June 20, 2015

Cartoons I don't have time to draw: $10 bills with Alexander Hamilton depicted in a lesser position alongside some famous woman.

If I understand this correctly, the new woman-celebrating $10 bill will oust Alexander Hamilton from the front-and-center spot of honor but not from the bill entirely. How's this going to work? It's hard to picture, partly because we don't know which woman will get the front-and-center position.

It troubles me that they're bumping a specific man for a woman to be named later. They just need a woman in this spot. It's insulting to women to decide that a woman belongs on the bill before we know the actual woman who has beaten out the man whose accomplishments and importance we already know. Just the idea of a woman is supposed to be more important. It's so patronizing and propagandistic.

But I'm fascinated by the assurances that Hamilton will remain on the bill, just subordinated somehow — lurking in in the background? — smaller perhaps, in a supportive role. It's hard to picture that, because I don't know who the woman will be. It's unlikely to be a woman from Hamilton's own time — Abigail Adams? — so there's no way to envision the 2 characters together in a realistic historical scene. So I'm seeing only a surrealistic things in my head.

Let me describe the cartoons I don't have the patience to draw. Picture the woman — whoever this could turn out to be — and then Alexander Hamilton somehow worked into the scene.

For example, take this...



... and have it going on in the background behind this....



I'm sure you can think of many more ways to combine old man Hamilton with some prominent lady.

75 comments:

MrCharlie2 said...

Perhaps they will simply bring Alex up to date by dressing him as a woman

Tank said...

This post is a microaggression.

Just sayin.

m stone said...

The Washington Post picks the top women contenders as Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harriet Tubman (misspelled!).

David said...

Aaron Burr on the ten dollar bill! The woman could be Tokyo Rose or Axis Sally.

David said...

I would rather have Frederick Douglass, who had an impressive founding fatherish face. Perhaps he actually identified as a woman?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

On the movie posters, they used to put one co-star's name at the top, but to the right margin, and then the other co-star's name to the left margin but down a notch or two.

Perhaps that's still the convention.

I haven't paid much attention.

David said...

We could also improve diversity by picturing Washington, Jefferson and Jackson, each with one of their slaves.

CWJ said...

Taking the first comment to its logjcal conclusion, why not Alexandra Hamilton as the dredlocked black woman she always knew she was?

I'm still working on how to portray the gay Lincoln.

Jason said...

Ditch Jackson or Grant. Add Jefferson. It's not his fault nobody uses the two dollar bill anymore. Keep Hamilton.

I agree with Althouse: it's absurd to announce that Hamilton is out and the new currency will feature a woman before the woman is even selected. This country is run by unserious people in an unserious administration.

CWJ said...

David,

Agreed. Frederick Douglass would be a great choice if the opportunity ever arose.

joeknows said...

Donna Shalala comes to mind. The lady who actually resurrected Wisconsin Football.

Hagar said...

I understood Jack Lew to say that the Hamilton bills would stay in circulation until they wear out, so that we would have two kinds of $10 bills in circulation.
He did not say that Hamilton's picture would stay alongside the woman's, which would also be very jarring.
Alexander Hamilton and Nancy Pelosi? Oy veh!

Sydney said...

I wish they had chosen one of the other bills to change. Hamilton has the best looking portrait on any of the currency. He's better looking on that $10 bill than he is in the oil paintings of him. And besides, he's responsible for our monetary system. Why mess with him?
And seriously, none of those women have the same significance to our history as the founding fathers. If they want to honor a woman with a currency, create a new bill. $15 bill or $3 bill or some such.

CWJ said...

Waiting for Laslo to suggest a position for Hamilton. On second thought, maybe not.

MathMom said...

Maybe Michelle Obama should be on the bill, giving Hamilton a black eye. She looks like she has probably done it before. Or Hillary! giving him a black eye, because we KNOW she has done it to Bill.

Levi Starks said...

If it's really to be based on historical importance, then I suggest Betty Crocker, or aunt Jemima.

Owen said...

I think the transgendered and transracial aspects need to be emphasized. But they merely point to the deeper truth: each off us can be whatever we want! And, dammit, it's OUR turn! The change to the ten is not about moving toward a specific new iconic figure chosen by this week's grievance lottery. The change is about moving AWAY from anyone at all. So the new bills should just have a shiny place where the bearer can admire his, her, xir or their own features, enhanced by the purchasing power of the paper scrap they hold.

