Life — June 21, 1888 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation for Modern Readers This satirical illustration depicts women entering a university building labeled "Department of Learning," addressing early 20th-century debates over women's higher education access. The cartoon's caption states "Nothing he can take a degree" (likely "Nothing [like?] he can take a degree"), suggesting ironic commentary on women pursuing university degrees—a contentious social issue when women's educational rights were limited or newly won. The well-dressed women are shown confidently entering an arched doorway, while the drawing style emphasizes their fashionable appearance. The satire appears to mock either women's ambitions for higher education or society's resistance to it, though the exact target of ridicule—whether pro- or anti-women's education—remains somewhat ambiguous from the image alone.