Life — July 13, 1911 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Issue 55 This page contains three distinct pieces of satire: 1. **"The Tramp"** (poem by Arthur Guiterman): A romantic defense of vagabonds and landlessness, celebrating those who reject property ownership and societal constraint. 2. **"Anything to Startle the Men"**: Satirizes Life's Fashion Reform League, which promotes women's practical clothing (ankle corsets, barefoot movement, reformed skirts). The text mocks how only wealthy, "refined" women adopt these reforms while scorning "the rabble," revealing the hypocrisy of supposedly progressive fashion movements. 3. **"Pensioning the Bankers"**: Political satire proposing bankers receive government pensions rather than managing risky stock companies, using ironic logic to expose banking industry conflicts of interest. The accompanying cartoon depicts fashionable women consulting a "professional adviser" about appearance—illustrating the satire about superficial fashion reform.