Life — June 28, 1929 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Cancer—Ostriches Analysis This page uses the ostrich metaphor (top illustration) to satirize public denial about cancer. The opening compares people who ignore cancer symptoms to ostriches mythically burying their heads in sand—they avoid confronting danger by refusing to acknowledge it. The text debunks four widespread misconceptions: that cancer is hopeless, should be hidden due to shame, cannot be conquered by medicine, or can be cured by quacks. The real satire targets "plausible quacks" who exploit cancer patients' fear and ignorance, offering fake "cures" while legitimate doctors and early detection through surgery, radium, and x-rays actually save lives. This appears to be a Metropolitan Life Insurance Company public-health advertisement promoting medical expertise and early intervention over superstition and charlatan medicine.