• Home
  • Illustration
  • Shop
    • Coaching
    • Commissions
  • About
    • The Little Women Project >
      • youtube
      • Podcast
    • Blog
    • FAQ
  • Say Hi On Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Facebook Page
    • Facebook Group
  • Contact
  • Etusivu
  • Kuvitukset
  • Taiteilijasta
    • Usein Kysytyt Kysymykset
    • Blogi
  • Kauppa
  • Yhteystiedot
  Fairychamber - Art and Illustrations by Niina Niskanen
  • Home
  • Illustration
  • Shop
    • Coaching
    • Commissions
  • About
    • The Little Women Project >
      • youtube
      • Podcast
    • Blog
    • FAQ
  • Say Hi On Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Facebook Page
    • Facebook Group
  • Contact
  • Etusivu
  • Kuvitukset
  • Taiteilijasta
    • Usein Kysytyt Kysymykset
    • Blogi
  • Kauppa
  • Yhteystiedot

Blog

Post about Jo, Friedrich little women and queer theory

12/29/2019

3 Comments

 
It is uncanny how some people are obsessed with the love life of Jo March and Louisa May Alcott and refuse to see Friedrich as a character in his own right based to an assumption that the writer might have been gay. There is multiple evidence which shows that Lucy Maud Montgomery might have been a lesbian (and many Montgomery scholars believe she was) and a great deal of Anne of green gables was based on the author´s life so in a way it´s also semi-biographical. 

Yet no one is tearing Gilbert and Anne apart because of that. 

In the 19th century relationships between women were more sentimental (we see this with Anne and Diana). In our modern-day perspective, it can feel strange and even romantic but in those times the world between men and women was strictly divided. 

Reminds me of what @ajedisith said about Fritz possibly being bi. LMA grew up in the transcendentalist circles, do some research and you´ll find out that there was lots of gender fluidly among them. There were also rumors back then that both Henry-David Thoreau and Emmerson who Louisa had crushes on (and was possibly in love with) and to whom she partly based Friedrich´s character were also bi´s (not that there was a term for it during those times). 

Sexual orientation is a spectrum same way as gender. The queer theory only tends to be about Jo (maybe we should broaden it up) and there is lots of speculation that Jo was trans/gender fluid. LMA liked to dress up as a boy the same way as Jo. Friedrich has zero problems with the fact that Jo is not traditionally feminine. I see Jo as gender fluid and Fritz as someone who accepted her as gender-fluid (and maybe Fritz was also gender fluid) but at the same, it is an assumption, not something that we or I can prove.  

Some people say Jo was asexual which would make LMA ace. It definitely seems that LMA was on the spectrum but in her adult works there are sexual themes (read “long fatal love chase” everyone) and there are records which show that she had sexual feelings towards some of her male friends which rules out her being an ace but that doesn´t mean that she was not on the spectrum. 

What it comes to Jo and Friedrich, the girl was lusty over the professor. She checks him out from head to toes multiple times.

Then there are cultural differences. You´ll hear some people calling Fritz emancipated because he has feminine/nurturing features (the argument is quite silly since Jo is attracted to them). I was quite baffled when I heard people using this argument against Fritz for the first time. The way Fritz plays with kids is not too different from the way Swedish, Norwegians, Germans and Russians for example act with children. This goes back to the “little women controversy” Jo has a boy´s name, Laurie has a girl´s name, Jo wants to be a man, both Fritz and Laurie possess feminine qualities, but these “feminine” qualities are also cultural differences (for example Laurie being very emotional is seen as a feminine quality, he is also half-Italian, so it can be in his heritage).
​
In the end, does Louisa May Alcott´s sexual orientation matter? she wrote excellent thought-provoking books that we still read today.
3 Comments
Becca
1/30/2020 04:04:13 am

Louisa’s sexuality does not matter (and really it shouldn’t matter to any author). Little Women is semi-autobiographical meaning, while a lot is based on real life, a lot of the story is fiction. When I read LW I picture Jo as a girl who doesn’t have society gender norms, so in a way gender fluid. However, women during this time in America didn’t have the freedom that they do now: they were more restrictive, so Jo is rebelling and was an early women’s suffrage activist (Louisa was def one. She was a rare women back in the day; certainly not the every day woman). Jo knits, knows how to sew, is a governess, and she does have maternal instincts. She’s also head strong, stubborn, wants to be the breadwinner, hates girly things and ideas, and would rather run outside and go to war. Jo is also a late bloomer when it comes to romantic love and it hits her like Cupid’s arrow. As for Fritz...I always saw him as a man who had to learn feminine traits. It’s too bad we don’t meet him while he was in Berlin so we will never know if he too always had feminine traits. In reality women and men have both traits; sure one is typically stronger than the other but we’re both emotional, sentimental creatures. Jo and Fritz are written like that. (Plus I really believe Louisa based Fritz off of the men she had crushes on/was in love with. And her love of Goethe helped too).

