Judge — April 22, 1916 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page features social satire about gender dynamics and fashion, centered on the "skirt" — likely referring to the increasingly shorter women's hemlines of the 1920s era (the "flapper" period). The main illustration depicts a woman in modern dress at an exclusive country club, surrounded by disapproving onlookers and a grand building. The satirical poems mock both the new fashion and male reactions to it: - "Man and the Skirt" humorously catalogs how men complain about women's clothing choices — the skirt's shape, how it moves, its brevity — yet contradictorily desire to see it. - The other verses ("Gratitude?" "Backward, Turn Backward") appear to satirize men's nostalgia for "proper" old-fashioned dress while simultaneously being fascinated by modern women's appearance. The satire targets masculine hypocrisy: men simultaneously criticizing women for immodesty while being unable to look away. It reflects early-20th-century anxieties about changing gender norms and women's increasing social freedom.