Life, 1895-05-30 · page 14 of 22
Life — May 30, 1895 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon mocks women's suffrage advocates through exaggerated caricatures holding protest signs. A well-dressed woman observes men bearing absurd arguments: "Voters in favor of woman suffrage come early and vote for us," "Women have the laws amended," "Hell would be crowded but for women's influence over men," and "With women in office things would be better than they are." The satire ridicules anti-suffrage male resistance by presenting their objections as ridiculous—suggesting men fear women's actual competence and moral influence. The caption "She was an energetic woman, but the material with which she had to work" implies women face obstinate opposition despite their capability. The page also contains unrelated content: a piece on composer Reginald de Koven plagiarism accusations, and humor pieces about widow mourning and snobbish neighbors. This reflects the pre-1920 American suffrage debate, when such cartoons appeared in mainstream magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IN FAVOR or WOMAN SUFFRAGE COME EARLY SHE WAS AN ENERGETIC WOMAN, BUT THE THE DARK SIDE OF FAME. R, REGINALD DE KOVEN, the composer of Robin Hood, Rob Roy, and some other things of unquestioned . merit, is now discovering the cumulative properties of injustice. There seems to be an impression in the community that this gentle- man is largely indebted to pre- vious composers for those portions of his work which have brought him the greatest glory. This in itself is a sufficiently unfortunate tag to have dangling from one’s reputation, but the most heart-rending feature of the case is the alacrity with which he is given the fullest credit for his failures. This is manifestly unjust, as the dullest and most com- monplace passages are as likely to be “borrowed” as the most brilliant ones, only they happen to be less familiar. Perhaps Mr. de Koven’s greatest error was in not appear- ing upon the scene a few centuries sooner. as OW long should a widow wear mourning ?” That depends. A woman who looks best in black should wear it until she is engaged again.” WOMEN OFFICE WOULD, cRowoeo, Bul FoR WOMENS INFLUEME WANT THE LAWS ie AMENDEO THINGS WOULD BE BETTER THAN THEY THOSE Wwe HAVE ARE AL WITH WHICH SHE HAD TO WORK “HELLO, Bus ARE YOU MOVING THIS SPRING?” “Yes, THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS BECOMING ALTOGETHER TO PROMISCUOUS. LAST WEEK A GROUND-HOG MOVED IN ON OUR RIGHT, AND YESTERDAY A SKUNK MOVED IN NEXT DOOR ON OUR LEFT, I CANNOT HAVE THE CHILDREN ASSOCIATE WITH ANIMALS micbooks.com