The Wasp — 1895 — page 246: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cover depicts "The New Woman"—a figure of late 19th/early 20th-century social anxiety. The main cartoon shows a woman in fashionable but exaggerated clothing (large puffed shoulders, bloused skirt) juggling multiple responsibilities: holding books labeled "codes" (likely legal or professional texts), while a cherub-like figure tugs at her skirt pleadingly. The caption reads: "N.W. (to Cupid)—No more of your fooling, young man, or I'll put you on my knee and spank you." This mocks the "New Woman"—educated, independent females entering professions and rejecting traditional domestic roles. The smaller panel, "Joins the Unemployed," sarcastically suggests that such women threaten male employment. The satire criticizes feminist advancement as emasculating and socially disruptive.