The Wasp — December 6, 1879 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# The Illustrated Wasp, Page 315 The main illustration shows a woman writing at a desk, titled "My Dear Grandmother." The accompanying letter-to-the-editor satirizes women's education and employment barriers of the era. The piece mocks the impractical arguments used to exclude women from professions. A female correspondent explains she cannot become a teacher because she's unmarried and poor—yet respectable women were expected to be financially dependent. The text ridicules how society simultaneously demands women be educated, self-sufficient, and modest, while denying them the means to achieve these goals. The satire highlights the catch-22 facing women seeking professional work: they need money to qualify, but cannot earn it without already being qualified. This critiques the hypocrisy of Victorian-era gender restrictions on women's economic independence and career advancement.