Life — March 16, 1911 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "Girls and College" Page This is an editorial essay by Miss Gildersleeve arguing against excessive college education for girls. The text warns that college attendance may make girls "undomesticated" and unfit for marriage and homemaking—the assumed proper role for women of this era. The three cartoons below illustrate domestic tasks from "The Human Cook Book," using exaggerated caricatures: - **"The Baby"**: A woman struggling with an infant - **"The Waiter"**: A man attempting waitressing with visible difficulty The satire appears to mock both the domestic incompetence the essay warns about AND the idea that men could perform "women's work." The cartoons suggest gender roles were considered natural and immutable—that education might unfit women for domesticity, while men were equally unsuited to service roles.