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J'aime les filles
Diane Obomsawin (Obom) a un talent de conteuse tout à fait remarquable : son dessin, sa perspective sur les choses de la vie, donnent à ses récits une tendresse, une poésie uniques. Elle a demandé à ses amies, qui comme elle, aiment les filles, quel a été le moment de l’étincelle. On retrouve ici dix récits de dix amies. L’histoire toujours différente du premier amour, du premier baiser, de ce premier moment où elles se sont rendues compte, le cœur battant, qu’elles aimaient les filles. L’art de Obom fait que tout le monde s’y retrouve, peu importe l’orientation sexuelle. Elle parle de cette peur du rejet, de cette passion, de cette confusion des sentiments, que chacun connaît. Le titre, bien sûr, est un clin d’œil à la célèbre chanson de Jacques Dutronc.
92 pages, Paperback
First published February 18, 2014
2 people are currently reading
1420 people want to read
About the author
Diane Obomsawin
8 books24 followersBorn in Montreal in 1959, Diane Obomsawin spent the first twenty years of her life in France. After studying graphic design, she returned to Canada in 1983 and turned her attention to painting, comics, and animation. Here and There, her autobiographical film, garnered numerous prestigious distinctions. She has published a number of comics in French and one previous book with Drawn & Quarterly, Kaspar (2009).
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Diane Obomsawin (aussi connue sous le pseudonyme d’Obom) est une cinéaste d’animation, illustratrice et auteure de bande dessinée québécoise.
D’origine abénaquise, Diane Obomsawin est née à Montréal en 1959. Elle passe ensuite vingt ans en France, où elle entreprend une carrière de graphiste. De retour au Québec en 1983, elle s’oriente vers l’illustration, la bande dessinée et la peinture, et étudie le cinéma d’animation à l’Université Concordia.
Elle est de la première vague de la bande dessinée underground au Québec, se retrouvant au sommaire du fanzine Iceberg, dans lequel elle signe sous le pseudonyme de Ringo la balafre et publie Les aventures de Rosebif. On remarque par la suite sa longue participation au magazine d’humour et de bande dessinée Croc, ainsi qu’à l’éphémère magazine Anormal.
À partir de 1997, sa carrière en bande dessinée est liée à l’éditeur de poésie L'Oie de Cravan, où elle publie notamment des récits de rêves (Plus tard, Pink mimi drink). En 2007 paraît Kaspar, une biographie de Kaspar Hauser, le célèbre « orphelin de l’Europe », dont le triste destin a aussi inspiré Paul Verlaine, Werner Herzog et Françoise Dolto. Cet album, qui demeure son plus connu à ce jour, a été traduit en anglais par l’éditeur Drawn & Quarterly.
En 2011, le microéditeur Colosse fait paraître un fac-similé d’À chier, un détournement parodique à tendance situationniste et oubapiste de la bande dessinée Archie de Dan DeCarlo.
Depuis 1992, elle se distingue également par une production de courts-métrages d’animation, réalisés à partir de 2000 pour le compte de l’Office national du film du Canada. Certains ont été primés, notamment Ici par ici, récit autobiographique sur son enfance déracinée. Ses œuvres ont été présentées dans de nombreux festivals d’animation au Canada et à l’étranger. En 2008, le Festival international du film sur l’art de Montréal (FIFA) présente sa première rétrospective. En 2012 sort Kaspar, une adaptation de sa bande dessinée homonyme.
//
Diane Obomsawin (aussi connue sous le pseudonyme d’Obom) est une cinéaste d’animation, illustratrice et auteure de bande dessinée québécoise.
D’origine abénaquise, Diane Obomsawin est née à Montréal en 1959. Elle passe ensuite vingt ans en France, où elle entreprend une carrière de graphiste. De retour au Québec en 1983, elle s’oriente vers l’illustration, la bande dessinée et la peinture, et étudie le cinéma d’animation à l’Université Concordia.
Elle est de la première vague de la bande dessinée underground au Québec, se retrouvant au sommaire du fanzine Iceberg, dans lequel elle signe sous le pseudonyme de Ringo la balafre et publie Les aventures de Rosebif. On remarque par la suite sa longue participation au magazine d’humour et de bande dessinée Croc, ainsi qu’à l’éphémère magazine Anormal.
