Judge, 1927-08-27 · page 16 of 36
Judge — August 27, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the tension between athletic achievement and feminine beauty ideals in early 20th-century America. "Helen" is a tennis champion whose physical prowess is undeniable—she plays with vigor and wins—but the author emphasizes that her athletic success comes at the cost of traditional femininity. The satire targets the contradiction in society's expectations: Helen's muscular development ("calves that have outgrown their calf-hood," "bulging biceps") is necessary for her championship performance, yet these same features violate contemporary beauty standards that prized delicate, "cameo-white" femininity. The piece sarcastically notes her "poker face" during competition and asks whether hands strong enough to hit a tennis ball can remain "pretty enough to pat a powder puff." The reference to "Helen of Troy" underscores the gap between mythic feminine beauty and athletic female bodies. The satire critiques both women athletes (for their unfeminine appearance) and society's impossible standards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE NIDGING te SARE by Mauro Gonzalez NETTING A CHAMPION Here’s a tennis tournament. Our Helen is Tennis Queen swats a ball. The Trojan playing. She wears the sunshade over her sefiorita lolled on hammocks of roses. But in eyes. She runs hither and thither hitting the action—behold! Therein lies the illusion of ball. An onlooker seated at a distance sees her motion, the poetry of movement. It makes our form graceful pictures. Graceful pictures are goddess as bird-like as the gifted Pavlowa. costing toil and perspiration. Physical gyra- Tweet! Tweet! tions have produced a sturdy body. Close in- Watch her hit that ball! What a sock! Vigor- spection reveals calves that have outgrown their ous strokes. Great exertion is destructive to calf-hood. Biceps that bulge show arms that femininity. What about it? She scores her differ from the cameo-white wings of a social points. Her face contorts. How much cold butterfly. Athletic form is not exactly follies | cream does it take to remove the strain from a form. Nothing ravishing to masculine hearts “poker face?” Can the hand that rocks a tennis in the middy blouse and skirt of a tennis player. ball be pretty enough to pat a powder puff? There is no suggestion of Helen of Troy. The (Continued on page 29) comicbooks.com