Life — May 9, 1918 — page 25: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes military discipline during wartime. A sergeant addresses an officer about female soldiers who won't stop talking in the ranks. The sergeant has "tried everything" to enforce silence but failed—so drastically, he suggests the War Department must "change the regulations." The satire targets two things: (1) the perceived chattiness of women soldiers (likely WACs or similar corps), treated as inherently undisciplinable; (2) the absurdity of suggesting regulations be altered rather than enforcing existing ones. The cartoon reflects 1940s attitudes about women in the military—depicted as inherently problematic and requiring special handling. The joke assumes readers will find women's inability (or unwillingness) to follow military silence protocols amusing and characteristic.