By Melanie Linn Gutowski

When we at Savvy Auntie heard 'Cathy' creator Cathy Guisewite's announcement that her last comic strip would be published October 3, we reflected on what the title character meant to women everywhere, but especially Aunties.

Though Guisewite was not a PANK (Professional Aunt, No Kids) herself, she created one of the most recognizable of that group in entertainment: Cathy Andrews Hillman.

Cathy's struggles with everything from dealing with her mother to finding a flattering bathing suit reflected the issues facing women in the midst of the feminist movement.

'Cathy' was "there to give voice to that generation of proto-postfeminist young women looking to navigate [a] new society," The New York Times said of the strip.

“A big problem at that time was you had to be in one camp or the other," Guisewite told the Times. "There wasn’t a camp for ambivalence. You were a liberated woman or you were or a traditionalist. To even voice vulnerability if you were a feminist was wrong and to voice interest in liberation if you were a more traditional woman was wrong.

“So I believe the women I was speaking to in the early years of my strip were women like me, who were at that age in our 20s where we were kind of launched into adulthood with a foot in both worlds and no way to really express it.”

Jessica Wakeman, writing for TheFrisky.com, points out the strip's lasting influence.

"...Cathy the character and Cathy Guisewite the cartoonist totally set a precedent in pop culture: the lives of women — especially single career women — were worth exploring."

Wakeman goes on to point out that characters like Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones and the ladies of 'Sex and the City' owe 'Cathy' a debt of gratitude for paving the way for their creators to bring them to life.

Though Cathy herself never professed a feminist attitude, she brought the daily, seemingly-neurotic struggles of the average career woman to the breakfast tables of countless American households. In the process, she raised the profile of childless women and became an easily recognizable member of what unfortunately is still a marginalized group.

Thanks, Cathy, for paving the way for future Savvy Aunties! We will miss you.

Melanie Linn Gutowski, Savvy Auntie's Associate Editor, is a proud Godmother and ABC.

Photo: amuniversal.com
Published: August 17, 2010