After the British had passed the Coercive Acts, the American colonies met at Philadelphia to come up with a plan to go against Parliament. They decided to boycott all British goods and stop exporting American products back to England. The British laughed at the fact that the American Colonies even thought of trying to boycott. A British cartoonist came up with a drawing called, “Society of Patriotic Women, Edenton, North Carolina”. This cartoon mocked American politics. The British believed that the Americans were incapable of running their own country. In this cartoon the artists pocked fun at several aspects of American politics that they felt to be wrong, especially the fact that there were women involved, which in there day was unheard of.
The women in the cartoon clearly didn't care about any of their responsibilities and duties as a woman in the eighteenth century. If they did care, there wouldn't be a baby sitting on the dirty floor, in the foreground of the picture, eating old food that it had pulled off, or that had fallen off the table. Also a dog is going to the bathroom, while licking the baby’s face. A dog licking anyone’s face is not hygienic at all. In the background of the picture cartoonist depicts American women as being drinkers. This also implying that they were goofing off and using politics as an excuse to no do their motherly duties.
The women in this cartoon are also made fun of in a physical. Most of them have very manly features, and resemble men. Some of the women look so much like men that it is hard to be sure that they are women. In the middle ground of the picture, the cartoonist focuses on a woman’s cleavage. This woman also has someone flirting with her. It even looks like the man flirting with the woman is trying to cop a feel. The cartoonist also emphasizes another woman’s rear. The cartoonist depicts women in politics as unattractive. He also shows them to be a distraction.
Not only are the women depicted as ugly men in this cartoon, but they are also made fun of for drinking. The women in the background of the cartoon are drinking out of containers most likely containing gin. One woman is even drinking from a punch bowl. There are also empty alcohol containers lying around. The cartoonist, based on his depiction of women, does not view the women very highly since gin in the eighteenth century, was “seen as a form of generalized insanity to which the lower classes were particularly prone.” It contained some sort of drug, which resembles modern heroin. http://www.warwick.ac.uk/news/pr/history/146 .
It was also interesting to see that in the middle ground of the cartoon there is an African American. At this time African Americans were considered to be very low class, and the fact that they were mingling was very uncommon and looked down upon. The cartoonist was also showing that the women didn’t belong because they were so distracted by the alcohol and the man in the room, that they didn’t realize or care that they were neglecting there duties and mingling with the lower class.
This cartoon depicts women negatively in several different ways. The British believed that women did not belong in government. They should not be allowed to have a political opinion, or even think of politics. In the background of the cartoon, women are seen being irresponsible and getting drunk. Then as you move to the mid ground of the cartoon, you see that they were depicted as ugly, unattractive, and very manly. In the middle of the cartoon there is a man, the only man in the picture, seducing women. This is not only showing that women do not belong in politics because they are a distraction, but also at the irresponsibility of American men. This shows that the cartoonist isn’t only poking fun of women in government, but also as to how the poorly the American government is run.
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