Life, 1912-08-08 · page 11 of 40
Life — August 8, 1912 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women's beauty treatments and vanity through a barbershop/salon scene. The cartoon depicts a woman undergoing hair treatment while two attendants work on her. Three visible advertisements promise beauty solutions: "Greta Garbo Beauty Specialist," "Double Chin Removed," and "Hair Tinted to Match Any Gown You Wish." The satire targets the contradiction between women's supposed "subjugation" (the right-side essay's topic) and their active pursuit of beauty procedures. The accompanying essays—"Settled" and "Subjugation"—discuss gender dynamics. The cartoon ironically suggests that while women claim oppression, they willingly subject themselves to elaborate and expensive cosmetic procedures, thereby self-subjugating through vanity. This reflects early 20th-century satirical critiques of consumer culture targeting women.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* Striving to better, = Settled "M old—at last I know it—lI've had suspicions long, But things have happened lately that have made suspicion strong. I almost owned—not wholly—betwixt a tear and smile, When hunting for the glasses that were on my nose the while: But now there's no illusion—it’s filtered down too fine! The men all frankly kiss me!—I've passed the danger line! HAIR TINTED | ToMATCH | ANY GOWN WHILE, YOu WAIT t oft we mar what's well” —King Lear Subjugation HE process of subjugation has gone on ever since the oldest historian can remember. We have subjugated all the inferior races that are worth bothering about. Those that are not subjugated are afraid to tempt us. We have subjugated nature until she is completely domesticated and house-broke. We have now reached a point where we have to subjugate ourselves. We shall succeed, but it will be a tough struggle. Self- subjugation is the worst law of nature. comicbooks.com