Levi Starks said...

Or maybe Rosie the riveter. (Whom I believe is still alive)

Skeptical Voter said...

I'll go with a relative contemporary of Hamilton. Sally Hemmings--if she was good enough for Thomas Jefferson, she is good enough for a $10 bill--and bonus points for being black.

MathMom said...

Owen - The new Canadian money is a sort of plastic, with a transparent part in the middle. I say we follow Canada's lead, and make a transparent oval which can be held up to a mirror, and the bearer can look at "his, her, xir or their" face(s) through that transparent bit!

Original Mike said...

Any woman will do, minorities can't get IDs ... Nothing says patronizing like a modern day liberal.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

I nominate Mae West.

Hagar said...

Sally Hemings was not all that "black." She was his dead wife's half-sister and looked and acted very much like her. Jefferson's oldest son with her looked and moved so much like Jefferson that he sometimes was mistaken for his father. I suspect that Sally herself was probably a quadroon rather than a mulatto, and possibly could have "passed" for "white" herself. Away from Virginia and claiming to be "Portuguese", f. ex.

tim in vermont said...


"Do you know why I'm pulling you over ma'am?"

"No officer"

"Let me just read back what you just wrote"

It's insulting to women to decide that a woman belongs on the bill before we know the actual woman who has beaten out the man whose accomplishments and importance we already know.

"That was at least two microaggressions right there. You didn't really mean to suggest that Hamilton wasn't solely on the $10 due to white privilege, did you?

And you didn't really mean to cast aspersions on the whole concept behind Affirmative Action, did you?

I don't like writing these tickets ma'am, but I am the one who gets called out at three in the morning to the dark side of some lonely highway on a rainy night to find a car by the road with a young lady in it crying that some professor had questioned the quality of her work and then she remembered that people like you had suggested that it was possible that she didn't actually belong there.

If I were you lady, I would just pay the fine. Don't even let a judge get a whiff of it."



Michael K said...

"And besides, he's responsible for our monetary system. Why mess with him? "

You can't possibly be serious ! Who cares about our "monetary system?" This is about gender and race !

If anyone cared about our monetary system, they might try to cut spending and avoid the coming collapse

Bob Boyd said...

They've picked the Ten because Obama is saving the Twenty, a much more popular bill, for himself.
Of course if Hillary is elected it could jeopardize Obama's place on the Twenty. He's making this move to put a woman on the Ten to help guard the Twenty, because if there's already a woman on a bill....

I suspect a lot of the surprisingly open criticism of Hillary in the media is being pushed behind the scenes by Obama's people. He wants to undermine her. Its more than just a personal animus and visceral revulsion toward Hillary, something for which Obama could hardly be blamed. Obama is worried about being overshadowed by another Firstie, especially since his record as President is so ....well, he's pretty much sucked at it. Obama wants that Twenty. The idea of Hillary's face on his bill haunts him.

Owen said...

Tim in Vermont: thread winner. And your entry is automatically entered in the quarter-finals of the All Time All-Galaxy Greatest Spontaneous Open Mike Riff.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

We will be proud to have Caitlyn Jenner's image from the cover of Vanity Fair on the ten dollar bill. This will be even better once Caitlyn publicly reveals her one remaining secret, she is black.

Bill said...

Alexander Hamilton mansplaining to Eleanor Roosevelt!

Tank said...

Really it should be a black, bisexual, transsexual, lesbian half Asian half Hispanic. No?

Pick one, any one.

Fen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

I'm fascinated by the assurances that Hamilton will remain on the bill, just subordinated somehow — lurking in in the background?

No, my understanding is that they will still print the usual Hamilton $10 bills. They are simply adding another type of $10 bill with a woman on it. Separate but equal or something....

And yes, it is patronizing and condescending. That's where the radical feminists have brought us - we need a woman on our money to reassure women how strong they really are. Else the women will go into another hysterical fit and miss the fainting couch again...

Fritz said...

