The Wasp — 1894 — page 480: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1894 *Wasp* cartoon satirizes women's suffrage through two male characters' conversation. A well-dressed woman (Miss Dash) enters wearing a coat and hat, carrying a cane, suggesting she's dressed like a man to vote. Mr. Blank responds with mock acceptance, saying he'd permit women voting only if they stop taking men's coats, hats, and wardrobes—implying women are already appropriating masculine dress and identity. The satire works on multiple levels: it ridicules suffrage advocates by suggesting women voting requires abandoning femininity, while simultaneously mocking men's shallow opposition (focused on fashion rather than substantive arguments). The cartoon reflects late-19th-century anxieties about gender roles and the perceived threat women's political participation posed to traditional social hierarchies.