Probable Effects of Over Female Emigration, or Importing the Fair Sex from the Savage Islands in Consequence of Exporting all our own to Australia 1851

Curator: This print by George Cruikshank is titled "Probable Effects of Over Female Emigration, or Importing the Fair Sex from the Savage Islands in Consequence of Exporting all our own to Australia". Editor: The mood is... uneasy. The composition throws these two very distinct groups into sharp contrast. What's going on here? Curator: It's a satirical commentary, likely from the mid-19th century, addressing anxieties about British emigration to Australia and its potential impact on the marriage market back home. Consider the production of prints such as this one, and how this caricature plays into the social anxieties of the time. Editor: So, the “fair sex” being “imported” is a commentary on labor, and maybe, the exploitation of indigenous populations, right? Curator: Precisely. Think about the social context: a British audience would have received this with a certain understanding, or perhaps, unease, regarding imperial ambitions and the commodification of people. Editor: Right. Cruikshank really forces us to confront the political implications of something as personal as courtship and marriage. Curator: Indeed. A striking visual representation of complex issues.