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Jamie Loftus does not believe this.
You also have to, you know, actually read the comics.
(And Loftus has read all of them.)
Cathy is a figure defined by figuring stuff out.
(Loftus also co-hosts the weeklyThe Bechdel Castwith Caitlin Durante, exploring the portrayal of women in film.)
But Loftus has enormous empathy for the character, and that makes up the backbone of the podcasts philosophy.
She extends that assessment to Cathys creator too.
As Loftus makes clear, Cathy Guisewite the person is not Cathy the character.
Guisewite didnt even want to name the strip after herself.
(It was her syndicates idea.)
You just want to throw up.
But perspectives like Guisewites take up a lot more space today.
A position of relative privilege doesnt necessarily cancel out the pains you may feel.
Both things can be true at the same time.
A huge part of whats appealing about Loftuss longform audio projects is how personal they seem to her.
She takes that approach whether the subject is Cathy,Lolita,or even Mensa.
In the Mensa series, you could hear her excoriating the groups toxic culture and its very concept.
In that sense, Cathy and Loftus are kindred spirits.
At the end of the day, theyre both just trying to figure stuff out.
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