Inventing Girlhood: How American Girls are Represented through

American Childrens Books

Yen-Chen Liu
Abstract
From the nineteenth century to the 1970s, childrens literature in America underwent
significant changes, one of them adolescence. During this period, American childrens
books were shaped by American historical values, such as gender-expectations in
education. Girls in American childrens books lack adolescence. While boys literature
such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
construed that boys should self-educate themselves outside of the classroom, girls
literature such as Little Women and Daddy-Long-Legs cultivated girls with domestic
mindsets. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy leads three male partners to start an
adventure of self-discovery. Fern in Charlottes Web behaves like a nurturing mother
in the 1950s, yet girls in Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret launch a gender
revolution in the 1970s. In this essay I explore this issue of gender-expectation in
education in those classical American childrens books. I observe that at the beginning
of the twentieth century, adolescence appeared, starting to influence the gender roles
of girls in American childrens literature and gradually bridging the gap between
childhood and adulthood. With the education of adolescence in the 1970, girls are
shown with more educational possibilities in Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret.
Therefore, even though the gender roles of girls have changed in those classical
American childrens books since the nineteenth century, they eventually became
broader with the education of adolescence after the 1970s.

Rosebolett transitional theory

Keywords: American history, childhood, childrens literature, education, gender,
girlhood,

It is in the nineteenth century that American childrens literature attained a level of

maturity.
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American childrens literature was born in Europe in the eighteenth century with the
birth of the concept of childhood. Before this period, children were regarded to be
younger adults, wore similarly clothes and only read the Bible and related stories.
However, after this period, they were known to be different from adults and needed to
be treated separately. One of the significant changes related to the concept of
childhood appeared in reading materials for children: adults began to write books for
children. Those childrens books were written primarily for pleasure. Therefore we
regard childrens literature as embryonic in the eighteenth century;
I.

The Birth of Childhood

According to Philippe Aris Centuries of Childhood, the genesis of childhood

can be traced back to the eighteenth century. Before the modern concept of childhood
was constructed, children in the medieval ages had been regarded as the same as
adults: wearing smaller clothes of their parents and reading books such as the Bible.
There were not enough reading materials for children. Therefore, we consider the
appearance of childhood in Europe in the eighteenth century is remarkable in the
history of mankind.
Both the discourses of childhood and childrens literature experienced essential
changes since they were formed. According to Written for Children: an Outline of
English-Language Childrens Literature, after Rousseaus Emile was printed, aiming
at the beauty of children, some adults gradually came to accept the ideas that children
are innocent and tabula rasa. In addition, John Locke presented the idea that children
are noble savages, which meant that they have an uncivilized nature and beautiful
minds. In this period, the concept of innocent childhood was born.
Finally, I cite Perry Nodelmans The Pleasures of Childrens Literature as the
reason why scholars date the birth of childrens literature to the eighteenth century.
Before the eighteenth century, there had already been some books for children, but
many of those books had moral or religious purposes for children to read. In other
words, adults tried to indoctrinate children with the values that they cared about; they
cultivated children in adults manner. Nodelman mentions that the concepts of
childhood and childrens literature were actually invented by adults, which means that
it is adults that imagine what children are, so that they produce childrens books for
children. Consequently, there are two features that delineate childrens literature from
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the former generations: books that are intentionally to be written for children and are
supposed to be read for pleasure. Since then, the functions of childrens books
changed, addressing childrens enjoyment. Nowadays, many highly recognized
children books feature hyperbolic imagination and amusement; we can see that
childhood and childrens literature in the eighteenth century influence our ideas in this
modern society.
After the concept of childhood was born in Europe, Americans absorbed the ideas
of childhood and childrens literature from the mainland Europe and also developed
their own. In fact, Americans differ from Europeans in races, cultures, religions,
social classes, and geography. Therefore, the perspectives of American childhood and
childrens literature show a wide variety depending on those factors. For example,
African American children were not allowed to read, so their childhood experiences
might be different from some literate White American children. In this case, American
childrens literature can be a tool to comprehend American culture and society.
To understand the relationship of American childhood and American
childrens literature, I refer to Gail Schmunk Murrays American Childrens Literature
and the Construction of Childhood, which chronologically categorizes childhood and
childrens literature in America. To be specific, The Little Women and Daddy-LongLegs demonstrate that American girls who attended schools were highly appreciated,
whereas The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
demonstrate that American boys self-education (adventure) was applauded. The
books provide a panoramic view on the development of American childrens
literature, with connections to American society and culture.
Nowadays, there exist more perspectives on childhood and childrens literature,
such as the gender role of girls in childrens books. For these reasons, I would like to
fill a gap in the discussion on American girlhood and American girls in American
childrens books, from their birth, growth, to their transformations. I consider that this
girlhood was invented by authors, for they elucidated some essences of girlhood that
concerned them, rather than conveyed the reality. First, the American childrens books
that I select here were written in America from the nineteenth century to the present,
and are representative American fictions. Second, I include books that are intended for
children as well as young adult readers (Daddy-Long-Legs and Are You There God?
Its Me, Margaret), for there are more cross-over books for them. In my argument,
from the nineteenth century to the present, the gender roles of girls have changed.
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Before the 1970s, girls were described as conservative and passive. However, it was
after the 1970s that the gender role of girls exponentially changed, for girls are
described as aware of their gender and education.
From the nineteenth century to the 1970s, the gender role of girls improved in
many aspects. I select evidence from some representative American childrens books,
such as Little Women, Daddy-Long-Legs, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, The
Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, The Wizard of Oz, and Are You There God? Its Me,
Margaret. They compose of elements from didactics purposes mixed with pleasure for
children, to pure reading pleasure for children as a core in the changes of time.
II.

