Life — October 5, 1916 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 567 The page presents three cartoons contrasting man's nature across settings. The top pair, "Man in God's Country" and "Man in Man's Country," juxtaposes a figure amid wilderness against a formally dressed gentleman amid urban skyscrapers—suggesting civilization corrupts natural virtue. The bottom cartoon, "Unsung Heroes: The Husband of a Germ Enthusiast," depicts a domestic scene where a woman appears to be conducting some kind of scientific or culinary experiment while her husband sits at table. The satire targets "germ theory" enthusiasm—likely early 20th-century popular anxiety about bacteria—mocking wives who obsessively applied new scientific health theories at home, potentially making domestic life unpleasant for husbands. The accompanying essay on "Temperament" discusses feminine irritability and its distinction from genius.