À partir de 1997, sa carrière en bande dessinée est liée à l’éditeur de poésie L'Oie de Cravan, où elle publie notamment des récits de rêves (Plus tard, Pink mimi drink). En 2007 paraît Kaspar, une biographie de Kaspar Hauser, le célèbre « orphelin de l’Europe », dont le triste destin a aussi inspiré Paul Verlaine, Werner Herzog et Françoise Dolto. Cet album, qui demeure son plus connu à ce jour, a été traduit en anglais par l’éditeur Drawn & Quarterly.
En 2011, le microéditeur Colosse fait paraître un fac-similé d’À chier, un détournement parodique à tendance situationniste et oubapiste de la bande dessinée Archie de Dan DeCarlo.
Depuis 1992, elle se distingue également par une production de courts-métrages d’animation, réalisés à partir de 2000 pour le compte de l’Office national du film du Canada. Certains ont été primés, notamment Ici par ici, récit autobiographique sur son enfance déracinée. Ses œuvres ont été présentées dans de nombreux festivals d’animation au Canada et à l’étranger. En 2008, le Festival international du film sur l’art de Montréal (FIFA) présente sa première rétrospective. En 2012 sort Kaspar, une adaptation de sa bande dessinée homonyme.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
December 22, 2017
Coming out/coming of age stories, adapted for comics by Diane Obomsawin. Sweet, funny, fun, it reminded me of my experience in my late teens of reading Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. I had been raised in a kind of sheltered environment and--though I was in theater and there were certainly several gay men around--I hadn't had any experience talking to anyone about gay love or sex. I, a shy straight? (okay, cis-gendered!) young man, thought: This young love between these two girls is so sweet, just like between a guy and a girl! I really did think that, reading it, and you would say: What a dope! He's so naive! But it's true, this is what I thought, and that one reading experience stayed with me.
This book is less romantic or sexual (though it is both of those things in places), and more just sweet. Part of the reason this might feel more inclusive is that it features anthropomorphic animals for characters, with simple linework. There's a kind of warmth to it. The stories and the book are quite short, but still pretty satisfying. I liked them quite a bit!
I read this book because of a Goodreads review by my friend Dov Heller that also imbeds this other review by Marinaomi:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/k...
This book is less romantic or sexual (though it is both of those things in places), and more just sweet. Part of the reason this might feel more inclusive is that it features anthropomorphic animals for characters, with simple linework. There's a kind of warmth to it. The stories and the book are quite short, but still pretty satisfying. I liked them quite a bit!
I read this book because of a Goodreads review by my friend Dov Heller that also imbeds this other review by Marinaomi:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/k...
April 20, 2014
On Loving Women is a collection of short comics about Diane Obomsawin’s friends describing how and when they discovered they were lesbians and what the experience was like for them. Obomsawin’s style is very matter-of-fact, presenting the stories very simply both narratively and visually often in a black and white six panel grid with characters drawn with animal heads (perhaps to symbolise their different backgrounds but also could be just whimsy on the author’s part).
Because of this presentation style, there’s no judgement on the many ways that lead the women to being comfortable with their sexuality. The stories show some women realising very early on that they’re gay and embracing it fully, while others go into denial and try to be like other girls and be with boys, though nearly all experiment with identity, swapping out girly clothes for boyish ones, choosing more masculine activities over feminine, even trying different kinds of drugs and lifestyles.
The overall effect is a short book that reveals the complications of figuring out your sexual identity in a society geared toward the traditional male/female dichotomy. The lack of a strong authorial voice kept me from fully engaging with the book and the stories are more-or-less similar after a while, but I can appreciate the positives in having comics like this out there for young girls coming of age and looking for reassurance that they’re not the first lesbians to go through a confusing adolescence.
It’s a fine comic if you like LGBT books but if you’re not into that genre I’d recommend Obomsawin’s first comic, Kaspar, for a better read. It also explores identity using the real life case of Kaspar Hauser, the mysterious story of a 19th century German lad who claimed to have grown up in a totally isolated cell alone and was bizarrely assassinated aged 21.
Because of this presentation style, there’s no judgement on the many ways that lead the women to being comfortable with their sexuality. The stories show some women realising very early on that they’re gay and embracing it fully, while others go into denial and try to be like other girls and be with boys, though nearly all experiment with identity, swapping out girly clothes for boyish ones, choosing more masculine activities over feminine, even trying different kinds of drugs and lifestyles.
The overall effect is a short book that reveals the complications of figuring out your sexual identity in a society geared toward the traditional male/female dichotomy. The lack of a strong authorial voice kept me from fully engaging with the book and the stories are more-or-less similar after a while, but I can appreciate the positives in having comics like this out there for young girls coming of age and looking for reassurance that they’re not the first lesbians to go through a confusing adolescence.
