Judge — September 15, 1923 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Bouts for Women" by John Held, Jr. This satirical cartoon mocks the emerging phenomenon of women's boxing in the 1920s-30s. The piece presents exaggerated female boxers—caricatured as overweight, unfashionable "stylish stouts"—participating in what was then considered an exclusively masculine sport. The humor targets both women who boxed and critics who opposed the practice. The caption's ironic framing ("When the severest critics take up the manly sport") suggests the satire cuts both ways: poking fun at women entering boxing while also mocking the hypocrisy of male critics who might secretly participate. The final panel's tongue-in-cheek suggestion that boxing training would make "your daughter safe in any company" plays on contemporary anxieties about women's independence and changing gender roles. The cartoon reflects early 20th-century resistance to women participating in athletic, "unfeminine" activities—presenting female boxers as objects of ridicule rather than serious athletes.