Life — November 6, 1884 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "Reign of Belva" This satirical illustration depicts women in military uniforms and formal dress, apparently mocking women's suffrage or expanded female political participation. The title "Reign of Belva" likely references **Belva Lockwood**, a prominent 19th-century women's rights advocate and presidential candidate (1884, 1888). The cartoon's satire suggests anxiety about female political power—showing women in military garb and positions of authority as absurd or threatening. The multiple panels depict various scenarios of women in traditionally male-dominated roles. The handwritten text appears commentary on this "female majority" scenario. This reflects common anti-suffrage propaganda of the era, which portrayed women's political equality as a comic inversion of the "natural order" rather than legitimate reform.