1-150-595 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'An Ugly Rush!', 1870. Woman's Vote Bill. A stout John Bull, the representative of the British people or, in this case, British men, puts his back to the door upon which a number of women pound with their various demands. The previous year, women ratepayers had been given the right to vote in local elections. However, a Bill had recently been introduced proposing that women should be granted a parliamentary franchise. The proposal had been rejected, much to Mr Punch's relief. It is always worth noting how the women activists are presented. With their skirts slightly too short for modesty, they are decorated with rosettes. They are usually depicted as acidic spinsters, embittered, bespectacled, and the complete antithesis of the young woman walking behind this group in the street. She is the epitome of the modest wife, and good mother. From Punch, or the London Charivari, May 28, 1870.