About Us
A Note From the Author
Once upon a time, a child discovered that abilities can be trumped by an accident of birth – in her case, belonging to the wrong sex.
That child grew into a woman with a burning desire to change the world.
I have never outgrown that desire.
Most of my life has been spent quenching that fire by becoming a multiple award-winning teacher, beloved of my students. I have been blessed with the joy of leaving a beautiful, and satisfying, mark on this planet – to open doors to the future for thousands of amazing young people. I never found a difference between them – every one of them, regardless of race, creed, colour, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever else made them uniquely human, glowed with their joy in life and a desire to better themselves – to do good, to find friendship and success, to build something lasting and positive for themselves, their families, their neighbours, their world. I have discovered the truth of life to be: In our souls, we share so much; our differences are so small.
Now that I am retired, I dream of continuing to build a better world by highlighting the absurdity, the cruelty, the inexplicability of how we think about half the human race, behave towards females, organize women’s lives, and choose to shape our societies on a truly strange platform of outdated and sexist ideas.
I want my cartoons to encourage you to think deeply and critically about what you read, hear, and see … I want you to look at what we have so long taken for granted, to question it, to get riled-up, and also to perhaps smile at the astonishing silliness / senselessness of the things the world has come to accept – nay, expect – of its daughters.
It is a crime against the Heavens, Nature, and Humanity itself, to force that miracle called a human being to waste their life conforming to someone else’s stereotype.
May you share the same convictions and vision; may we stand shoulder-to-shoulder to bestow the gifts of equality, fairness, hope, and warm fellowship upon this wondrous world.
~ Carol
About the Author
Carol A. Edwards
Carol is the creator of Feminine Riles on Instagram. It has over 5,000 followers.
Her cartoons use gorgeous graphics and mind-bending content to go behind the accepted narrative of “being female”. Above all, her work illuminates the key issues facing half of humanity, while raising readers’ eyebrows and skewering convention. Each cartoon, though seemingly small, tells a broader story: Readers say they not only challenge and enlighten, they start conversations.
Carol is also a multiple award-winning professor of finance, with over 25 years of teaching experience. Students and colleagues have praised her materials for their creative approach to delivering complex, difficult concepts in a way which is interesting, concise, accessible, and “awesome!”
Carol recently retired from the graduate program at the globally top-ranked Beedie School. That puts her in a small coterie of women instructing students in advanced finance. Moreover, in the 1980s, she was one of a very few females in the world to work in the testosterone-charged field of portfolio management.
A life-long feminist, Carol has considerable experience with the issues she cartoons about.
About the Illustrators
Nicole Mallinson
Nicole is a graphic designer from Vancouver, BC. She is 30 years old and running her own content creation company while being a mom. When she’s not creating, she loves hockey, snowboarding, travelling and all kinds of adrenaline adventures.
Nicole joined the Feminine Riles team back in 2020 as the graphic artist and has continued on to help as a social media manager.
She loves being part of the fight to empower women and ask the tough questions on why our society works the way it does.
Canva.com
Canva made my cartoons, my Instagram site, and my book a reality … a reality I could not have achieved without them and their incredible software.
In late 2020, Nicole recommended that Carol try creating cartoons in Canva.
Carol was a novice in graphic design. Needless to say, she felt quite intimidated at
the thought of d.i.y. – how would it ever be possible when she could barely draw a straight line?
Which meant discovering such an astonishing treat in Canva. Canva allowed her to take her vision for her cartoons and magically bring them into being. (In many cases, even better than imagined.) And she was able to do it without any specialized expertise or the need to get down a steep learning curve. Yet the results were amazing!
Most importantly, the few times she ran into a problem, customer support always got her a fast solution.
Thank you, Canva, for creating such a wonderful and easy-to-use tool. As well, thank you for allowing us to author a world of online images: Images that are now about to become – the dream gets even better – a book.
Over the months, Canva has come to feel human, as a friend, as a reliable member of our team who was sharing our journey. Thus, it was only appropriate that Canva should be recognized as a co-illustrator.
We love you Canva!
About the Publisher
We wanted a special partner to publish our feminist cartoons. Someone who would share our philosophy of promoting thought. A firm which would be a spiritual match for our ideas. People who shared our thirst for global change.
Being greeted by the following words on the submissions page of Dixi’s website told us we had found our home:
Nietzsche says he seeks fellow harvesters. We, as publishers, see authors and illustrators a companions. We don’t turn our backs just upon publishing a book; we think together, plan together and act together. Much to our delight, it is such authors and illustrators who find us. If you would like to be one of them, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Don’t forget that the longest journeys begin with just a small step. If you are a writer or a freelance illustrator looking for a publisher, we are also looking for you.
Our submission was met with immediate and kind attention. We love working with the people at Dixi, their professionalism and attention to detail.
Most importantly, we are proud to be partnered with a firm which recognizes that regressive beliefs of former centuries are obstructing us from building a sustainable and inclusive world – that like us, Dixi wants to rethink how the world perceives history, encouraging a more attentive reading of the past. Finally, we love that our partner’s mission is “publishing books for a sustainable planet, restorative communities, and creative people and societies living together cheerfully and without hostility.”
Thank you, Dixi, for taking a chance on a debut work. We appreciate your confidence in us and look forward to our shared journey.