The Punch Book of Women [antikvár]

PUNCH has been accused of many things in its long life, but the one charge which has stuck with us throughout the 131 years of our existence is that we are defiandy male. Well no, that's putting it too politely. The women's libbers who picketed our office last year were more blunt: they called us male chauvinist pigs. I'm not sure who first thought up that elegant phrase, or even what it means, Out I do know that Punch gave ample space to female contributors long before any of today's angry young women were born. In fact, our record is a great deal better than that of many of the magazines who cater almost exclusively for female interests.This booksuccessor to the Punch Bedside Book and the Punch Guide to Good Livingshould help to prove the point. It's main purpose, though, is much more simpleto entertain and, we sincerely hope, to give you a few laughs. The protesting ladies will no doubt object: at that demo they distributed pamphlets which asked this portentious question: "Do you believe women are a joke and their problems food for humour?"Dear me, no. Not half as much of a joke as we men, anyway. But everything is food for humour. God help us if we ever cease to recognise absurdity in human behaviour or laugh at our shortcomings. And whatever gave them the notion that humour isn't a serious business? Swift, Orwell, Shaw and other writers have,, surely, demonstrated that, properly used, it is an enormously powerful weapon. More powerful, certainly, than anger.I have included a number of cartoons published several decades ago to show how things have changed, for better or for worse. And although much of the written work consists of articles by women contributors, I have also dared to include some male observations on the fairer sex. (I refuse to say"weaker" because that would be patently absurd.) If the final outcome suggests an obsession with the domestic and social scenewell, that is what most women's lives are all about. There are as many jokeselsewhereabout the follies of men.Sadly, the cartoons are mostly drawn by males. There are at least 30 good cartoonists in Britain, and all but three or four of them are men. I have no idea why this should be so. It certainly isn't because of any bias. When I choose cartoons for Punch I don't ask whether they were drawn by men ot women. The only criterion is whether they are likely to make readers laugh.I've asked a lot of women what they think is the explanation. The answer may surprise you: women, they say, are not