Judge, 1911-07-01 · page 15 of 24
Judge — July 1, 1911 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Harvey Peake satire mocks the women's suffrage movement by parodying the Declaration of Independence. The piece presents exaggerated feminist demands—voting rights, holding office, staying out late, wearing masculine fashion, and controlling family finances—as absurd grievances against men's "tyranny." The satire ridicules suffragettes specifically: their street parades, window-breaking tactics, and desire for media attention. The accompanying illustrations mock women's independence claims through domestic imagery (a woman at a stove; consumer goods like "Jap Cracker" and "Pop"). The author frames women's rights activism as selfish entitlement rather than legitimate reform. The tone suggests suffragists are ridiculous rebels seeking unreasonable freedoms, not serious political actors. This reflects anti-suffrage sentiment common in early 20th-century satirical publications, treating the movement as comic overreach rather than civil rights advocacy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Present-day Declaration of Independence. By HARVEY PEAKE. INCE in the course of human events it has become necessary for We Women to de- clare an Independ- ence which the de- cline of man and the Advancement of Wo- man makes necessary, a stanch belief in and strict adherence to Our Suffrage Rights moves Us to declare causes which impel Us to this Emancipation. We hold these truths to be self-evi- dent: That Woman is man’s superior; that We are endowed with certain in- alienable Rights; that among these are Voting, Holding Office, staying out nights and using latch keys, dressing in masculine fashion, taking Our rightful places at the Heads of Our families and bossing said families as Heads have the right to do; and that to secure these Rights the Suffragette Movement was started. To prove the present state of Our slavery to the tyrant man, let facts be submitted to a sympathetic world of— Women. man has declared that We should con- fine Our activities within the four walls of Our prison homes, where We are ex- pected to live and die without the blessed privilege of getting into the public eye through Our efforts to assault legislators, break the windows of their abodes, or use such other arguments as would convincing- ly prove Our abil- ity to run things. he has kept those of Us who are Wives, Sis- ters, or Sweet- hearts from par- ticipating in street parades, shouting for Our rights, and having a good time gener- ally, as he does, he has declared immodest and de- nied the wisdom of that larger ac- tivity that is at- tested by the get- ting of Our names in the papers as often as We pos- sibly can, by fair or foul means. he has excited domestic insurrec- tion amongst Us by putting Us up- on an allowance, when We want the un- restrained use of his check book. he has laughed at Our esthetic idea of having ballots of the same tint as the polling Gowns of Our Peerless Candi- dates and the placing of all national and local affairs upon the same Artistic basis. “4 PEW THINGS ABOUT LIBERTY.” he has made and nurtured silly laws, both written and unwritten, that limit Our freedom, both as to Dress and be- havior, and render Us ridiculous in the eyes of the ignorant and unthinking public if We appear upon the street or other public places in Radical Garments, and brand Us as unLady-like if We assert Our rights and privileges in other directions. We, therefore, the Women of the United States, in general meeting assembled, do, in the Name and by the Authority of the shackled and downtrodden Females of this land, solemnly publish and TMCENT TROTTA Storekeeper" GUESS I'VE GOT 'EM ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT!” declare that We are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent Beings; that We are absolved from all allegiance to man and his obnoxious laws, and that all his connection with Us shall be as We see fit to designate. Different. Willie—‘‘Did the doctor make you take nasty medicine when you were sick?"" Freddie— it was father who made me take it.’’ Nort good taste—wormwood. comicbooks.com