Lisl Weil: The ABC of Women, 1933

Artwork of the Month, October 2023: The ABC of Women by Lisl Weil (1933)

Found under the heading ‘The ABC of Women,’ nineteen women feature across a double page spread, some appearing to pose for a portrait sketch, others  following activities such as dancing, painting, giving manicures or milking a cow. Dressed in clothing that varies from folk costumes to turn-of-the-century reform dress, sportswear, show costumes and fashionable fur coats, they come from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds, are of different ages and follow different professions. The cartoon depicts numerous possibilities of what women could look like in the early 1930s, playing with stereotypes in a good-humoured and non-malicious manner.

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