The Wasp — 1893 — page 422: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon critiques gender norms and public behavior in 1890s San Francisco. It depicts a well-dressed woman driving a horse-drawn carriage through Golden Gate Park on Sunday, holding a fishing rod—an unusual sight for the era. The dialogue mocks a double standard: Mr. Knott (on horseback) expresses shock at seeing ladies driving through the park, calling it "very bad." Miss Walker responds that she finds it "frightful"—but only when she must pay five cents and deal with crowded streetcars to look at them. The satire suggests that wealthy women's leisure activities (fishing, carriage-driving) are socially acceptable, while working-class women's public visibility is deemed improper. It exposes the hypocrisy of "sidewalk ethics"—selective moral judgments based on class.