Life — July 25, 1930 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Modishness Modified" by Berton Braley This poem satirizes modern marriage by contrasting a husband's desire for a neat, orderly wife with his own slovenly habits. The speaker promises his bride he won't settle into "slothful habits" and will remain "neat" and "generally, on my mettle"—but then immediately undercuts this with admissions that he slumps around, forgets his shower, and dresses carelessly. The accompanying illustration shows a man lounging in a chair while a woman arranges books, suggesting the gendered hypocrisy: he demands modishness (fashionable tidiness) from her while exempting himself from the same standard. The satire targets the double standards husbands impose on wives regarding domestic appearance and behavior.