RADAR ALERT:
Curtis: Wife Can Break Husband’s Arm if He Forgets Her Birthday

Contact Ray Billingsley (the comic strip artist) and King Features Syndicate (which distributes the comic strip) and tell them the following:

1. The Curtis comic strip which ran on January 18, 2005 represents mean-spirited and highly inappropriate humor.
2. The comic strip reinforces a societal double-standard which warns, “There is no excuse for domestic violence” when the victim is female; but then says, “But it’s perfectly fine for a wife to injure and maim her husband.”
3. Mr. Billingsley’s comic strip is extremely offensive to the hundreds of thousands of men who suffer from domestic violence each year.

These are the people to contact:

Ray Billingsley
E-mail: kfs-cartoonists@hearst.com

King Features Syndicate
Rose McAlister, Promotion Manager
E-mail: kfs-public-relations@hearst.com
Telephone 212-455-4180

Keith McCloat, Vice President
Telephone 212-455-4000

Snail mail
King Features
2 ^nd floor, 888 Seventh Ave.
New York, NY 10019

Folks, this “humor” is downright offensive. Would King Features run a similar comic strip if the butt of the joke was a woman? Then why do they tolerate this double-standard?

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Ray Billingsley is an artist whose comic strips “always try to influence his young readers in positive ways,” according to his own description. His Curtis comic runs in more than 250 newspapers nationwide [ www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/curtis/bio.htm ].

On January 18, the Curtis comic went like this:

Frame 1:

Hearing the sound of a baby crying, Greg runs in the front door. Greg exclaims to his wife, “Diane, what is THAT?!” Diane deadpans, “It’s a baby, Greg!”

Frame 2:

Greg responds, “I know what it is! I mean, Why is it HERE?”

Frame 3:

Diane explains what the baby is unable to say: “I’m from next door! My daddy got a black eye and a broken arm, and mommy had to rush him to the emergency room!”

Frame 4:

Greg is appalled. He wonders, “Oh, man! Poor guy! What happened?” Diane then lands the punch line: “He forgot her birthday for the third year in a row.”

You can see the comic strip by visiting the website of the Seattle Post-Intelligence: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/curtis.asp?date=20050118 . However, if your computer has Norton Internet Security, you may first need to adjust your Privacy Control.

If you are unable to see the actual comic strip, the information about the four frames presented above is accurate and complete.

WANT TO RECEIVE YOUR E-LERTS AND PRESS RELEASES WITHOUT DELAY?

To have our E-lerts and Press Releases e-mailed directly to you, visit RADAR at www.mediaradar.org . In the left-hand column, enter your e-mail address where it says, “Subscribe to the RADAR E-lert!” Your e-mail address will be kept strictly confidential, and will not be released to any outside group.

Date of RADAR Release: January 23,2005

Want to improve the chance that they'll pay attention to your letter? Click here.

R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org