Emancipated Woman Throws Off the Yoke

JUDGE “THE HAPPY MEDIUM” VOLUME 81 $7.00 A YEAR NEW YORK, JULY 2, 1921 NUMBER 2070 15 CENTS A COPY “O SAY, CAN YOU SEE?” “Mrs. Strong is one of the most emancipated of women. She’s thrown off the yoke completely.” “And nearly everyone else.”

A 1921 satirical magazine illustration shows elegantly dressed people at a social gathering, including a woman dancing freely while others look on. The joke uses “throwing off the yoke” as a pun: Mrs. Strong has supposedly escaped social restraints, but nearly everyone else has done the same, making her emancipation unremarkable. It works as a reaction to someone claiming exceptional independence when everyone around them is behaving similarly.

• @sbunem / 33495 2022-11-22