"We will be proud to have Caitlyn Jenner's image from the cover of Vanity Fair on the ten dollar bill. This will be even better once Caitlyn publicly reveals her one remaining secret, she is black."

Use one of those holographic tricks to have Caitlyn and Rachael Dolezal morph into each other depending on the viewing angle.

campy said...

Use a cartoon of Hamilton on his back with a stiletto-heeled boot stomping on his neck.

Hagar said...

They are going for Hamilton because he was the arch-enemy of Thomas Jefferson and his "Old Republicans." Just spite and revenge 200 years later.

rhhardin said...

It's insulting to women to decide that a woman belongs on the bill before we know the actual woman who has beaten out the man whose accomplishments and importance we already know.

Everything is insulting to women if you present them as occupying the same social space as men.

Their femininity is elsewhere. As a woman, anything else is insulting.

rhhardin said...

A woman writing a poison pen letter to Hamilton would be good, and Hamilton in frame two reading it.

Get the women's point of view in.

rhhardin said...

Aren't women already on stamps? Stamps are about as obsolete as money, though.

Scott Patton said...

It's not about women. It's not about Hamilton. It's not about the ten dollar bill.
It's about us doing exactly as we're told. Celebrate what we're told to celebrate and be berated by our betters if we don't.

Jason said...

I nominate Mae West.

FLOATING CURRENCY!!!

Jason said...

I reiterate my nomination for Maria Reynolds, portrayed alongside Alexander Hamilton. "Together at Last."

rhhardin said...

Jean-Léon Gérôme Duel after the Masquerade.

Sebastian said...

"It's insulting to women to decide that a woman belongs on the bill before we know the actual woman who has beaten out the man whose accomplishments and importance we already know. Just the idea of a woman is supposed to be more important. It's so patronizing and propagandistic."

Faux indignation, right?

"before we know the actual woman": makes no difference, since there is no "actual woman" who "beats out" the currently featured man's accomplishments, as measured by importance to the nation.

"Just the idea of a woman": brought to you by feminism 2.0.

"It's so patronizing": Prog political PUA M.O.



Hagar said...

How about getting rid of all those old dead geezers?

We could replace them with Obama on the $1, Biden on the $2, Harry Reid on the $5, Bernanke on the $10, Pelosi on the $20, Billy Jeff, on the 50, and Hillary! on the $100.
What say ypo?

William said...

I suppose it's not sexist if you say it about men. An unusual number of our founding fathers were good looking. People remarked about the impressive appearance of Washington and Jefferson. In today's world they would probably forgo the squalor of politics and instead opt for the glamour and higher pay of underwear modelling. Jackson didn't have the serene good looks of Washington and Jefferson, but his countenance was fierce and impressive. Lincoln wasn't good looking in the conventional sense, but his face expressed humanity and kindness. He was pleasant to look at.......What I'm getting at here is that there seems to be a bias in favor of our better looking or more visually appealing heroes when it comes to choosing currency models. So, sorry, John Adams and Jefferson's mini-me Madison.........Should this same bias be carried over to our first female currency model. Whatever Eleanor Roosvelt's virtues or demerits, she was an eyesore. She would be far and away the homeliest person on our currency if so chosen. Would it be more or less sexist to choose an ugly woman and place her among the handsome men on our currency?.......David's point about Frederick Douglass is well taken. My guess is that he will be the first African American chosen for the currency, and his looks will be part of the reason for that choice.

Amadeus 48 said...

I say we go all in: Oprah on the 1; Eleanor on the 5; Yellin on the 10; Anthony on the 20; Carrie Nation on the 50; Whoopi on the 100 (see what I did there); and Pelosi on the 3.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Hamilton will remain, albeit in a lesser position.

So it's her on top, him on the bottom? Reverse missionary position, or astride?

Hagar said...

Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson on the $10 bill.

Honor where honor is due.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HT said...

William you seem like a deep thinker. "She was an eyesore." Rewind and look at the favorable impression you had of a homely or unattractive male, Lincoln. Also, as a young woman, she wasn't bad, it was just that she lived in the days before orthodontia. Many find or found her face comforting and calm.

My question for Ann is, why would we take any commentary you have about caitlyn seriously when you bait with the awful picture of Sarah Brady (who does not hold nearly the position in people's minds that Eleanor Roosevelt did)?

