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G. Willow Wilson, Motherhood, and the Comics Industry

G. Willow Wilson gets real about motherhood, creativity, and the comics industry on Twitter.

Swapna Krishna

Staff Writer

Swapna is the Comics Editor at Book Riot. She's a Space Columnist for Paste Magazine and writes for Syfy Wire—Fangrrls, Tor.com, Bustle, and other sites. She co-hosts a podcast called Desi Geek Girls. You can find her incessant ramblings on Twitter at @skrishna. She lives outside Philadelphia.

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It was Thursday afternoon, and I hadn’t been paying much attention to Twitter for the day. I gave it a quick glance, shifted my eyes back to my work, and then did double take because I’d seen this tweet:

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984062394044416

Umm, WHAT? G. Willow Wilson was working 48 HOURS after giving birth to a kid?

Now, I don’t have kids, but I know plenty of people who do, and I’ve been around my fair share of new moms. New moms should be getting to know their child, and hell, possibly still in the hospital, not submitting outlines and working (and shaking up the comics industry with their amazing character, but that’s a story for another day.) I went back through Wilson’s tweets, and the picture she painted wasn’t good. Here’s the full story, in response to a question asked to Amanda Palmer:

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636983843803688960

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984062394044416

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984340522532864

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984546051817473

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984655791583232

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984756794605568

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636984965494800384

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636985061397557248

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636985301160693760

https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/636987803444756481

There is so much to talk about in these tweets. I was a freelancer before I started full time here at Panels, so I 100% understand Wilson’s comments on women without paid sick and maternity leave; I never took a sick day. I worked whether I was well or sick because there’s no such thing as sick leave.

But having children isn’t a thing that sucks out your creativity; it brings out new facets of your creativity. It’s such a personal decision, and an important one, and it’s sad that working moms in the comics (or any other art) industry have to face this struggle. Women shouldn’t be punished for having kids, even though that’s the reality we face, regardless of profession. The last thing women need is the reinvigoration of nonsense about kids sucking out your creativity. Let’s stop that right now, and instead maybe we can have a real discussion about inequality.