Girls literature in America in the nineteenth century

Girls literature appeared in America in the nineteenth century. One of the

representative of girls literature is Louisa May Alcotts The Little Women, which was
set during the period of the Civil War. Luisa May Alcott and her characters in The
Little Women portrayed womens situation during the Civil War. Both Alcott and the
four March sisters had suffered difficulties of economic shortage. They received
informal education at home; however, it was still difficult to find a job in America in
Alcotts construction in the story. The story begins when the father is absent due to the
Civil War, and the mother and the daughters follow the paths to be good women,
waiting for the father to come back. To be more specific in analysis, at first the female
protagonist Jo is portrayed as a boyish character: she thinks and acts independently.
However, at the end of the story, she surrenders to the mainstream values, becoming
an obedient wife. In my observation, Luisa May Alcott and her characters in The
Little Women establish a new paradigm for girls, for it elucidates the power of
education; education enlightens girls, and its purpose is to cultivate good mothers and
wives.
Finally, it comes to a contradiction: if we define that childrens literature is
intentionally to be written for children, and are supposed to be read for pleasure, yet
The Little Women, with didactic and religious purposes, is regard as an American
classic childrens book. Here I cite what Peter Hunt has said, It is arguably
impossible for a childrens book (especially one being read by a child) not to be
educational or influential in some way; it cannot help but reflect an ideology and, by
extension, didacticism All books must teach something (3). As for The Little Women,
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this book was not originally written for children. It is an adult book that has been
embraced by high school and middle school teachers. Also, early literature for
children was very much intended to "teach" children how to behave. Therefore, it is
not surprising that Little Women is didactic. On the other hand, The Little Women
does arouse readers pleasures and childhood experiences, such as girls common
memories between sisters. The Little Women, the embryo of childrens literature,
demonstrates the ambivalent status between indoctrinating and entertaining children
in a book. For this reason, we can view that even though The Little Women seems to
more didactic than many contemporary childrens fictions, it is a bold and progressive
attempt of amusing children by Luisa May Alcott in her era.
III.

Girls literature in America in the twentieth century

In the early twentieth century, the gender role of girls in American childrens books

was still portraying conservative attitudes. In Cynthia Eagle Russetts description,

although most private universities still did not accept female students until the
twentieth century, some state colleges allowed women to attend. In addition,
suffragists promoted womens right to participate in politics. In this period, the
education and occupations of women improved, even though the gender role of girls
was still narrating traditional attitudes in American childrens books.
Here I cite Daddy-Long-Legs, a fiction written for young adults as an example.
The female protagonist, orphan Jerusha, can get into higher institutions paid by her
trustee Daddy-Long-Legs, and what she needs to do is to write monthly journals to
her trustee in return. In the journal, she describes her growth in knowledge and also
her gradual awakenings of being a woman. She even participates in several social
reforms; however, her realization shocks Daddy-Long-Legs, for he intended to use
knowledge to cultivate her to be his future partner, yet he is afraid that she will leave
him after she gains the power of knowledge. Finally, Jerusha is obedient again, being
married to the man who pays for her tuition, and upgrades her social status through
marriage, which indicates that the conflict between women and education is solved in
the end.
As an observer, I particularly notice Jerusha and womens colleges in the
twentieth century. The author envisions a world where girls might aspire to college,
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but also simultaneously envisions a world where, after graduation, girls should only
be obedient to husbands. For this reason, education is double-edged for women to
accomplish their dreams; women could dominate knowledge, but they might not be
able to fully dominate their business. It is a dilemma between the expansions and
limitations of womens education in the twentieth century. Therefore, we can see that
the gender role of girls in Daddy-Long-Legs in Websters invention were different
from that in The Little Women: girls dare to dream through college education but dare
not fulfill their dreams through college education. Therefore, the gender role of girls
in Daddy-Long-Legs is wider than that of The Little Women, but more conservative
than that in Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret. Daddy-Long-Legs is in a
transitional period of the gender role of girls in the history of American childrens
literature.
IV.

