Judge, 1895-11-23 · page 16 of 16
Judge — November 23, 1895 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical cartoon mocks women's collegiate athletics at Vassar College by depicting their football game as descending into chaos and cattiness—playing on period stereotypes about women being unsuited for serious sports. The jokes center on female player incompetence and vanity: one woman delays the game fixing her hair; another releases a rat to disrupt play; players squabble over fouls and blame-shifting rather than focusing on the game; one breaks her engagement over a perceived slight during play. The satire's point: women athletes are too emotionally volatile, vain, and distracted by social drama to handle competitive sports seriously. This reflects late-19th/early-20th century anxieties about women's education and athletic participation, treated here as inherently ridiculous rather than legitimate.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The game would be kept waiting while, Kitty Masham put up her bair, It was.a mean trick they played on Vassar when the centre-rusher let goa rat and broke Vassar's wedge. Gitl’shoutd have the ball and make a rush she would carry everything before ber. You are mo centri, ‘ou kicked me when I wasn't looking, while playi t half.” WHEN VASSAR .PLAYS FOOT-BALL. "sno use. I can’t play ia entre:rush on the other our engagement off, me. comicbooks.com