About The Artist: María José Jara de Marco

María José Jara de Marco is a Paraguayan cartoonist currently known for her work as the creator of the comic strip, Anita Dice. Anita is a young woman who makes critical observations about her life and context in a manner some might compare to Quino's Argentine Mafalda.

Anita stands out as the notably female, critical viewpoint of a markedly different, younger generation, bringing everything about her world into question. The 35-year-long dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, (1954-1989), rewarded conformity and discouraged critical thought. As in the case of Mafalda, perhaps it is easier for a post-dictatorial society to accept—or at least feel less threatened by—certain kinds of critiques when they are delivered playfully by a young woman in a single panel comic. Many of Anita's observations have to do with simply feeling different or seeing things differently—a feeling expressed by panels that show love of a black sheep, or innocently celebrate being single while everyone else seems to be in a relationship.

Relationships and gender politics are a major concern for Anita as her generation re-conceptualizes what their relationships should look like in comparison with their parents.' Anita reveals a backlash against the traditional pressure to couple, marry and perform her gender role according to certain norms. For example, when asked if she is single she responds happily "Soy freelance." She calls out a pushy come-on—the sort Paraguayan women are all too familiar with—by responding "¿¡Me vas a decir histérica porque vos no entendés que no es no!?" Anita often responds to gendered double standards. For example, she protests having to clear the table, unlike the young man at the table; she resists the request that she "sit like a lady"; and she protests the pressures of female pubic hair maintenance.

As the classic second-wave feminist slogan goes, "the personal is political," and Anita's critiques definitely transverse personal and political realms. Her political commentaries are at times very direct, with questions such as "¿Los cargos políticos vienen sin cargo de conciencia?" and comments such as "Dime con quién andas y te diré de qué partido político eres." In this regard, Anita Dice is quite transgressive; Anita's words represent a young female character and a young female artist, breaking with a long history of singularly male Paraguayan cartoonists.

In a personal interview, Jara de Marco claims that she "doesn't know how to draw" and just started drawing Anita for fun, uploading the panels to her personal Faceboook page once in a while. Friends became fans and encouraged her to do more with Anita. Today Anita has her own social media accounts and Anita Dice is also published in one of the most widely-read Paraguayan newspapers, ABC Color.