The theme of this Puck Magazine cartoon (J. Keppler) from about 1885 is role reversal. It imagines what a "female suffrage" proponent might be desiring. In the center, a woman in a suit, based on male styles, and with a top hat, is picking up a cigar from a box. She has some whiskers, and a bottle of "Beard Grease" stands on a note saying "Whiskers Forced to Grow." Women's clothing is strewn on a chair, including a corset. Under the table one sees a woman's fancy hat and some brushes and two tins labeled "white" (?) and "rouge." The central woman is standing on a book named "Female Deportment" which is on top of a paper or book labeled "Modesty," and a "Cook Book" is tossed to the side along with a dead plant.
Caption for the central image: "Lovely Woman Having Removed her 'Political Disabilities' is Prepared to Vote."
More images within the cartoon, from top right, clockwise:
A man in shirtsleeves sits in front of the stove, holding several children, and another is on the floor in front of him. A cat is drinking spilled milk on the table behind him. Caption: "Wife out Electioneering."
A group of women in pants and holding umbrellas chase two older men. Caption: "Ugly-Looking Men Driven from the Polls."
A mustachioed man with open shirt and limp wrist stands among a group of women, some in top hats. A placard says "Our Candidate" and a sign on the door says "The Ladies Pet: Charlie de Simple." Caption: "A Handsome Fool gets the Office."
A group of women are drinking at a bar, under the sign "Brandy." A thinner woman is seen near the "Sample Room," and four are at the bar, wearing typical men's clothing: trousers, three with coats, one with suspenders. All have rather baggy rear ends. A male bartender mixes a drink. Caption: "Treats like a Male Politician and has it 'Chalked Up' like one."
A small group of men and women are talking in pairs, the women in men's clothing with top hats. The blonde woman in front is holding the hand of a dark-haired man, and the woman to the far left is touching the lapels of the man she is talking with. Caption: "Good-Looking Ones Caressed."
In a dark room around a table with a lap giving light, a man sits comfortably reading his paper, and the woman, presumably his wife, sits holding a baby, with the other child, a girl, holding a rattle for the baby (and looking rather bored). Caption: "'Nevermore -- Nevermore!'
Finally, at the top, an image of women dressed in men's clothing, pulling a cart labeled "Political Machine" by long ropes. Inside the cart is an object labeled "Ballot Box." On the brick wall they are passing is the sign, "Sewing Machine for Sale Cheap." Caption: "The Sewing Machine is Superseded."