It’s a fine comic if you like LGBT books but if you’re not into that genre I’d recommend Obomsawin’s first comic, Kaspar, for a better read. It also explores identity using the real life case of Kaspar Hauser, the mysterious story of a 19th century German lad who claimed to have grown up in a totally isolated cell alone and was bizarrely assassinated aged 21.
February 26, 2019
On Loving Women is a graphic novel chronicling sapphic women's coming of age stories. Through each comic, we see a different story about the realisation they were queer and the first women they fell in love with.
There's little to fault about this graphic novel; it was short and fun to read. The only negative thing that stood out to me was the sexual relationship between a 15-year-old and a 26-year-old.
However, the comics were all funny and insightful. I loved how creative the art was in regards to the way these women were drawn and the various stylistic choices made. The writing was simplistic and felt like someone was directly having a conversation with the audience, which made it easy to read.
I'd recommend if you're interested in hearing some coming of age stories from queer women throughout the ages in the form of a graphic novel. It's a book you can easily fly through in a few hours and it's a joy to read.
There's little to fault about this graphic novel; it was short and fun to read. The only negative thing that stood out to me was the sexual relationship between a 15-year-old and a 26-year-old.
However, the comics were all funny and insightful. I loved how creative the art was in regards to the way these women were drawn and the various stylistic choices made. The writing was simplistic and felt like someone was directly having a conversation with the audience, which made it easy to read.
I'd recommend if you're interested in hearing some coming of age stories from queer women throughout the ages in the form of a graphic novel. It's a book you can easily fly through in a few hours and it's a joy to read.
November 7, 2017
A slim volume of oral histories about 'coming out of the closet' and queer coming of age. Each person's story is adapted to comic form and illustrated with humans represented as various other animals. See MariNaomi's review for more about that.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/k...#!
Some GR reviewers are frustrated with the brevity of the book as well as the individual stories. I enjoyed the quirky and often funny short stories. I would have happily read more, but found the book charming as is.
Most of the scenes take place in Canada (though a bit of traveling here and there) Scenes happen in schools, homes, bars, playgrounds, movie theaters, trains, airplanes, gyms, outside on mopeds, in cars, in bar bathrooms.
the opening story has one of my favorite lines. "My first girlfriend was half horse, half wonder woman." Each story is delightful and moving in its own way and I appreciate the overall tone of wonder and curiosity and joy.
Wonderful to be introduced to so many voices. there is a humor and lightness that is a nice counterbalance to the heartache of so many coming out stories.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/k...#!
Some GR reviewers are frustrated with the brevity of the book as well as the individual stories. I enjoyed the quirky and often funny short stories. I would have happily read more, but found the book charming as is.
Most of the scenes take place in Canada (though a bit of traveling here and there) Scenes happen in schools, homes, bars, playgrounds, movie theaters, trains, airplanes, gyms, outside on mopeds, in cars, in bar bathrooms.
the opening story has one of my favorite lines. "My first girlfriend was half horse, half wonder woman." Each story is delightful and moving in its own way and I appreciate the overall tone of wonder and curiosity and joy.
Wonderful to be introduced to so many voices. there is a humor and lightness that is a nice counterbalance to the heartache of so many coming out stories.
February 26, 2014
On Loving Women by Québécois animator, graphic artist, and painter Diane Obomsawin is another really awesome book that I’m not sure I would have heard about if it hadn’t been sent to me to review! So I am super happy to be able to share it with you all. On Loving Women is a pretty quick read, and seemingly simple. It’s a collection of comics about coming-out—specifically, Obomsawin’s friends and lovers. It’s originally in French, and was translated by Helge Dascher. While this book is simple, I’d like to unpack this simplicity a little bit and see what we can come up with.
The stories are brief, and at first, I was finding it a bit hard to differentiate between stories—the linguistic style changes a bit, but the graphic one doesn’t. Maybe it’s because I read it so fast—because it’s graphic, and pictures are so much faster to digest than words. But I also think that plain and simple I read it quickly because it’s really good and I didn’t want to put it down! I’m also just not as attuned to visual art, so there may have been differences I just wasn’t picking up on. In the end, though, it was kind of clever that the stories bled together, as a group of friends’ coming-out stories tend to do over the years of telling and re-telling them....
See the rest of my review on my website: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wor...