Boys Adventures in America

Compared with girls, boys enjoyed more freedom in nineteenth century

America. There are two representative American childrens books on American boys:
The Adventure of Tom Sawyer and The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. We need to
pay heed to these two fictions for they do not represent the real life of American boys
in the nineteenth century, but rather some adults expectations for boys education. In
their perspective, while American girls were expected to be well-educated at home or
in school, American boys were appreciated if they dared to escape from formal
education. According to Mark Twain in the preface of The Adventure of Tom Sawyer,
Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope
it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has
been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how
they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged
in. (Preface) The statement demonstrates that childhood experiences are the theme of
this book for both genders: childish tricks, truancy, and games constantly invoke
childhood memories. Furthermore, the author determined to entertain readers
regardless of their age and gender. Twain created a boys paradigm, yet appealed to
both mens and womens childhood experiences, welcoming women to engage in
boys adventures, which is the most fascinating part in discussing gender role in
American childrens books. We first turn to Murrays research, which points out that
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boys have the right and power to be rebellious in Mark Twains classical childrens
books (72-6). Education for them, is not literacy education and curricula, but an
induction to their dispositions. When women read these boys stories, they might
crave for, or identify themselves as those boys, but they could not keep the abilities to
destroy and to rebuild as their male counterparts when they grew up.
Interestingly, Twain assumes that both men and women are insiders of these
boys adventures, in contrast with Alcott, who only targets girl readers. For me, it
seems like boys tales are more neutral, for those games and lies in boys tales could
remind adults of similar boyhood and girlhood experiences; however, girls tales have
their own limitations, because household stories such as having quarrels between
sisters did not evoke identification by masculine males in a separate spheres society.
That is, boys education can be viewed by girls, while girls education is only
provided for its single sex audience. As a consequence, boys education might be a
paradigm for both boys and girls, if there were not enough reading materials to
differentiate them. Therefore, the images of girls, in a certain field of literature in this
period, were invented to show more introvert images than those of boys.
V.

Girls as Explorers
The Wizard of Oz is an American fantasy illustrating a girl Dorothys adventure

when Americans explored their continent toward the west in the nineteenth and the
twentieth century. It was a period when Americans explored the pioneer West. In the
pioneer West, Baum created a story of a nation with commoners and an undaunted
heart toward unpredictability. The story begins when a tornado takes Dorothy out of
her home in Kansas to a land she has never been to. There she meets a scarecrow who
wants a brain, a woodman who needs a heart, and a lion who aspires to courage.
Looking for help to go back to her uncle and aunt, she leads three male partners
(without masculine characteristics) to the Emerald City (Murray 103). They start an
adventure of self-discovery, with the companionship of the others, realizing that it is
an internal rather than external search in the end. Dorothys silver shoes have already
had the power to send her back home, and the three partners have already had the
abilities to think, to love, and to defend.

As Edward Wagenknecht puts it, it is in The Wizard of Oz that we meet the

first distinctive attempt to construct a fairyland out of American materials (17). He
cites the passages from Ozma of Oz:
Tell me, she (a princess) resumed, are you of royal blood?
Better than that, maam, said Dorothy. I came from Kansas. (96)
Dorothy demonstrates an American value that endeavor is more important than noble
birth, which is different from European culture. Unlike American childrens literature,
European childrens literature presents many issues related to social class, since it is
the foundation of the European society.1 However, even though the United States do
have social class, it is not a traditional aristocratic or hereditary class. The lack of
class differentiation or emphasis in American childrens literature is because
Americans discomfort with talking about class. In this case, when valiant Dorothy
explores the continent and dares to challenge the witches and royal families, she
overthrows the hierarchies of adults and children, princess and commoners, and even
boys and girls.
The author, L. Frank Baum, bestows on Dorothy both tough and tender
dispositions at the same time, never expecting her to become domestic. Readers do
not expect Dorothy to become obedient to anyone at the end of the story, either. The
book subverts those characteristics of traditional girls, establishing a new paradigm
for girls in a dynamically new country. This is an exciting moment in American
childrens literature, for it allows girls to explore the possibilities beyond home. In
contrast with girls literature of Alcott and boys adventures of Twain, The Wizard of
Oz by Baum gradually reaches a milestone of gender role of girls, because Dorothy is
described to be able to begin expeditions. She is not silent, passive, and civilized, but
rather displays more masculine characteristics such as being curious and aggressive.
The Wizard of Oz presents a more real sentimental experience of a girl in a fantasy.
To sum up, The Wizard of Oz is a significant works with American elements, and
more importantly, it has a girl been invented as an explorer in the frontier America.
VI.

