Life, 1917-06-14 · page 11 of 38
Life — June 14, 1917 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a domestic dispute where a pacifist (labeled "The Pacifist") restrains a woman from violent retaliation, advising "patience" and non-violence instead of resort to force. The men in suits appear to be observers or mediators. The surrounding text critiques excessive telephone use by women. "Injustice to Woman" argues that women monopolize telephones without regard for others' rights, calling it a "disease." The piece suggests women talk too much on the phone compared to men, framing this as a social problem requiring restraint. "End of a Perfect Day" is a humorous exchange between two doctors about their busy day performing vaccinations. The page satirizes early 20th-century gender anxieties—women's increasing independence (phone access, assertiveness) presented as problems requiring male correction or restraint.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Pacifist: HAVE PATIENCE, MY DEAR SIR. SHE'S NOT DEAD YET. LEND HER MONEY, GIVE HER ADVICE, BUT DO NOT RESORT TO VIOLENCE To All Poets HIS is the last week that you can send in your con- tribution to the best song for America. The contest will close on June 18th, at noon. For the best patriotic song, not longer than twenty-four lines, Lire will pay the sum of five hundred dollars. For full particulars and conditions, see page 1046 of this issue. Injustice to Woman N one of our western states a public utilities commission has put a ban on the talking over the telephone indulged in by women. The public men who have looked into the matter in this particular state say that women are in the habit of using the telephone without regard to the tele- phone company or the rights of others, and that talk is something that ought to be practiced with due restraint. Talking over the telephone, in many cases, is a disease. There are pauseless people, perfectly innocent of wrong- doing, whose life, so far as their tongues go, contains no periods. To them good-bye is only a prelude, the opening of another chapter, the beginning of a new series of ejacu- lations. There are undoubtedly loquacious people in every neigh- borhood who indulge too copiously in telephonic conversa- tion. But freely admitting all this, we believe there is a wrong impression, fostered by time and the comic papers, which has unduly fastened upon women the reputation for talking too much. In these days women are as busy as men, and few of them have time to talk unnecessarily over the telephone. Where there is one, she can generally be matched by a man equally as talkative. End of a Perfect Day IRST DOCTOR: You look supremely happy to-night, old man. Was it a successful day? Seconp Doctor: Ideal; I had two compulsory vaccina- tions this morning and officiated at a vivisection clinic this afternoon, comicbooks.com