The stories are brief, and at first, I was finding it a bit hard to differentiate between stories—the linguistic style changes a bit, but the graphic one doesn’t. Maybe it’s because I read it so fast—because it’s graphic, and pictures are so much faster to digest than words. But I also think that plain and simple I read it quickly because it’s really good and I didn’t want to put it down! I’m also just not as attuned to visual art, so there may have been differences I just wasn’t picking up on. In the end, though, it was kind of clever that the stories bled together, as a group of friends’ coming-out stories tend to do over the years of telling and re-telling them....
See the rest of my review on my website: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wor...
August 29, 2020
cute little collection of stories from women about their first romantic and sex experiences with other women.
June 11, 2025
BD de type docu-fiction qui présente dix brefs portraits des premiers émois amoureux entre filles. Je suis moi-même lesbienne, et si je ne me suis pas reconnue dans un portrait en particulier, j'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à découvrir la plume d'Obom, qui m'a fait éclater de rire à quelques reprises. Les histoires sont très courtes (et se répètent parfois un peu), alors il ne faut pas s'attacher aux personnages -- je me suis fait avoir au moins deux fois, misère! En résumé, J'aime les filles est une oeuvre aussi comique que pertinente, qui rend visible des expériences encore trop souvent passées sous silence - quand elles ne sont pas démonisées, androcentrées ou plaquées par le queerbaiting. À découvrir, surtout en ce mois de la fierté LGBTQ+.
May 1, 2018
Nothing special. Didn't like the artwork at all. Just a collection of short stories of different Canadian women-loving-women. Underwhelming, but didn't take too much of my time up.
January 28, 2024
First French book of the year! And its stories of local lesbians who came out decades ago right here, which is always such a soft spot for me ❤️❤️❤️❤️
May 14, 2017
On Loving Women is a comic (in both senses) collection of queer lady stories, compiled and illustrated by Diane Obomsawin. Her style is really fun and simple, but so charming and fitting to the subject. These stories are full of funny and awkward adolescent angst, but not in an overwrought YA lit way. All the women came of age in the 60s through maybe the 80s, so more than a few of the stories are really touching because of how much things have changed since then. As a collection, it's really strong. Mostly they're about the electricity of first physical contact and how hard you want someone to notice you and weird formative experiences and missteps along the way to wherever you're going.
Like Fun Home or My Dirty Dumb Eyes, I would not recommend reading this on transit.
This also satisfies task 5 of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge! A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ!
Like Fun Home or My Dirty Dumb Eyes, I would not recommend reading this on transit.
This also satisfies task 5 of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge! A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ!
August 23, 2015
2 stars feels low, but it means "it was ok", which it was. The book consists of several stories of women discovering that they like doing it with women, and that's a pretty promising premise. Unfortunately, the stories are short and their plots are jumbled, meaning we never really get to know any of the characters very well. And the simplified art fails to add any distinguishing characteristics to any of the characters - they end up feeling very 2-dimensional. Really wanted to like this, but left feeling pretty disappointed.
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March 13, 2014I did a graphic/comic review of this book for LA Review of Books. You can see it here: http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/kin...
February 28, 2024
Ein schnell gelesenes Buch, das sich mit der Liebe unter homosexuellen Frauen auseinandersetzt. Manchmal weiß man nicht so recht, was die Autorin mit manchen Geschichten bezwecken möchte.
Man bekommt aber einen schnellen Überblick, was diese Frauen so beschäftigt hat.
Buch ist ganz Sweet gestaltet, wird mir aber nicht so lange im Kopf bleiben.
Man bekommt aber einen schnellen Überblick, was diese Frauen so beschäftigt hat.
Buch ist ganz Sweet gestaltet, wird mir aber nicht so lange im Kopf bleiben.
January 4, 2025
3,5 ⭐️
Sweet, mais je ne pense pas m’en rappeler très longtemps. Ça m’a fait sourire!
Sweet, mais je ne pense pas m’en rappeler très longtemps. Ça m’a fait sourire!
December 6, 2020
Cute and interesting, very episodic or even fragmented – story bubbles that burst quite soon. And some moments made me laugh out loud.
January 16, 2020
i liked it, and also felt disturbed about the story of a 15 years old getting seduced by a 26 year old (who lives with her girlfriend!). I guess that kind of thing happens all the time, and if it's a positive experience for the 15 year old i guess it's fine?
Also the story where the girl's first kiss is her brothers girlfriend, and then she just goes to live with the brother's girlfriend for 8 or 9 months!? as a teenager. What does the brother think, he's just fine? And then the part where they're dipping ice cream cones in pepsi!! that blew my mind! is that commonly done??
but some of the details, like the girl trying to impress someone she liked at age 4 by standing under a basketball hoop trying to throw the ball backwards up through the hoop, really resonated with my own experiences as a ridiculous, overly imaginative child.
