Life, 1910-05-12 · page 16 of 44
Life — May 12, 1910 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques American hypocrisy regarding exclusion. The main article attacks President Woodrow Wilson's claim that Americans reject exclusiveness, pointing out contradictions: the country tolerates protective tariffs and the Chinese Exclusion Law while many (particularly from Wilson's home state) support excluding Black voters from polls. The piece argues exclusiveness is human nature, even universal—"we are all snobs"—but advocates temperate exclusiveness tempered by humor. The accompanying photograph shows young women posing as artist's models, earning fifty cents per hour. The caption's defensive tone ("NO, THEY ARE NOT LOVERS") suggests contemporary anxiety about women's employment and public visibility. The "Please, Young Ladies!" section warns girls not to neglect domestic skills while pursuing other knowledge—a conservative plea against women's expanding ambitions beyond traditional "Girl's Own Job" roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
876 An Acrostic Sun sentimentally shining Pale poets perambulating. Rich, rejuvenating renascence Immensely invigorating interval Nymphs negotiating nuptials Green gardens germinating Exclusiveness 2 Dr. Woodrow Wilson a bit sweeping when he says that “the American people will tolerate nothing that savors of exclusiveness ""? They have tolerated and still tolerate the high protective tariff and the Chi nese exclusion law, both of which have the savor that Dr. Wilson mentions They are now inclined to abate the tariff, not because it excludes foreign products, but because it excludes too large a proportion of the Americans from its benefits A large proportion of the Americans, including most of those from Dr. W son's native State, would cheerfully tol- crate the exclusion of negroes from the polls Almost every newspaper in the coun try chronicles the weekly doings of a lot of people whose chief recommenda- tion to the notice of the public is that they can pose in the most exclusive so- iety in the towns they live in, and espe- cially in New York There is a lot of exclusiveness in hu- man nature, We suspect that something that borders very close on it is one of the laws of nature and finds its justifi- cation in the survival of the fittest Selection implies exclusion, and selection is indispensable to human progress. Heaven help us, we are all snobs! Some of us know it, and some don’t, and that is one of the chief differences between folks. Some of us find amuse ment in our own instinct of exclusive- ness, and others take it solemnly and are impeded by it. A temperate exclu- siveness, fitting loose, tempered by the sense of humor and based on a just esti- mation of human qualities, is not so bad It is instructive to the excluded, and im- pels them to cultivate powers and man- ners that will bring them inside of the palings. Please, Young Ladies! HILE the girls are casting about to learn all that is learnable will they please remark that one of the things worth learning is the Girl’s Own Job. It seems at times in danger of being neglected, so urgent is the as- sault of the petticoat brigade on all the other portals of the citadel of knowledge NO, THEY ARE NOT LOVERS. THEY ARE ARTIST’S MODELS WORKING FOR FIFTY CENTS AN HOUR comicbooks.com