One of Australia’s most loved cartoonists has found himself in hot water as Michael Leunig posted a comic about a mother leaving behind her baby as she was too distracted by her phone.
The cartoon shows a woman pushing a pram while looking at her phone while the baby lies on the ground behind her.
There was also a poem that reads:
“Mummy was busy on Instagram
When beautiful bubby fell out of the pram
And lay on the path unseen and alone
Wishing that he was loved like a phone.”
The comic has attracted anger online, with some describing the comic as an example of “male fragility rolled into one”.
Writer Clementine Ford said that Leunig was a “gronk” on Twitter.
“I bet you never spent hours walking babies around in a pram, feeling isolated and alone and terrified. F*** you and your condescending judgement”.
Leunig’s generation’s parents would routinely leave their kids in the car while they went into a pub for a few beers before driving home drunk. pic.twitter.com/gGsP9YVZum
— Toby G(uts and gore) (@Epigrammist) 23 October 2019
Others have come out condemning the poem.
Writer Erin Riley shared her views on Twitter.
“One more thing… I have seen a number of mothers talk about how the Leunig cartoon really upset them as they struggle with young babies. It isn’t harmless. It is hurting vulnerable people, and Fairfax should be ashamed of publishing it.”
Journalist Jane Caro agreed.
“Leunig is down on mums doing anything but stare adoringly at their babies 24/7. I will never forget the awful, judgmental, finger-wag of a cartoon he did about childcare. This is in that category. Mary Leunig (is she a relation?) did an awesome book on the drudgery of motherhood.”
However, others are saying that the only reason the comic has hit a nerve with mothers is that because there’s some truth to it.
“I’ve watched people walk into parking metres, buildings, walk in front of cars etc etc. I’ve had prams jammed into the back of my legs because someone was playing with their phone. So if this #Leunig cartoon offends you, tough, reality & the truth often hurts,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another agreed, saying that the hate was only because it didn’t “fit your narrative”.
“Hating on #Leunig is ridiculous. Just because it doesn’t fit your narrative why band together with hateful twitter comments? Bullying mob of hypocrites. Bigger fish to fry,” they wrote.
Photo credit: Twitter