Also the story where the girl's first kiss is her brothers girlfriend, and then she just goes to live with the brother's girlfriend for 8 or 9 months!? as a teenager. What does the brother think, he's just fine? And then the part where they're dipping ice cream cones in pepsi!! that blew my mind! is that commonly done??
but some of the details, like the girl trying to impress someone she liked at age 4 by standing under a basketball hoop trying to throw the ball backwards up through the hoop, really resonated with my own experiences as a ridiculous, overly imaginative child.
September 24, 2022
A lovely little collection of women sharing their stories of loving women.
The art style is very unique, and I think the simplistic, anthropomorphic designs work well for the stories being told. The stories are not ground breaking or world shaking, and the style matches that tone well.
Despite them being simple, there was a revelation in each of the women's stories, and there was joy, too. I only wish the stories lasted just a bit longer.
A lovely collection, and I hope to find more like it.
The art style is very unique, and I think the simplistic, anthropomorphic designs work well for the stories being told. The stories are not ground breaking or world shaking, and the style matches that tone well.
Despite them being simple, there was a revelation in each of the women's stories, and there was joy, too. I only wish the stories lasted just a bit longer.
A lovely collection, and I hope to find more like it.
October 21, 2024
I found this book while looking up Geneviève Castrée's works. Apparently Obomsawin has another book about the mysterious Kasper/Gaspard Hauser, which is a long-time interest of mine. This book is okay. Not great. Why she depicts her characters with animal heads is never completely clear. Makes it all have a bit of a furry vibe, which is okay, whatever, if that's what you like. I don't think that was the intention. It is all kind of surface level which has the advantage, if anything, of making it more relatable in a way.
September 9, 2018
Read it immediately. These stories are one of the most humanizing portraits of lesbian life out there, helpfully illustrated with the funniest anthropomorphized cute animals you can imagine. It brought me back to high school and college and being awkward and my experience is about as different from that of these women in rural/urban Canada in the 80s/90s as I can imagine.
March 7, 2019
This is super charming. And lewd!! Oo la la.
June 19, 2019
Just alright. You could tell the author was older and the women featured were too which was pretty cool in my opinion. Very short, simple stories about discovering sexuality.
February 5, 2021
Such a good concept. Its cute and fluffy and hot and heartbreaking at the same time. And the book itself is so beautiful!
August 2, 2021
I wish it was longer... It's refreshing to read some light stories about love and lesbians :)
January 2, 2025
Es raro. Deja con gusto a poco, como que las historias pasan muy rápido.
March 25, 2019
A sweet collection of wlw firsts!
May 26, 2020
Very sweet
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November 27, 2022A sweet, funny, sometimes wry anthology of coming-out stories, mostly from queer Canadian and French women who grew up in the fifties and sixties. So, lots of nuns. These are important and interesting voices, and Obomsawin’s adorable drawing style (people are indeterminate animals) makes the stories even more engaging.
October 24, 2015
It took me a while to warm up to this book but by the end* I was cracking up! This book is a collection of 10 stories about first love and sexual identity in women's early lives, as opposed to experiences in established lesbian relationships. Odd drawings and hard to distinguish characters but overall fun AND poignant ("I wanted to be the center of attention...and I wanted nobody to notice me."). I especially liked the classic devil and angel taunting October in her story, and the last page* is a treasure: "It was my first time - that's really cool!" I fell out of bed and said: "Wow! Women Rock!".
Definitely a great book for a varied audience of interested folks.
Definitely a great book for a varied audience of interested folks.
March 18, 2014
So disappointing.
The writing is bland and perfunctory. It didn't get my attention and I often was unable to tell which character was drawn in front of me because the story has no pace and order, women just come and go, sometimes without any explanation of what happened.
I enjoyed 3 stories (Diane's, Charlotte's and Jeanne's), but it was a shame that the author did not provide much more details and emotions. I would like to read more about them.
I would not recommend this book.
The writing is bland and perfunctory. It didn't get my attention and I often was unable to tell which character was drawn in front of me because the story has no pace and order, women just come and go, sometimes without any explanation of what happened.
I enjoyed 3 stories (Diane's, Charlotte's and Jeanne's), but it was a shame that the author did not provide much more details and emotions. I would like to read more about them.
I would not recommend this book.
December 21, 2014
Really interesting and even, at times, touching. Unfortunately it was too disjointed for me to really get in to it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews