Life, 1902-02-06 · page 13 of 20
Life — February 6, 1902 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical pieces targeting social hypocrisy and changing values: **"Too Bad"** mocks the paradox of female education and ambition. A brilliant woman who published feminist essays at eleven, wrote about "The True Prerogatives of Woman" at thirteen, and delivered "Motherhood of Man" at twenty-two is deemed a "failure" simply because she married. The satire exposes how society praised women's intellectual achievements only to devalue them once they fulfilled traditional domestic roles. **"Social Note"** sarcastically reduces a dinner party to "fourteen stomachs and two very interesting brains"—suggesting most attendees were intellectually empty socialites. The **health-food indigestion joke** ridicules the era's health-food fads, implying obsessive dietary restrictions actually cause illness rather than prevent it. The **steak cartoon** depicts working-class humor about tough meat, with someone wanting inedible steak so their father will chew it thoroughly enough to digest. This reflects class-based comedy about poverty and poor nutrition. Overall, Life targets snobbery, women's limited autonomy despite education, fashionable food trends, and class disparities—typical early-20th-century satirical targets.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
re) ert MSD were y ne LY / ELAS AN OBJECT LESSON, “Ou, MAMMA, IERE'S A CuRSTNUT!"* “YES, MY DEAR, NOW NAME ME TWO OTHER KINDS OF NUTS.” “PEANUTS AND FOR-OFT-ME-NUTS." Too Bad. ES, I havo watched her career with a great deal of interest.” “She is a brilliant woman, isn’t she? ’” “She has been. I can’t say that she is, Asa girl sho developed remarkable precocity. It was not so much in her literary proficiency that she displayed her qualities, as in that wide sense of her ultimate mission, in the broad conceptions she so early entertained of the crying needs of our social system. When only eleven, she had written a striking paper on sex relationships. At thirteen, her monograph of “The True Prerogatives of Woman” had attracted wide attention, At fifteen, her essay on “The Silent Vote” marked an epoch, and when, at twenty-two, she delivered her “Motherhood of Man,’’ it became evident that a new force had risen, What a pity that now, after all, her life should be a failure.” “‘ But how can it be a failure? What has she done?’”’ “Why, the miserable thing has gone off and got married!” Social Note. NHE dinner party consisted of fourteen stomachs and two very interesting brains, Finishing Touch. HEN you've made your reputa- tions, Be silent from that hour, For silence, after all, is what Makes reputations tower. ‘PEXSICIAN: This is the worst case of indigestion I ever saw. - “Impossible, Doctor! I haven't eaten anything but health foods for the last six months."’ Boston may well give herself airsabout her Symphony Orchestra, which is the best of its kind. She may also be proud of such a public-spirited citizen as the generous founder who made it possible, and gave it one of the foremost leaders in the world. Mr. Gericke has brought his orchestra almost toa state of perfection, and that his concerts are duly appreciated in New York is shown by the quality and quantity of the audiences he attracts. Mr. Victor Herbert comes to us also with an admirable orchestra, which is playing better all the time. Mr. Herbert once belonged to us; so did Mr. Thomas. Neither of these gentlemen should have been allowed to depart, but New York’s artistic mistakes are so many and so obvious it is unnecessary to allude to them. Music. “PLEASE, 81, I WANT A POUND OP YOUR TOUGH STEAK.” “wor tovou?" “coz iP GET IT TENDER PA WILL BAT IT ALL UP AND I WON'T ORT ANT." comicbooks.com