The Emergence of Feminism in the 1970s Spanish Comic

Abstract

During the 1970s, Spanish comics began to reflect gender questioning as a consequence of the Spanish Feminist Movement that arose after the death of Francisco Franco. This gender questioning lead to several transformations in the female characters, until that moment mostly subaltern, passive and sexually objectified. In the first part, this article investigates the position of women in the comic before the Feminist Movement, focusing on Francoism and the Democratic Transition and revealing the cultural construction behind themes and stereotypes. Secondly, I consider the work of pioneer women authors who broke with misogynist stereotypes and were open to innovation both in terms of graphics and content. Research for this paper is based on the analysis of original comics, both published and unpublished illustrations, interviews and private archives.