse than Dagwood gettting dropkicked by Mr. Dithers. I like the strip and will continue to read it. The particular episode in question did bother me; however, to embark on a campaign against Curtis seems over the top considering that there are far worse offenders out there. Maybe a quick line on the broken arm cartoon and its relationship to the portrayal of female on male DV. An all-out campaign would cause RADAR to lose credibility right off the starting block—and my support.

Another "Curtis" episode (Score:2) by mens_issues on 07:16 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#6) I kept the June 27, 2004 episode of Curtis as it showed another example of violence against males. In this case Michelle was at her desk preening and admiring herself in the mirror. Curtis then climbed a ladder and put his face in her upstairs window. He asked why she didn't respond to his many attempts to contact her for a date that night. She looks at him with disdain and drops her venetian blinds on his head without saying a word. Curtis falls off his ladder and into a dumpster where he proclaims "Can I help it if I'm the type that needs a verbal response?"

Re:Another "Curtis" episode (Score:1) by ArtflDgr on 08:11 PM January 24th, 2005 EST (#7) Hey all,       I just wanted to point out that comics are supposed to push and prod us. get us thinking and such.. they are not perfect mediums made not to offend people. so really its the one comic that is the problem, not the whole series. what was over the top was that it was done, and there was no follow up and such (i was watching as it appeared in the daily news, as is why the alert is not on the same day). in some alternate universe billingsly may have been seeing if he would get any response on the subject. of course till he answers we will never know (and if he is reading this, oh oh)... as for your example above as being an example of violence against males, i would disagree... just as we claim there ARE situations which warrent extreme behavior, if you read the comic regularly then you know that Curtis doesnt take no for an answer from her, and we are not talking a wishy washy turn down. Nor does he listen to his little brother (who seems wiser than the dad or the son, but is a mommas boy that cries and frames Curtis).. the thing is that if you are gonna ding her for that then give her credit for not getting an order of protection, making Curtis have to change schools, stalking charges, and maybe a boyfriend beating him up cause shes cute. after years of this she is rather patient.     nope a venetion blind to the head of a person on a ladder looking in to a young girls bedroom uninvited is mild... if it was your daughters room and you caught him on the ladder outside what would YOUR response be? :)

Barking up the wrong tree (Score:1) by Thomas Jefferson on 06:19 AM January 25th, 2005 EST (#10) I think you're making a big mistake in taking curtis to task, fo a variety of reasons. (1) It's a comic strip and supposed to be provocative. There is a very strong backlash against the PC movement right now. Attacking a cartoon will only cause you to loose crediblity and be viewed by the general public as carping and whining. (2) There are far more important things to worry about. (3) The strip can be viewed in different ways. I'm not really sure if it's all that anti-male to begin with. One of the pionts that we've been trying to get accross is that women are frequently the aggressor and men are the victims. This strip points that out. That's not a bad thing. RATHER THAN CONDEMN IT. CELEBRATE IT. MAKE IT A CAUSE CELEBRE. Write to the newspapers carrying the strip THANKING them for drawing attention to the male victims of domestic violence and use the occassion to give them a list of facts that counter the female supremacist propangda. Persauvion and subtlety often get farther than direct confrontation. We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed. -- Thomas Jefferson

Re:Barking up the wrong tree (Score:1) by kavius on 10:29 AM January 25th, 2005 EST (#11) http://www.vius.ca I couldn't find the comic, but congratulations to anyone that would show domestic violence in a comic strip. Double that for someone willing to point out that domestic violence occurs against males. I would write a letter, but I really can't find the comic.

Re:Barking up the wrong tree (Score:0) by Anonymous User on 01:40 PM January 25th, 2005 EST (#12) Thomas Jefferson- I think you made some pretty valid points.   Thundercloud.   "Hoka hey!"

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