"The New Man" Seems Appealing to Women

Date
1897

Hattie Spangler Shelley wrote this poem to try to make men and women think about if their roles were reversed. Men should "get to the kitchen and cook!" instead of having "politics aching [their] brain." This is because it is "the new woman's hour to reign" and take over the male lifestyle. The poem pretty much describes how life would be like if the man was performing all of the "standard" female roles and if the women in turn had their roles. The woman in the poem now "buys fishing tackle and books" instead of managing the household. Shelley then concludes her poem by commanding that the man "get to the kitchen and cook" because the new woman "now has the field."

Location of Document in Archives
1897 Microcosm