Judge — October 12, 1912 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page presents three satirical cartoons about women's political participation, likely from the early 20th century when women's suffrage was debated. The top cartoon, "The Pleasing Duty of Voting," depicts women in fashionable dress approaching a ballot box—celebrating women's voting rights as desirable and empowering. The middle panel, "The Parade to the Polls," shows elegantly dressed figures marching together in a procession, suggesting organized women's suffrage movements. The bottom cartoon, "Woman in the Campaign," contains the key joke: a man asks another if a woman loves a certain man, to which the response is "she even takes his advice about voting!" The satire mocks the idea that a woman taking a man's political advice demonstrates devotion—treating women's political autonomy as absurdly subservient. The cartoon ridicules both women's dependence on male guidance and the notion that this constitutes romantic devotion.