Judge, 1921-02-12 · page 12 of 32
Judge — February 12, 1921 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains two satirical stories mocking 1920s bohemian and gender dynamics. **"The Lady Thug"** satirizes a Greenwich Village intellectual who prides himself on understanding women while being utterly oblivious. The "thug" is a woman who traps him and forces him to listen to her poetry—presented as a form of assault worse than violence. The joke targets both the pretentious male intellectual (who contradicts himself, calling her intelligent then stupid) and the ambitious female poet, suggesting her creative work is literally a weapon/violation. **"From the Masculine Viewpoint"** more directly mocks male vanity. A woman flatters a man's intelligence, appearance, and opinions, then undercuts him by saying he "doesn't understand women"—exposing his self-satisfaction as baseless. The humor relies on period stereotypes: bohemian pretension, the "new woman" as threatening, and mutual incomprehension between sexes. The illustration shows a glamorous woman confronting an apparently important man, reinforcing the role-reversal premise that women possess surprising power.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Lady Thug By Teese Van VALKENBURC RAPPED! In Greenwich Village. And by a woman... that was the galling part of it. He had a san- itary soul, and he loathed Green wich Village. And how intensely he loathed women! ‘They distressed him beyond his power of expression And how particularly distressing were Greenwich Village women Now she had him, alone in hee | little garret,alone with the roofs and } the chimney stacks and the dark i} | and the smell. Well, let her hurry | up and say what she wanted. Let H her hurry back from that black » Wonnsoan Rocens closet where she had hidden herself, | iT ease crassex nna soir weer Et Ma and come to the point. She could Jack—Sex pERvECtLy wer THEM? do no more than make him amor- ! less than murder. From the Masculine Viewpoint But she did more. Infinitely more. He did not know the thing she had concealed in her closet. When at length she fy Geonce B. Juseins, Je. came forth she dragged it with her. He succumbed, without | H E believed that she was a singularly intelligent girl. This a word, to the outrage. belief was strengthened by her next remark, He sat there helpless, while she read him her complete poems 2 “L think you are handsome,” she said, her gaze f contemplative i * : He did not reply. Denial of this statement { would seem false modesty, and admission of the ; ar conceit. Undoubtedly, she fact’ would “was a singularly intelligent girl.” t “While we are on this subject,” she continued, L might mention that [ think you are an ex- ‘i | ceptional man in many respects. You clever, frequently brilliant in your conversation. and you n t You are sound in your artistic opinion: : financial ability.” Again he kept silent. These facts were sup unquestionably hi ported by evidence. ‘Truly, she was a singularly intelligent girl! “Still,” she said calmly. “Still, [don’t think” she paused and he awaited her words. He was sure that her keen perceptions were correct. “I don’t think,” she resumed, “that you under- \ stand women.” 1 “Of course I do!” he announced. The girl i was singularly blind and stupid and lacking in | intelligence She was dull, and utterly without brains. She was absurdly ignorant. Toot Sweet The cow is quite a modest beast, As mild as dewy morn; And though she feeds a million kids She never toots her horn. Slinking Along ‘ou look furtive, Wombat.” “T feel furtive.” “Heh?” Wife sent me to the grocery for a yeast Mark Antony to Slarep—RUN TO THAT BOOTLEGCER-JEWELER AND GET A cake. QUART OF PEARLS, SO THAT CLEOPATRA CAN SHAKE UP A PEW DRINKS. a