🧵Good morning, friends! Today marks the 12th #VisibleWomen event! This will be a thread that goes over the history & basics then we'll get started. Submission instructions also posted here: bit.ly/VW322
https://twitter.com/kellysue/status/1491459407615463424
What is the #VisibleWomen project? It's a effort to raise the profiles of women in the comic book industry **in order to get them work**. (More on that last part in a bit.)
For the next roughly 8 hours, we will signal boost portfolio & CV links from women in the comic book and publishing industries. We will then put those names and links on a spreadsheet that is made available FOR FREE to any hiring professionals in the industry. #VisibleWomen
Our preferred format for posts: IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST: I’m [your full name – even if it matches your Twitter handle]. [A couple words about your style/genre or titles you’ve worked on] & my portfolio is at [link/links]. I also [color/letter/flat/write]. #VisibleWomen
Our preferred format IF YOU ARE A WRITER: I’m [your full name – even if it matches your Twitter handle], I wrote/write [title of book(s)]. [Samples of my work can be found LINK.] #VisibleWomen
🚨IMPORTANT: SELF SUBMISSIONS ONLY!
It’s GREAT that you want to support yr friends, but do not submit for them. We don’t want to risk signal-boosting someone who doesn't yet feel ready, or make someone uncomfortable by labeling them with identities they don't claim. #VisibleWomen
It’s GREAT that you want to support yr friends, but do not submit for them. We don’t want to risk signal-boosting someone who doesn't yet feel ready, or make someone uncomfortable by labeling them with identities they don't claim. #VisibleWomen
#VisibleWomen Now on to our history...
The first #VisibleWomen day was in 2016. It started out of frustration at the perception that it was hard to find women who were qualified or wanted to draw mainstream comics. The first VW was for artists only. It went well.
So we did it again 6 months later. The goal was never just visibility; the goal was to get women work, to get them PAID. So we started producing a spreadsheet from the hashtag and offering it free of charge to any hiring professional in the publishing industry.
It wasn't long before we expanded to include not just pencillers, but writers, inkers, colorists, letterers, designers, cover artists and editors. The focus has always been comics, but we get hiring interest from all areas of publishing, as well as gaming and animation.
While at MICA in September 2017, Annabelle Hayford started the incredible #drawingwhileblack. Soon thereafter we moved the winter #VisibleWomen from Feb (#BlackHistoryMonth) to March (#WomensHistoryMonth). It's been run every March & August since.
It's vital that #VisibleWomen not become VisibleWHITEWomen or an instrument of whiteness. White is not a default, it should not be suggested by the absence of a modifier.
#VisibleWomen highlights WOC in its own work and means to share the platform by spotlighting other hashtag initiatives such as the aforementioned #drawingwhileblack, #AsAmCreatorRollCall, #indigenousartists and #bipocartists. (Pls reply with any others & we'll signal boost.)
As a culture, our understanding of gender is evolving. We used to get asked if we welcome trans women. The answer is--and has always been--emphatically yes! It's right there in the title: #VisibleWomen
While we welcome (and have always welcomed) all other marginalized genders, but we respect that some folks are not comfortable under our banner. So we want to call your attention to #IAmNonbinary, #VisibleNBs and #transmascartists. (Reply with others & we'll signal boost.)
While we've got you, you should also know about the work of @marinaomi and her three excellent databases (🌟in existence long before us🌟): Queer Cartoonists Database
@LGBTQcomics
-- queercartoonists.com
@LGBTQcomics
-- queercartoonists.com
We make progress by supporting one another. We encourage you to avail yourself of ANY and ALL the resources that are appropriate to you. #VisibleWomen
Finally, to find out about MORE resources, please consider joining us as members of @WinCNYC. #VisibleWomen
@threadreaderapp unroll
Okay, I have an impossible amount of work to get done before Thursday, so I'm going to hand this feed over to @turnerlobey in a minute and he'll be handling the RTs. (Thank you, @turnerlobey!!)
Couple of changes from #VisibleWomen years past that I want to mention:
1) We usually have the #VisibleWomen spreadsheet available for distribution within a day or so of the event. This year we have an incredible group of volunteers who are going to help us make the spreadsheet more robust and easier to use for hiring. It will be available in a week.
2) We're working on... more. Watch this space: visiblewomen.work
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