Judge — February 3, 1923 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This illustration depicts a domestic scene with two women in ornate, patterned clothing seated together. The dialogue reveals social commentary about gender relations and etiquette. Clara requests to borrow Bess's beaded belt. Bess agrees but questions why Clara bothers with "all this formality of asking permission," saying she "can't find it." The satire targets upper-class conventions of politeness and propriety among women. Bess's response ironically highlights the absurdity: she grants permission for something she cannot locate, mocking the ritualistic politeness between society women while suggesting casual indifference underneath. The joke satirizes the performative nature of genteel behavior—the empty formality of asking permission when the requested item is already lost or inaccessible. This reflects Judge magazine's tendency to mock Victorian social conventions and the pretenses of polite society.