Life — August 17, 1916 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Martyr" - Political Satire on Women's Suffrage This page contains a satirical poem titled "The Martyr" about a character named Phyllis who advocates for women's suffrage. The accompanying sketch shows a domestic scene where Phyllis argues passionately about voting rights while her male family members react with resignation. The satire mocks suffragettes by portraying Phyllis as relentlessly earnest—"grim-visaged" and determined—who lectures her family "morning and evening" while they endure her activism. The poem presents her cause as admirable yet exhausting to those around her, using humor to both support and gently ridicule the women's suffrage movement. The page also includes advertisements for Delco electrical systems and Don't-Snore products, typical of Life magazine's commercial content from this pre-1923 era.