Petticoat Government

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A misgynistic caricature of women having any political power. A group of women parrot the pomp and circumstance of the court and oppress a man. The Queen is resting her feet on a book entitled the Rights of Man. The only man in the scene is kneeling before her and handing her a pair pf pants, apparently in reference to women who wear the pants in the family.

The actual case involved a man who had gone drinking at a tavern only to have his wife and some of her female friends make an unwelcome appearance. An argument ensued and the man fled, pursued by his wife. A night watchman seized the fleeing man who resisted arrest and assaulted the watchman.

In front of the magistrate, the man denied ever assaulting the magistrate but he was not believed and was remanded in custody. The incident seems to have caught the Victorian public's fancy because of what was to them, the hilariousness of the man's wife bossing him around.