Life, 1908-06-11 · page 3 of 20
Life — June 11, 1908 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the newly graduated female college student of the era. The article humorously warns that sweet girl graduates are becoming "one of the bulwarks of the nation" and need guidance to avoid becoming nuisances—suggesting they might pursue "hard" intellectual work, join the W.C.T.U. (Women's Christian Temperance Union), or lead mothers' congresses. The accompanying cartoon ridicules women's ambitions by depicting bees working while a human figure lounges idle, with the caption mocking that "so many human beings should be idle" when "man is supposed to be on a higher plane than the bees." The satire reflects early 20th-century anxiety about educated women entering the workforce and public sphere, positioning female ambition as both laughable and potentially dangerous to social order.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AN ORDEAL * JOINING TO ANOTHER MAN THE GIRL WHO REFUSED you The Sweet Girl Graduate WEET girl graduates will soon be seen roaming about the country, seeking whom they may devour. Nothing is pleasanter, on a soft June evening, than to sit in the gloaming and listen to the artless prattle of the sweet girl graduate, as she discourses lightly and nimbly on philosophy, psychology, the higher criticism, the mo- lecular theory and other kindred subjects. Nothing is nicer than gently but firmly to lead her away from these trivialities to the more serious business of holding hands, and going into certain silences known only to the initiated. The sweet girl graduate is a growing institution, and is rapidly becoming one of the bulwarks of the nation, She needs to be en- couraged, not only with kind words, but, if necessary, in other ways that will naturally—and inevitably—suggest themselves to the carnest student. It is our sacred duty to sce that the sweet girl graduate should not go on acquiring so much information that she becomes useless for practical purposes. We should always remember that the hand that rocks the cradle—incidentally ruling the world—is the hand that has not learned to write too much Greek, logarithms or his- torical novels. Several remedies suggest themselves at once. Among these are The Lovers’ Lane, The Moonlight Tryst and the Lonely Back Parlor. When a sweet girl graduate shows evidences of too much ambi- tion to learn, she should be taken in hand—or in two hands—at once. If necessary, use both arms. Unless she is treated earl she may run into a quick decline, and wind up eventually the W.C. T. U. or become the vociferous head of a mothers’ congress. Apply, therefore, a Lovers’ Lane at once. Follow this up with repeated applications of Moonlight Trysts, and continue with a steady diet of Lonely Back Parlor. This, with ersistence and unflagging devotion to a good cause, will in time bring the sweet girl graduate to her own normal self. “ISN"T IT SAD THAT SO MANY HUMAN BEINCS SHOULD BE IDLE?" “1 DON'T UNDERSTAND IT. MAN I$ SUPPOSED TO DE ON A MIGHER PLANE THAN THE BEES, BUT WE'RE ALL BUSY IN THE HIV] comicbooks.com