Life — October 11, 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 9 This page contains three distinct pieces of satire: 1. **"Ballade of Myself"** — A poem mocking self-centered indecision, likely critiquing contemporary business culture and philosophy. The repeated refrain "I think I'll be myself today" satirizes empty rhetoric about individualism. 2. **Top cartoon** — Shows a woman surrounded by domestic chaos (dishes, cooking implements), with the caption "Mebbe this will teach ye not to run into me with yer old can—I'm a hard woman!" This mocks the emerging stereotype of the independent, liberated woman while also satirizing traditional domestic life. 3. **Bottom cartoon** — Titled "The Xylophone-player obeys that impulse," depicts a formal couple where the man appears to be playing a xylophone on the woman's body. This is sexual satire commenting on social propriety and impulse versus restraint in romantic/social interactions.