To conclude our coverage (this year) of Women’s History Month, we look above at What Might Have Been, by artist Henry Barkhaus. It was published in the San Francisco humor magazine, The Wasp, on November 15th, 1884 — shortly following the 1884 Presidential Election. The cartoon’s title pokes fun at “What Might Have Happened”, had Presidential candidate Belva Ann Lockwood, of the National Equal Rights Party, been elected. As is typical of cartoons of this theme, it depicts a world where the ascendancy of women, automatically leads to the feminization and subjugation of men. The examples shown follow the typical pattern of what Women’s Suffrage would result in.

Click on the above cartoon, to enlarge it, and view it in greater detail.

Special thanks to Richard West — who authored The San Francisco Wasp, An Illustrated History — for identifying the artist and precise date of this cartoon.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionComics WaspMag