Life, 1909-01-07 · page 21 of 60
Life — January 7, 1909 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"She Knows Enough"** is a satirical poem by Wilbur D. Nesbit mocking women who are intellectually ignorant but valued solely for their beauty. The poem lists her failures—not knowing Caesar, Columbus, Botticelli, Shakespeare, or philosophy—yet repeatedly concludes "You see, she's pretty," implying this excuses all ignorance. The accompanying illustration shows a glamorous woman in a fashionable hat, embodying the "Fisher-Gibson" beauty ideal (referencing popular illustrator Charles Dana Gibson's "Gibson Girl"). The satire critiques both shallow women and the society that rewards appearance over knowledge, suggesting beauty is an acceptable substitute for education. **Other items** include brief comic exchanges: a joke about an American's constantly changing clothes (calling him a "lightning change artist"), and two short dialogues—one about a wrong telephone number, another about a cold apartment humorously called "hell." The page reflects early 20th-century anxieties about women's education and changing gender roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
She Knows Enough HE does not know who Cxsar was, Nor when Columbus sailed the seas -~, She may, for all she says or docs, Be Think Botticelli is a cheese! Re Now, gentle reader, don't commence , To say you think it is a pity To live in ignorance so dense— You sce, she’s pretty. She will not wrinkle up her brow To call to mind a verse of Keats’; Ask her if Shakespeare's writing now, She'll say she likes the parquet seats; Of current topics she may speak And show misinformation simple— But in the rose-pink of her cheek There is a dimple. She'll tell you socialism's cute Because a friend who's rather plain Is lecturing from here to Butte And has so many in her train; She cannot tell you what is meant By the philosophy of Ibsen, But her's is beauty that is blent— A Fisher-Gibson. Of differential calculus She may discourse in language clear Until at last it comes to us She means some automobile gear; The fact that Raphael is dead Leads not to talk on pictures olden— Her lips are cherry-ripely-red, Her hair is golden. So, what is history to her? What are reformers and their ilk? She has the latest word on fur And wears the newest shades in silk. Sigh not that she must live alone, For her unlearnedness quench your pity; She knows all that needs to be known— You sce, she’s pretty! Wilbur D. Nesbit HE AMERICAN: I always try to wear clothes to conform to the weather. Z Tue Berton: What are you—a light- Mila, ning change artist? MR. AND MKS. MC ADAM AND THE YOUNG MC ADAMS TOOK A SPIN, UP THE AVENUE, IN THEIR AMERI- CAN-BUILT ROADSTER. MIKE MC ADAM IS A DEVOTED AUTO MOBILIST AND IN PACT SPENDS HIS ENTIRE TIME IN HIS MACHINE, The Wrong Number False Term HE (transmitter) : I want 125 John. NITOR: Did you refer to this here He (receive Sorry, Mabel, but J apartment as hell? 7 i” I haven't got a nickel; besides, my Corp Tenant: Hardly, You can’t THE GOOD DIE YOUNG name's not John! freeze to death in hell. comicbooks.com