Life — September 4, 1919 — page 18: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Men May Go HI Philosopher would like to know why one half of the world is engaged in trying to get thin and the other half in trying to get fat. This may have been the case among the ancient Greeks, who put considerable store by Apollo-like contours, but it certainly is not so with us moderns, unless the male half has now sunk to such unimportance that it may be counted out entirely. Indulge the male section of humanity for the moment, ignore the possibility of this status, and observe their physique, or the lack of it. Does it exhibit the evidence of any such tender care? Does the crease in the back of Mr. Limburger’s colorful neck restrain him in the least from consuming 2.75-per-cent. beer accord- ing to the dictates of his immoderate thirst? Or does Mr. Bonypart’s jation prevent him from flatly refusing to partake of the repast which faithful wife considers appropriate to summer weather? Whoever saw a bald woman? It may not be home-grown hair, but she always wears a decent hirsute covering for the cranium, and it adds to the beauty with which the sex is naturally and artificially endowed. And yet, stand on a populous corner on a hot day and see the number of shame- less males who raise a hat from a poll covered with nothing at all but beads of perspiration. A fat man may be funny, but a fat woman is always awe-inspiring. She has had her greatness thrust upon her—no doubt in the world of that—and how many diets has she tried, attended how many dancing classes, and spent how many dollars in her fruitless fight on fat! What character she must have developed living behind her dykes, and watching the crescent pounds seep in upon her one by one! How often must she have despaired, and how often taken courage anew as an inch was gained at a waist-place or an ounce from an outer chin! The ladies never give up, never admit defeat. Mere men may wallow in avoirdupois, hobble on flat feet, or smile with gold teeth. Indeed, a really reckless fellow could, till lately, wear a beard. Let them be. They are not the conservators of civilization. For the continuity of our national institutions, for the unfaltering adherence to the standards of our fore- fathers, for the ultimate salvation of the race, we rightly look to the ladies Consider Helen of Troy, Aspasia, Cleopatra and Jane Addams; then comicbooks.comm