The Wasp — 1896 — page 434: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page critiques women's suffrage advocates through satirical portraiture. The top photograph, captioned "They Cover the Ballot," shows women described as "preaching to their sex the gospel of emancipation" who believe suffrage will sweep away political corruption—a dismissive characterization of suffragists' reform aspirations. Below, "The New Apostle of Theosophy" mocks Countess Constance Wachsmeister, a theosophist lecturer from Australia. The satire targets both her spiritual teachings (particularly on afterlife) and women's appropriation of "male" intellectual authority. The accompanying male portrait, captioned "He Won the Favors of Royalty," appears to be Joseph Blücher, positioning him as legitimately worthy of attention by contrast. The page ridicules both women's political activism and their engagement with alternative spirituality as frivolous distractions.