Gender Roles in Contemporary American Childrens Book

1 Some European childrens literature presents differentiation in social class, such as

the Brother Grimms fairy tales, The Secret Garden, and the Harry Potter series.
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The perspectives in contemporary American childrens books dramatically

changed from the former periods. During 1949-51, it was the time when Americans
experienced the reconstruction of values after World War Two. In John Griffiths
opinion, Americans were in a period of high employment rate, high wages, and high
inflation, while being afraid that the Cold War would immediately break out. In the
discussion of gender roles in authors portrayal in American childrens books, men
and women had separate spheres in their daily work: men were more outgoing and
women were at home nursing their children. E.B. White has described a society of
separate spheres in his famous childrens books Charlottes Web. After all, it was a
conservative era before those labor, feminist, and African American movements since
the 1960s.
Charlottes Web depicts a story on a pig Wilbur being exempt from death twice
with the help of his friend, a girl Fern and later a spider Charlotte. Wilbur at first is
intended to be slaughtered by Ferns father, yet Fern persuades his father not to kill
the pig. She nurtures the pig like a mother, for she gets up early and rushes home from
school in order to feed the pig. As Fern grows up, Wilbur is sent to Mr. Zuckerman,
where he faces his second danger in death. This time, spider Charlotte, as a nurturing
mother, saves Wilbur by weaving webs with words (Some Pig), so that the publicity
recognizes the pig and then spares his life. This book discusses the two fears in
childhood: abandonment and death; besides the friendship between Wilbur and
Charlotte, it also highlights the value of friendships between Wilbur and Fern.
However, it is like a mother-son relationship between Fern and Wilbur rather than a
friendship.
The gender roles in Charlottes Web differ can be viewed by how Fern and his
brother treat animals. It relived her mind to know that her baby would sleep covered
up, and would stay warm (9) when Fern watches him in the straw. She takes care of
Wilbur until she becomes interested in boys when growing up. Unlike the expectation
for her mischievous brother Avery, that for Fern is to be obedient. It is interesting to
note Ferns mother, Mrs. Arable, is worried about Ferns talking with animals, and
then she turn to Dr. Dorian for help. According to Mrs. Arable, It didnt seem natural
for a little girl to be so interested in animals (107). From their conversation, it
construes that the world has opposite education and view for boys and girls.
Oh, Avery, chuckled Mrs. Arable. Avery is always fine. Of course, he gets
9

into poison ivy and gets stung by wasps and bees and brings frogs and snakes home
and breaks everything he lays his hands on. He is fine.
Good! said the doctor. (111-2)
The depiction of Fern and Avery demonstrates a culture of separate spheres:
boys are necessarily wild and girls are of domesticity. In playing with animals, adults
react differently for their daughters and sons. They take boys playing animals for
granted, while regards girls talking with animals as a strange behavior. That is, the
norms that adults set for boys are not appropriate to apply to girls, for there are other
educational purposes for girls: girls are supposed to be domestic. To conclude,
Charlottes Web successfully narrates a story of a friendship between children and
animals; however, it inevitably presents a gender stereotype when describing a girl
nurturing her pig.
Finally, in the twentieth century, a period between childhood and adulthood
appeared: adolescence. According to Jeffrey P. Moran, with the help of scientific
methods, sexual science and adolescent studies became authoritative. Then after the
feminist movement in the 1970s, sex education becomes a necessity for children and
teenagers. In John Modells study, youth culture was formed during the twentieth
century. Teenagers shared the similar language usages, clothing styles, music, and
ideology. One of the most significant impacts was that teenagers influenced the
society and culture. In Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret, the author narrates a
story of teenage girls and adolescence. It is revolutionary in gender role and religion,
with the growth of the concept of adolescence.
Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret is a controversial book on teenagers,
revising our concepts of gender role and religion. The title of the book has already
portended that it challenges norms. Maryann N. Weidt quotes Richard Jacksons
saying, There is no comma before God, and there is a period after Margaret. There is
no comma before God because Judy [Blume] felt very strongly that there was no
distance between Margaret and God, and she wanted it in this kind of informal, rushed
way, the way people talk, the way people think (49). This indicates that Judy Blume
intended to overturn the relationship between people and religions, and the clashes
between teenagers and the mainstream cultures.
In the story, Margaret, a teenage girl, with her transformation in body, is in quest of
the secrets of sex and religion. Since Margaret was born into an interfaith family,
10

