A new voice in comics is incisive funny and fiercely feminist. The mental load. It's
incessant gnawing exhausting and disproportionately falls to women. You know the
scene--you're making dinner calling the plumber doctor mechanic checking homework and
answering work emails--at the same time. All the while you are being peppered with questions
by your nearest and dearest 'where are my shoes? 'do we have any cheese?...' --Australian
Broadcasting Corp on Emma's comic In her first book of comic strips Emma reflects on social
and feminist issues by means of simple line drawings dissecting the mental load ie all that
invisible and unpaid organizing list-making and planning women do to manage their lives and
the lives of their family members. Most of us carry some form of mental load--about our work
household responsibilities financial obligations and personal life but what makes up that
burden and how it's distributed within households and understood in offices is not always equal
or fair. In her strips Emma deals with themes ranging from maternity leave (it is not a
vacation!) domestic violence the clitoris the violence of the medical world on women during
childbirth and other feminist issues and she does so in a straightforward way that is both
hilarious and deadly serious.. If you're not laughing you're probably crying in recognition.
Emma's comics also address the everyday outrages and absurdities of immigrant rights income
equality and police violence. Emma has over 300 000 followers on Facebook her comics have
been. shared 215 000 times and have elicited comments from 21 000 internet users. An article
about her in the French magazine L'Express drew 1.8 million views--a record since the site was
created. And her comic has just been picked up by The Guardian. Many women will recognize
themselves in THE MENTAL LOAD which is sure to stir a wide ranging important debate on what
it really means to be a woman today.
