Women as Agents of Change

This cartoon appeared in volume 5, issue number 6 of Le F.A.R.O.G Forum, a bilingual newspaper published by the University of Maine’s Franco-American Programs and Franco-American Resource Opportunity Group (F.A.R.O.G.), a student organization. F.A.R.O.G. began in the 1970s as a way to reclaim and celebrate Franco-American culture and heritage, especially by taking back the use of the word “frog” which had been used as an ethnic slur.

While the cartoon depicts traditional gender roles, of the wife performing housework, it also suggests that this is not desirable, unlike earlier presentations of gender roles in the 1950s and 1960s. According to the cartoon, the way to “discover true joy” is found in the final image, where the husband and wife are working together to complete housework.