Thursday, October 6, 2011

Political Cartoons from the 1960's: War Is Sexy?

This political cartoon, again from Herbert Block (Herblock), was printed August 1, 1967 in response to growing concerns among American citizens who worried about problems at home while American men died in the quagmire that was Vietnam.

The interesting imagery used by Herblock shows the Vietnam War budget as a voluptuous woman in fishnets and a skimpy cocktail dress, while the woman meant to portray the "U.S. Urban Needs" is rail-thin and dressed in rags. The question that this depiction raises is: is the idea of war something we can consider sexy?

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Political Cartoons from the 1960's: Cigarette Smoking

This political cartoon from January 14, 1964, drawn by Herblock (Herbert Block), was drawn in response to a surgeon general warning about the danger of one of America's legal drugs: tobacco. The warning came as a reiteration of a 1957 release. Today, we know that cigarettes can cause many health problems, most notably cancer. The use of political cartoons to expose social issues is an eye-catching

Thursday, September 8, 2011

And so it begins...

Who wouldn't be excited about a semester full of sex, drugs & rock n' roll?