Reply
Niina Niskanen link
1/30/2020 02:44:31 pm

You´re reading my mind and the whole era when LMA was lived was labeled by Victorian chastity. Views on gender and sexuality were very different than now. Louisa totally based Friedrich to the men in her life. Character similarities f.e with John Suhre and Henry Thoreau are way too strong to be ignored.

Reply
Astrida
2/17/2020 05:34:15 pm

I agree with everything you said here. And while I can't claim myself for being a true feminist according to some prevailing standards of this ideology set by feminists themselves, I support it.
That being said, I think the new adaptation shouldn't have leapt into the postmodern version of feminism. Rather, they should at least make their feminism message in accordance with Alcott's era. For example: mentions of suffrage. If they really care for being true to Alcott's spirit, that is.


Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Niina

    Pronounced as Nee-na.
    ​
    Artist, illustrator, writer, watercolorist and a folklorist. Gryffinclaw. Comes from Finland. Likes cats, tea and period dramas. 

    If it´s canon and it´s
    ​Little Women it´s good.
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018

    Picture
    Please keep the comment section civil, respectful and connected to the topic at hand. ​Thank you.  Spammy/passive-agressive comments will be blocked and reported. 
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Support Fairychamber

    Picture

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Aboriginal Mythology
    African Myths
    Amy And Laurie
    Animal Art
    Animal Myths
    Animations
    Anne Of Green Gables
    Arabic Mythology
    Art Business Advice
    Artist Chats
    ASMR
    Assyrian Myths
    As Told By Ginger
    Baltic Myths
    Beauty And The Beast
    Bones
    Book Reviews
    Brothers Grimm
    Celtic Myths
    Challenges
    Charles-perrault
    Charles-perrault
    Chinese Myths
    Christmas
    Cinderella
    Comic-cons
    Cosplay
    Crafting Tutorials
    Disney
    Disney Crafts Diy
    Divination
    Dolls
    Drawing
    Drawing Tutorials
    Earthsea
    Egyptian Myths
    Estonian Folklore
    Estonian Wheel Of The Year
    Fairies & Elves
    Fairy Crafts DIY
    Fairy Tale Origins
    Fantasy Art
    Fashion Illustrations
    Finnish Culture
    Finnish Mythology
    Finnish Wheel Of The Year
    Food Illustrations
    Frozen
    Germanic Folktales
    Getting To Know Me
    Ghost Stories
    Goddess Art
    Greek Mythology
    GSR
    Halloween
    Halloween Crafts
    Hansel And Gretel
    Harry Potter
    Harry Potter Crafts
    Health
    Hindu Mythology
    Howl´s Moving Castle
    Illustrations
    Inuit Myths
    Irish Tales
    Jane The Virgin
    Japanese Myths
    Jo And Friedrich
    Komi Mythology
    Korean Myths
    Landscape Paintings
    Languages
    Latvian Wheel Of The Year
    Learn Finnish
    Lithuanian Wheel Of The Year
    Little Women
    Little Women Podcast
    Mari Folklore
    Marketing Your Art
    Meg And John
    Mermaids
    Miniatures
    MishMash Videos
    Moomins
    Movie-reviews
    Mulan
    Music
    Mythical Motifs
    Mythmas
    Native American Myths
    New Designs
    Norse Myths And Legends
    Once Upon A Time
    Painting
    Painting Tutorials
    Percy Jackson
    Persian Myths
    Pinocchio
    Polynesian Myths
    Red Riding Hood
    Roman Mythology
    Rose In Bloom
    Saami Mythology
    Samoyed Myths
    Scotland
    Scottish Tales
    Shamanism
    Siberia
    Sketchbook
    Slavic Mythology
    Sleeping Beauty
    Snow White
    Spells And Superstitions
    Swedish Folkore
    Symbols And Mythical Motifs
    Tea Time
    The Good Witch
    The X Files
    Time Lapse Paintings
    Tinker Bell
    Travel
    Trees And Plants
    Turkic Myths
    Unicorns
    Valentine´s Day
    Vedic Myths
    Wales
    Watercolor Textures
    Welsh Myths
    Welsh Wheel Of The Year
    Wheel Of The Year: Autumn
    Wheel Of The Year: Spring
    Wheel Of The Year: Summer
    Wheel Of The Year: Winter
    Witch Bottles
    W.i.t.c.h Comics
    Zodiac Myths

    RSS Feed