Life — March 30, 1922 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "When Legs Is Art" — Life Magazine Satire This cartoon satirizes **Emporia, Kansas** and its apparent prudishness. The illustration shows a figure (likely representing the town or its leadership) covering up legs with clouds—treating them as scandalous rather than artistic. The accompanying verse mocks this censoriousness, referencing **William Allen White** (Emporia's famous newspaper editor) and suggesting the town is hypocritically banning cigarettes while simultaneously suppressing depictions of the human body. The satire argues that prudishly "carping at Pavlowa's limbs" (referencing Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova) is artistically narrow-minded. The joke: Emporia positions itself as morally righteous, yet this selective censorship reveals inconsistent values and provincial attitudes toward art and the human form.