Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, March 29, 1890Various
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, March 29, 1890
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
The Political Woman is far removed from the ordinary members of Primrose
Leagues and Women's Federations, with whom the country abounds. Her
over-mastering political appetite would find no satisfaction in the mere
wearing of badges, the distribution of blankets, the passing of
common-place resolutions, or the fearful joy of knowing a secret
password and countersign. Such trifles are, in her opinion, mere whets
for the political banquet. For herself she requires far stronger meat.
From the fact, that the race of women is in physical energy inferior to
that of men, she has apparently deduced as an axiom, that nature
intended them to be equal in every respect. Few women agree with her,
fewer still show any desire for the supposed boons to the attainment of
which she is constantly urging them. Yet, the knowledge of these facts
only seems to render the Political Woman more determined in the
prosecution of her quest, and more bitter in her attacks upon men.
At school the Political Woman will have been highly thought of as a
writer of vigorous essays, in which unconventional opinions were
expressed, in ungrammatical language. She will have formed a Debating
Society amongst her fellow-pupils, and, having caused herself to be
elected perpetual President, she will leave the Presidential arm-chair
at the beginning of every debate, in order to demolish by anticipation
all who may venture to speak after her. She will play various kinds of
music upon the piano with a uniform vigour that would serve well for the
beating of carpets, and will express much scorn for the feeble beings
who use the soft pedal, or indulge in the luxury of a "touch."
Having left school with an ill-assorted mass of miscellaneous knowledge,
she will show her contempt for ordinary feminine accomplishments by
refusing to attend dances, and by crushing mild young men whom
misfortune may have thrown in her way. Having discovered from one of
these that he imagines the Rebecca Riots to be an incident of Old
Testament History, and has no definite views upon the currency question,
she will observe, in a tone of some bitterness, that "These are our
Governors!" and, having left him in a state of collapse, will scale the
ramparts of political discussion, in company with a Professor, who
happens to be unmarried and a Member of Parliament. After making love
for some months, by means of an interchange of political tracts, these
two will be married in a registrar's office, and will spend their
honeymoon in investigating the social requirements of Italian
organ-grinders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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