Good Girl Messages: How Young Women Were Misled by their Favorite Books

Referencing a range of books, O'Keefe illustrates the typical behavior of fictional girl characters and the impact this has on the self-esteem and self reliance of the young girls who read these books. For much of the twentieth century, books for children encouraged girls to be weak, submissive, and fearful. Good Girl Messages discusses such traits, both blatantly and subtly reinforced, in many of the most popular works of the period. Quoting a wide variety of passages, O'Keefe illustrates the typical behavior of fictional girls--many of whom were passive and immobile while others were actually invalids. They all engaged in approved girlish activities: deferring to elders, observing social constructed proprieties, and accepting conventional suitors. Even feisty tomboys, like Jo in Little Women, eventually gave up their dreams and their independence. Good Girl Messages also includes a discussion of books read by boys, who were depicted as purposeful, daring and dominating. The final chapter reviews, with abundant citations, the enormous changes for the better in children's books over recent decades--stories of girls who do not sell out, who are strong and resourceful as well as loving.