Judge — May 11, 1895 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This May 1895 *Judge* cartoon satirizes the "New Woman" movement and debates over free silver currency. The central figure—a rotund man in women's clothing covered with silver dollar symbols—represents the feminization of free-silver advocacy. The kneeling man appears to be a politician or supporter genuinely invested in the cause. The joke conflates two contemporary anxieties: women's changing social roles and the monetary policy debate. The "old style" tariff-reform dress (shown in the inset) represents traditional political positions, while the absurd silver-dollar costume mocks free-silver advocates as ridiculous and oversized. The cartoon's satire suggests that championing free silver—particularly in this feminized, grotesque form—is foolish and will lead to social chaos, or "third-term" electoral turbulence.