having an assignment on religion, and in confusion of life, she has to discover

religions. She and her buddies in primary school are jealous of a Catholic girl named
Laura Danker, who has developed a womanly figure; they are suspicious of Dankers
relationship with their teacher. The novel illustrates Margarets experiences of
challenging God, having her first period, wearing a bra, and buying sanitary pads, the
descriptions that shocked reader in the 1970s (Presenting Judy Blume, Chapter 5). In
the end, she becomes more tolerant toward sexuality and religion, accepting them as
parts of her life. Margarets tolerance can be found among many Americans, for that is
the way some Americans attitude toward sex and religion are nowadays.
In my conclusion, Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret has a historical
breakthrough on the gender role of girls in American childrens books, because girls
in the book have the right to explore their bodies and their education. Unlike The
Little Women or Daddy-Long-Legs, girls cannot decide on what kind of education they
need or refute it, teenage girls in Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret are willing to
cross those unknown borders: religion and sex. Religion and sex might be the
knowledge beyond what teachers in class can offer, and the spirit of searching and
questioning that knowledge without being afraid is the real significance of education,
for education is to induce ones potential and propensity. Those girls in Blumes
portrayal, seldom care about boys oppositions, but demonstrate the ways girls live
and their anxiety of being women. In Alcotts era, adolescence was not yet defined, so
during the growth from girls to women, those transformations of teenage girls were
skipped, while Blume added adolescence in this fiction, constructing an entire
girlhood from girls to women.
The resonances of Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret are successful
because American culture and society provide a free environment for difference
voices on education. Even though the book was debatable when published, it is still
embraced by the market (Presenting Judy Blume, Chapter 5). Without a consensus of
open-minded readers, Blume might not have been able to present the real tears and
joy of teenage girls. It is an achievement for women to stare at themselves and express
their needs among well-educated citizens. The vision of education in Are You There
God? Its Me, Margaret, exceeds that of education in The Little Women and DaddyLong-Legs: women cultivate themselves, to be the masters of knowledge.
VII.

Conclusion
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From its birth to prosperity, gender is always an issue in American childrens

literature. The images of American boys and girls, in American childrens books,
disclose how some American authors constructed childhood. In my study, from the
nineteenth century to the present, the gender roles of girls in American childrens
books still show stereotypes and limitations, yet the expectations for girls have
changed in the past few decades. From The Little Women to Daddy-Long-Legs,
women chasing for family love at the expense of their education are taken for granted,
which means that even though some girls are playing wild and studying hard like Jo
and Jerusha, they gradually compromise to be ladylike women. But in the
contemporary fiction Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret, girls directly stare at
their love, sex, and desires, rather than being scrutinized by their male counterparts
and living up to their expectations. Furthermore, girls in American childrens books,
starting from The Wizard of Oz, gradually unfold more masculine characteristics in
interpretations. Then, American girlhood is not only imagined by some adults,
invented by some authors, but the hypothesis could be applied to major American
girls.
In my judgment, the gender subversion of girls in education and in American
childrens books is becoming possible after the 1970s. The feminist movements in the
1970s influenced modern girls concepts and behaviors, and also the education for
girls. The feminist movements arouse men and womens attention on girls education.
What we need to concern is, girls education, which used to be a private issue in every
family, is being discussed by the public in modern America. Unlike The Little Women
and Daddy-Long-Legs are only for girls, contemporary American childrens books on
girls are opened to all, without a veil.
However, from the 1970s to the present, girls are increasingly complicated as
the society greatly changes. In the authors interpretations in American childrens
literature, girls show more dimensions and sentiments. We can capture some images
of girls in books, but still others are not yet to be seen in our eyes. I do not mention
those girls in American childrens books after the 1980s, when technology and mass
media started to manipulate childrens daily life; therefore, the gap of girls in
American childrens books from the 1980s to the present need filling up. In fact, the
gender role of girls in American childrens books is a forever unstable status, for girls
are non-dominant characters in our society, and those authors are not girls when
inventing girlhood. This review and reflection on American girlhood lead us to ponder
12

the essences of invented girlhood and the education for girls, which are broader fields
that deserve scholars to explore in the future.
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