Hagar said...

How about getting rid of all the controversial people and replacing them with paintings by Mr. Oehlen?

Skipper said...

Kim Kardashian, until cancelled.

dbp said...

I had seen a picture on twitter that had Hamilton, Hugh Hefner-like, with two scantily clad babes. I tried to google it, to show it here but mostly I got images with Eleanor Roosevelt--Mein Gott! She is unpleasant to look at!

Scott said...

"But I'm fascinated by the assurances that Hamilton will remain on the bill, just subordinated somehow..."

Yeah, Harriet Tubman in a teddy wearing a strap-on, mounting Alexander Hamilton and making him squeal like a pig.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Someone suggested a $3 bill and if we are to have one, I second the suggestion someone else made about using Bruce Jenner on it. Or, after he has his dick cut off, Caitlyn Jenner.

Unfortunately he does not currently qualify as the most important qualification is being dead. Perhaps he could die heroically on the operating table.

Getting Bruce/Caitlyn on the $3 bill would serve several purposes. Most importantly it would give meaning to the ancient phrase:

"Phoney as a $3 bill"

Or, if you prefer, "Queer as a $3 bill"

kzookitty said...

If they want a woman and a man on paper money, just put the Obamas on a thousand dollar bill. Print lots of them, they'll be the new $10 once hyperinflation kicks in.

kzookitty

Zach said...

Caravaggio shows the way:

http://caravaggista.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bernardino-Luini-Salome-with-the-Head-of-Saint-John-the-Baptist-not-dated-painting-artwork-print.jpeg

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Seriously though, I don't know what the Demmies have against Hamilton. Seems like he would click all their buttons:

-Illegitimate son of a single mother

-Born to a "presumably" (According to Chernow) black mother. Or Creole to be more precise.

-In favor of strong national government

-In favor of govt control of money

-Against passage of the Bill of Rights (Though I kind of agree with his reasons, I am glad he lost out in the end)

On the other hand, his competition is that genocidal slave master and assassin Andrew Jackson on the $20. Since Jackson is Godfather of the Democrat Party, he is untouchable, no matter how odious.

John Henry

Zach said...

Frankly, it's insulting to nearly anybody to be compared directly to Alexander Hamilton. The man was George Washington's right hand man for many years, including the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention. He wrote a large fraction of the Federalist Papers. He made sure the new country wasn't broke by making sure it paid off its bonds for the Revolution. All of this after being born a bastard in the West Indies.

Short of FDR, every president of the 20th century comes off badly in a face to face comparison with Alexander Hamilton. And frankly, the women candidates that have been put forward are answers to trivia questions, not historical figures.

cold pizza said...

Dolly Madison. Not just because of her cupcakes, either. -CP

cold pizza said...

Famous is not the same as significant. Name a significant, historic American female?

I'd go with Queen Lili'uokalani. While not an American citizen, she was a ruling monarch until a cabal of American businessmen and military officers overthrew her government and turned Hawai'i into an American protectorate. -CP

CarlF said...

Why not just declare Hamilton a woman, redraw him in a corset and be done with it?

Smilin' Jack said...

But I'm fascinated by the assurances that Hamilton will remain on the bill, just subordinated somehow — lurking in in the background? — smaller perhaps, in a supportive role. It's hard to picture that, because I don't know who the woman will be. It's unlikely to be a woman from Hamilton's own time — Abigail Adams?

I'm picturing Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Abigail Adams on "Sleepy Hollow", with Hamilton supporting her the way I'd like to. Could become the most popular bill ever.

Static Ping said...

I really have no problem with changing who is on the currency from time to time. The fact that the faces have not changed in a long time is no real reason to make those choices permanent.

There is no pressing reason to only have one person on each bill either. I think a Lincoln/Douglas bill would be very nice.

And I do not think it is necessary to restrict the people on the money to politicians. Great scientists, composers, writers, etc. have been used on currency in other countries. For that matter US currency has featured "persons" like the Indians on the penny and nickel and the female Liberty.

I think this is a very interesting topic of discussion that could result in some very nice new currency in the United States.

