Judge, 1922-08-12 · page 7 of 36
Judge — August 12, 1922 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Cherchez la Femme" Analysis This 1922 satirical article by John Held Jr. mocks the "New Woman" of the Jazz Age—specifically the trend of bobbed hair and masculine fashion choices. The piece uses evolutionary language to ridicule women adopting short hairstyles, boots, and breeches as departures from traditional femininity. The cartoon pairs four illustrated female figures showing different degrees of "mannishness" with a small black dog, humorously suggesting women are becoming indistinguishable from males. The title, a French phrase meaning "find the woman," ironically suggests the modern woman is now *hidden* rather than visible. The satire criticizes both the fashion trend itself and intellectuals (Darwin, "Evolutionists") for failing to predict or understand women's changing social roles. The author presents this as bewildering sexual confusion rather than legitimate social progress—a common conservative reaction to 1920s feminism and women's increasing independence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ROM time immemorial, Woman's Form Divine has been easily distin- guishable. Not until the modern Samson turned the tables on Delilah and trimmed from her the crowning glory of her hair, did she take on a mannish appearance. Coupled with the bobbed hair of to-day, which seems to have become not only a per- manent wave but a per- manent institution, she has shown a preference for mannish boots and breeches — a-foot, a- “Cherchez la Femme” (Pronounced “Find the Woman’’) by John Held, Jr. horse, on the links, at the beach and other wheres—let the excuse be as fitful as her variable and thoroughly femi- nine whimsicality. The woman of to-day fur- nishes an interesting complex of sexology that seems not to have been forecasted by Dar- win or any of the other Evolu- tionists who devoted so much of their attention determining where we came from, but seem- ing not to care a rap about where we are going to! comicbooks.com