Cushman-Dowdee, Heather. Hathor the Cow Goddess.
Hathor the Cow Goddess was created in 1999, when author Heather Cushman-Dowdee was in graduate school at the University of South Florida. As a new mom and student, she began painting and sculpting breastfeeding women, as well as doing performance art under the name the “Goddess of Moo.” After graduating, and having her second child, she began cartooning. From that, in 2001, Hathor the Cow Goddess zine was born. Hathor ended in 2008. Cushman-Dowdee’s newest project is a comic website Mama Is Comic. Hathor the Cow Goddess is available in half-sized zine format, as well as on Cushman-Dowdee’s website, and collected in three anthology books The Birth of Hathor, The Milk of Hathor, and Sling and Other Do-It-Yourself Things.
Hathor the Cow Goddess is drawn in black and white, and often employs grey backgrounds. It is drawn with crisp lines, though the overall style is cartoonish. The main character, Hathor, appears to be a half-woman half-cow with a cow face with a non-functioning breast on the top of her head.
In “Hathor the Cow Goddess: Maternal Superhero," Jennifer Murphy describes Hathor as a maternal super-hero and a Goddess. Murphy explains that, “Hathor's threefold mission is revealed in the cartoons: to give practical and empathetic advice about attachment parenting; to stand up to anti-breastfeeding propaganda put out by culprits like Real Simple magazine, the town of Chandler Arizona, Fisher Price Toys, and the American Association of Paediatrics; and lastly, to remind us to notice what's beautiful and real about our time with children right now” (1). Indeed, Hathor is quite political, promoting breastfeeding and attachment parenting often dealing with issues such as home-birth, nursing in public, and the benefits of breastfeeding, and pushes the boundaries of exhibitionism. As such, it has been widely criticized, causing a considerable amount of controversy due to the view that Hathor is a militant “lactivist.” The zine has been criticized as being feminist propaganda.
Hathor is suited to both public and academic libraries, and may prove to be a useful resource in feminist, gender, motherhood, and women's studies collections.
Hathor the Cow Goddess was created in 1999, when author Heather Cushman-Dowdee was in graduate school at the University of South Florida. As a new mom and student, she began painting and sculpting breastfeeding women, as well as doing performance art under the name the “Goddess of Moo.” After graduating, and having her second child, she began cartooning. From that, in 2001, Hathor the Cow Goddess zine was born. Hathor ended in 2008. Cushman-Dowdee’s newest project is a comic website Mama Is Comic. Hathor the Cow Goddess is available in half-sized zine format, as well as on Cushman-Dowdee’s website, and collected in three anthology books The Birth of Hathor, The Milk of Hathor, and Sling and Other Do-It-Yourself Things.
Hathor the Cow Goddess is drawn in black and white, and often employs grey backgrounds. It is drawn with crisp lines, though the overall style is cartoonish. The main character, Hathor, appears to be a half-woman half-cow with a cow face with a non-functioning breast on the top of her head.
In “Hathor the Cow Goddess: Maternal Superhero," Jennifer Murphy describes Hathor as a maternal super-hero and a Goddess. Murphy explains that, “Hathor's threefold mission is revealed in the cartoons: to give practical and empathetic advice about attachment parenting; to stand up to anti-breastfeeding propaganda put out by culprits like Real Simple magazine, the town of Chandler Arizona, Fisher Price Toys, and the American Association of Paediatrics; and lastly, to remind us to notice what's beautiful and real about our time with children right now” (1). Indeed, Hathor is quite political, promoting breastfeeding and attachment parenting often dealing with issues such as home-birth, nursing in public, and the benefits of breastfeeding, and pushes the boundaries of exhibitionism. As such, it has been widely criticized, causing a considerable amount of controversy due to the view that Hathor is a militant “lactivist.” The zine has been criticized as being feminist propaganda.
Hathor is suited to both public and academic libraries, and may prove to be a useful resource in feminist, gender, motherhood, and women's studies collections.