The Wasp — 1894 — page 210: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes a type of man popular in contemporary literature—specifically the "willowy" or effeminate dandy. The dialogue reveals the joke: Mary notes that one of the "willboys we've read so much about in the papers" has arrived, appearing weak and slender-legged. Her companion responds that while these men are indeed thin-legged, "they have nothing to support but the hat." The humor targets fashionable but insubstantial masculinity—men whose primary concern is their appearance (particularly headwear) rather than substance or character. The exaggerated hat and skeletal proportions emphasize this critique of vanity and superficiality masquerading as refinement. This reflects late-Victorian anxieties about changing masculine ideals.