Life — January 18, 1894 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine, January 18, 1894 This page features a satirical cartoon titled "Why Not?" The text references Mrs. Lemuel Scrapggs, identified as "President of the Scrapgsville Woman's Suffrage League." The accompanying caption humorously advises that when asking for "that divided skirt," one should "just pray to God" for courage—suggesting the divided skirt (an early form of women's trousers or bloomers) was considered shockingly radical and required divine intervention. The joke targets the women's suffrage movement by mocking both the divided skirt as scandalous attire and women activists' moral earnestness. The dark photograph below remains unclear but likely illustrates the controversial garment or a suffragist gathering. This reflects 1894 attitudes that equated women's political rights with challenges to social propriety and feminine dress codes.