The Trouble with Women is a graphic novel looking at women’s role in history – or lack thereof. It questions why we only ever learnt about three women at school and whether or not women can be geniuses.

The Trouble with Women is really funny. Thanks to the observational drawings and the sharp wit, it’s a very smart and different take on women in history. There are so many great lines like, “In the Olden Days there were no women which is why you don’t come across them in history lessons at school” and “For a long time there were no black women.” It’s kind of brutally honest as it looks at the terrible attitude men had towards women and their intelligence. It is sad that the stereotypes that if women become too smart and educated they’ll become unattractive to men are still prevalent today in some shape and form.

The Trouble with Women features many women from different fields – many of which I hadn’t heard of before. There’s women like Marie Currie, Annie Oakley and Jane Austin who are obviously very well-known but it also talks about women like Phillis Wheatley, Elisa Grier and Emmy Noether who I had never heard of before. I’ve made a note of all the women featured who I know very little or nothing about so I can read up on them later. All the women featured were scorned or dismissed by men with them often being surprised by the women’s skill or attention to detail.

The Trouble with Women makes you think about women’s role in history and how they were seen by society and how it was very difficult to progress in any field without being judged by men and society as a whole. It’s unfortunate that some still believe women are incapable of making any achievements whether in science or the arts, but there’s still hope. A line that I absolute love and can’t reiterate how important it is, is “Women have been retrieving each other from the Dustbin of History for several thousand years now.” Women in history are being rediscovered by women of today and women helping other women, in whatever way, is a very important thing indeed.

The Trouble with Women is a short original book that looks at history in a different way. I wish it was longer and I’ll definitely be looking into Jacky Fleming’s other comics and writing. 4/5.