Life, 1892-09-15 · page 5 of 18
Life — September 15, 1892 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 145 This page contains a satirical dialogue titled "The Changeable Sex" between a Heroine and Hero, mocking women's perceived inconsistency. The conversation ridicules female vanity—the Hero suggests the Heroine trades partners too easily, while she counters that he's equally fickle. Their exchange uses exaggerated compliments and insults as ammunition. The accompanying illustrations—a decorative woman figure and a couple in formal dress—support the domestic comedy theme. A lower vignette shows a slapstick scene of someone falling from a horse. At bottom, "Pencille" discusses a portrait's composition, combining different models' body parts. The satire reflects early 20th-century gender attitudes: women are portrayed as superficial, materialistic, and emotionally unstable, while men are depicted as equally shallow but more self-aware about their faults.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: ee if De THE CHANGEABLE SEX. I HOPE when I ask Julia Will she wed, I'll be declined, For J.—'tis not peculiar— Never fails to change her mind. A NOVEL CONVERSATION, A Heroine, A Hero, SCENE: Any romantic sttua- tion, HE HEROINE: Dear me! Here we are again. THE HERO: Yes; no } vacation forus. We are over-worked. THE HEROINE: It's all the result of a lack of charac- ter, If we were like servants and couldn't obtain employment without a character, we would be idle all the time. As it is we are constantly in use. Indeed it’s a good thing that we are able to fill an unlimited number of engage- ments, otherwise some people would have to stop writing. THE HERO: That reminds me—we are always engaged, and never seem to get married till the end of the book. Now, there is no reason in the world for our loving each other —you don’t amount to anything, I don’t amount to any- thing—and at the same time it is torture to be making love all the time. THE HEROINE: Yes; I agree with you. hate each other once in a while. Why couldn't we CONCLUSIVE. He: You SatD YOU WOULD LISTEN TO ME WHEN I COULD BRING YOU PROOF OF HIS INCONSTANCY. Look THERE! Ha-Ha! Loox THERE! She: Say No more, Iaco Durry, I am YOuRN, Penelope: GOING INTO BUSINESS ? Cholly: NO—FATHER THINKS I'M TOO MUCH OF AN Ass, I's GOING INTO SOCIETY, THE HERO: That would require character. wish I were a villain. THE HEROINE: I wish you were too. I'd have a great deal more respect for you. Why don’t you trade with him ? THE HERO: I tried to a while ago, but he said that my cigarettes and respectability were not a fair trade even for his daggers, to say nothing of his self-cocking revolver, so he declined. THE HEROINE: That's just the sort of an experience I had with the adventuress. Why, she laughed at me—you know that peculiar mocking laugh she always has—and said she would rather have one of her gambling debts than all my fortune. It’s too bad. THE HERO: You are always and forever golden-haired and lily-throated. Why can’t you vary yourself once in a while ? THE HEROINE: For the same reason that you are always tall, broad-shouldered and interesting, without being really handsome. I wish to goodness that I could have a freckle or two occasionally. THE HERO: And I wish that I could have a pug nose. I'd be willing to compromise on cross eyes. I'd be estat- ically happy if I could have a vice. THE HEROINE: I'd be quite as much so if I didn’t have so many virtues. Ah me! THE HERO: Ah both of us! For my part I Tom Hall. ENCILLE: Pretty picture, by Jove, old man. Who was the model ? GAMBOGE: ‘Well, I got the right leg at Long Branch, and the left one at Bar Harbor. The arms and bust I got at the Van Rentsarelow reception. The head is that of a pretty cousin of mine and the rest of the figure is from some old studies. comicbooks.com