Life, 1917-02-22 · page 17 of 42
Life — February 22, 1917 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women's suffrage through multiple pieces. The main essay dismisses women's voting rights as trivial, arguing women already have sufficient outlets for opinions and shouldn't burden themselves with civic responsibilities they're unprepared for. The piece uses condescending logic: if women don't care much about voting, why give it to them? It also mocks women for treating voting like a consumer purchase—automatically acquiring culture through acquisition rather than genuine engagement. The accompanying humor pieces target wealthy American women's materialism: "How to Tell an American Lady" lists not character traits but foreign luxury goods (Hawaiian ukuleles, South African diamonds, Russian boots). The bridesmaid cartoon mocks superficial wedding fashions. **Context:** This reflects pre-1920 anti-suffrage sentiment, portraying female voters as intellectually unserious, materialistic, and incapable of intelligent civic participation—common arguments against women's suffrage during this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
305 Wanting the Vote HEN a woman wants the vote she doesn’t want much. That's a good reason for not giving it to her. It is so little that it is not worth the fuss, feathers and furor. To want the vote is merely to want the chance to express an opinion in a certain way about something or somebody. Lots of wom- en want the right to vote who would not exercise it if they had it. To want the right to vote is no trouble at all; but to exercise that right intelligently or even unintelligently involves much time and trouble. Too many women look upon the right to vote as an automatic method of acquiring knowledge and culture, in the same way that they buy more gew- gaws at the department-stores than they can possibly use, thinking that it is somehow an automatic method of dressing well. When women want something worth while, they are rarely denied it. If they have opinions, there are already plenty of outlets for their expression, outlets much more influential than pok- ing a machine-made ballot into a box. The woman who thinks she is emanci- pating herself by getting the vote for- gets that it entails great responsibili- ties, She already has many responsi- Lilities that are worthy of her best powers. Let her acquit herself credit- ably of these rather than to fly to others that she knows not of. “YES, SHE TELLS HER MOTHER EVERYTHING,” “WELL, I THOUGHT THAT THE OLD LADY WAS DEGENERATING RAPIDLY.” How to Tell an American Lady By her Hawaiian ukulele, By her South African diamonds. eatier, Chinese cools het By her English accent. DR. By her Russian boots. By her Japanese servants. A More Protracted Display Route By her Swiss watch. ROSPECTIVE BRIDESMAID: By her French heels. But, Dorothy, why do you want to By her Spanish fan. be married in Saint Luke's? It’s not By her Brussels carpets. nearly so fashionable as Ascension. By her Irish lace. Prospective Brive: I know it isn't, DISPOSSESSED By her Italian earrings. dear; but its aisle is almost three times dam: om, CHEER UP, EVE. THINK OF By her Esquimo furs. as long. GETTING YOUR NAME IN THE BIBLE comicbooks.com