The Wasp — 1896 — page 69: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes anxiety about **women's changing roles and independence** in the late 19th or early 20th century. A heavyset woman rides a bicycle—a symbol of female liberation and mobility—while a small boy runs alarmed beside her. The caption's dialogue mocks concerns about "new women" and their supposed moral corruption ("De champion female heavyweight"). The satire targets **male anxiety over feminism**: the boy represents panicked traditionalists frightened by women gaining physical freedom and independence through cycling. The bicycle itself was genuinely controversial—conservatives feared it encouraged immodesty and independence from male supervision. The joke inverts the alarm: the real "cause" is simply a woman exercising autonomy, yet this terrifies the men around her.