Judge — July 17, 1920 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Judge Magazine Cartoon Analysis This illustration by Walter De Maris depicts a domestic scene where a woman accuses her male companion of not listening to her. His response—"My dear Ethel, I'm listening with all my eyes"—is the joke's crux. The humor satirizes men's inattentiveness in relationships. The man, positioned closer to the woman but gazing elsewhere (toward other figures visible through a doorway), claims to be listening intently while his body language contradicts this. His quip about "listening with his eyes" is deliberately absurd, suggesting he's distracted by visual stimulation rather than genuinely attending to her words. This reflects early 20th-century gender commentary typical of Judge magazine: critiquing men's divided attention and dismissive attitudes toward women's conversation as a relatable marital frustration.