Literature Network » Louisa May Alcott

Of sissies, invalids, and the mysterious boy in the window.(Book review)

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From: The Horn Book Magazine
Date: 20070901
Author:Crawford, Philip Charles

The first book I read that reflected my own gender identity was Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Like that book's Laurie Laurence, I wasn't fond of boys (with all their teasing and "skylarking") and didn't particularly enjoy "guy" stuff like sports, war games, and hunting. What I did enjoy was spending time with girls and playing with dolls. Laurie was the first boy character I encountered who was, like me, a sissy. Being a sissy has never been easy. Our society's enforcement of rigidly defined gender roles for men is pervasive, and boys who are deemed effeminate are often the ...

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