However, I agree with Ace that this announcement has more or less been a "look over there" maneuver. Chinese steal the personal information of everyone in government? Woman on the currency! As has often been the case with this Presidency there are no grown ups in the room.

Alex said...

I recently read Ron Chernow's "Alexander Hamilton" bio. Man, Hamilton was a true giant amongst the Founding Fathers. His contribution to the "startup" called United States of America can't be understated. The idea of demoting him on the $10 in favor of some feminazi ideology is bullshit, but consistent with the leftist agenda of deconstructing America.

Alex said...

Hamilton did:

* was George Washington's aide during the War of Independence
* the first Secretary of the Treasury
* was one of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention
* wrote most of the Federalist Papers
* founded the country's first national bank
* retired the nation's war debts

But let's demote him coz of vag.

The Godfather said...

NO woman can possibly meet the criteria implied by the present currency designs. Almost all of the current faces were Presidents, the only exceptions being Hamilton, Franklin, and Chase ($10,000 bill). We have yet to elect a female President, and even if Carly is elected next year she won't qualify for the money until she dies. Nor has any woman achieved the political stature of Hamilton, Franklin, or Chase.

But this is because women have, until fairly recently, been denied the opportunity for this kind of accomplishment. If we want to have a woman "on the money", we need to change the criteria. But how? Unlike the Brits and their Commonwealth, we don't have a queen to put on our currency, but we have someone almost as good: The Statue of Liberty. She does appear on the million dollar bill, which doesn't really exist. I nominate her.

Jason said...

The Statue of Liberty ist kaput!

Anonymous said...

Of course it's insulting, but come on, the people behind this don't really respect women at all, which is why they assume this kind of pandering will work (and the ballot box results tend to say that it does). Somebody saw the $20 campaign and probably figured it was a good idea, but didn't want to get rid of Jackson. Given the environment, it makes sense to bump off the guy who actually had a plan to pay off the national debt since these clowns will never pay it off, much less come up with a plan to do so.

My best guess for a Hamilton/MYSTERYWOMAN combo bill would be that Hamilton is in some way presented on the back of the bill, since it's the US Treasury. I could also see some sort of dual-portrait front if they pick a woman who belongs in the same time period (Dolly Madison, Betsy Ross, and Martha Washington are my only 3 feasible picks along this line).

As far as who they put on there, the only choices that I think make sense are either Susan B. Anthony or Sacagawea, largely because they already have precedence for being on money and therefore wouldn't be a complete pander.

Anonymous said...

I say we put Kim Kardashian on the $10 bill and be done with it.

We've already destroyed this country. Now we are just riding the wave of hundreds of years of foundation building.

It's like the Zombie Apocalypse happened and we got trapped in a fully stocked Costco. We think we're fine and dandy. We don't realize that every day that goes by, we have one days less supplies.

Mark Caplan said...

I strongly back the portraits of four women on the ten-spot: Jochebed, Mary, Aminah bint Wahb, and Yvonne Jean Hickman, mothers respectively of Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and Christopher Hitchens.

JohnG said...

I believe the image on the new $10 bill should involve Lenticular Printing.

Look at it from one direction and it's Alexander Hamilton. Look at it from the opposite direction and its.....?

Certainly the technology is within our capabilities and using it would solve the issue.

By the way, I believe federal law mandates that any person depicted on paper currency must be deceased.

Mark said...

"By the way, I believe federal law mandates that any person depicted on paper currency must be deceased."

Federal Law hasn't been something this administration has worried too much about for major issues. I don't expect that to be a deterrent on something as seemingly trivial as this.
Sorry if that was a microaggression.

Freeman Hunt said...

All they care about is that it's a woman, not any particular woman, so maybe they'll use the mudflaps girl. Hamilton can be looking in at her from the edge of the bill with his jaw hanging down and eyes popping out, the standard cartoon visage of lust.

This would be in perfect keeping with the respect for women evinced by this project.

RonF said...

"... the man whose accomplishments and importance we already know."

Oh, if only that were true. Here's a proposition for you. Once the woman is selected, we will be inundated with all the wonderful attributes and accomplishments this (doubtless left-leaning) woman has. And none of the stories will say anything about Alexander Hamilton's attributes and accomplishments. Because dead white man.