It's a man's world

Throughout history, men have typically had more power than women when it comes to shaping society. Historically speaking this has resulted in that satire, which is nearly always shaped by a period's social context, has become very androcentric (male-centred). There are very few historical examples of cartoons and novels satirizing the behaviors and characteristics of the "male" sterotype or gender, whereas there are countless examples of "female" characteristics and behaviors being satirized. Women have typically been portrayed as people who only care about their looks, their husbands and/or potential husbands for themselves or others. The picture below, from 1870, satirizes this in a drawing showing women during the "coming out" (coming out to society, showing that you are ready for matrimony) season in London.

In the picture one can see many examples of the cartoonist satirizing the behavior of girls/women. One can see one dowager looking through her "stud book", a woman sitting and thinking "four girls to commoners, the fifth must have a coronel", one girl looking rather sad with the subtext "came out last season", another girl looking sad with the subtext "didn't come out yesterday", hair tools and make-up tools with the subtext "Engines of War", a girl looking in the mirror thinking "Not shelved yet" and another thinking "Will conquer or die".

"Working women" have also typically been victims of satirists throughout history. The power relation between men and women become apparent in pictures satirizing these women; the pictures play on the fear a man might have of losing influence and power in society. The picture below is from 1901 and it satirizes the so-called "new woman" by depicting a cleaning day where the man is forced to clean and the woman stands contently next to him, looking at his work.