Life, 1911-03-09 · page 33 of 44
Life — March 9, 1911 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising and reader mail**, not political satire, though it contains significant social commentary about women's suffrage. The main editorial content is a **pro-suffrage letter** responding to anti-suffrage arguments. The writer (identified only as a woman) rebuts claims that voting will make women neglect homes and children, pointing out that voting takes minimal time (about ten minutes) compared to her existing responsibilities. She mocks men who fear women at polls, suggesting such men are intellectually immature and have historically mocked women's fashion changes (hoop-skirts, hobble skirts). The letter appears designed to counter anti-suffrage readers who dominated *Life*'s correspondence at the time. The sarcasm about men gathering at polls "like men in a pool-room" and the dismissive tone toward masculine anxieties reflects genuine early-1900s suffrage debate rhetoric. The page also contains period advertisements (Pennsylvania Railroad, Philip Morris cigarettes, Houbigant perfume) typical of *Life* magazine's revenue model.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FROM] LONDON CONTINENT Shortest and Smoothest Sea Trip. xew Palce Steamers; Largest and Fastest crosing the Chanael, vla " QUEENBORO-FLUSHING ROUTE The Quickest and Most Ceaverlent Route from England to rn and Central Europe. Weste for sand Itineraries Mowing Every Detail of Delightful Tours, tncloding SIDE TRIPS THROUGH HOLLAND 7 daye, from dine. from nuywhere. t, Netherland State i Some Reason Dear Lire: Why do so many of your Anti-Suf- frage readers and contributors seem to be so agitated lest giving women the right to vote will make them neglect their homes and ch'ldre? My husband votes regularly and never neglects his business, nor his wife and children. Every woman can’t hold office any more than every man. My husband couldn't, and you don't stand much show, either. How much of a year is a woman going to spend at the polls (when she votes)? It takes me about half an hour to do my marketing in the afternoon when the two children are at school, and would probably take me about ten minutes to actually cast my vote. Do you expect The Pennsylvania Station This is the Main Entrance to the magnificent new granite station located in the Heart of New York City One Block from Broadway At 32d Street used by all through trains between New Yor! burgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Lou West; and between New York and Baltimore, V ton, Richmond, Atlanta, New Orleans, Florida, and the South, over the PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD Apply to any Ticket Agent of the Pennsylvania System, or connecting lines, for tickets, time of trains, and Pullman reservations. 2owas%" Cigarettes 2] A first introduction brings {| a permanent preference. bansade ti fabewetet 356 dinner size In Cork and Plain Tips “ The Little Brown Box’ | See 25 1 of ten us to hang around the polls like men in a pool-room? There would be women abuse the privilege and go ramping and tearing around, but if it weren't “votes” it would be some- thing else, there has been that class since No time. It is a comfort, though, to be able to supply amuse- ment for a type of men who only ceased chortling at hoop-skirts when the hobble skirts came in, and who always laugh uproariously at the dear old fa- sos the story of the mouse that broke ¢ Suffragettes’ meeting. By the y, haven’t you used that yet, dear It is an awful good joke on the I can’t help wondering what gal- lery Kate Masterson (if it is a lady) is playing to. I mean what mascujine (Continued on page 506) Houbigant =Pari In Every Store - Perfumes and Soaps of Highe: Quality Only. comicbooks.com