forsakes marriage for gunfighting. Only a few women thrive in the western, and they, like Gunsmoke's Kitty, must be prepared to hang loose.

The woman as confiner, as castrator, is a type not limited to the western. This type, in truth, dominates the so-called "funny" pages. Biondie, Lois, Mrs. Wizard (of Id), Maggie (jiggs' wife), Mrs. Dithers, Mrs. Halftrack, Mrs. Mitchell, Daisy Duck, Dotty Dripple all delight in restricting their husbands' wanderlust. This limiting function, the comics tell us, must come naturally to women since little girls are its ace practitioners. Nancy is forever chiding Sluggo for his lack of civilization, and Margaret does the same to Dennis the Menace. Lucy, however, goes beyond criticism and indulges herself in the complete humiliation of the woeful Charlie Brown. Fittingly, the only truly tolerant woman in the comics is British: Flo Capp. She not only forbears Andy's indolence and drunkenness but his obvious adulteries as well (can one even imagine Dagwood philandering).

Although the feminist movement is changing the images of men in ads, many advertisements still portray the American male the way he would like to see himself portrayed: not as Dagwood but as Davy Crockett . . . [more]

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