Jo March, A Protagonist Challenging Gender Norms In Little Women By Louisa May Alcott

Introduction

The ever loved classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott depicts four young sisters living in a small town during the American Civil War and details the women's passage from childhood to womanhood. The open rejection of traditional female norms and expectations by the protagonist of Jo March challenges the gender norms of the contemporary time period, resulting in her being a feminist icon.

Jo March’s Attitude According to Adler’s “Masculine Protest”

The concept of organ inferiority aligns with the behaviour of the protagonist Jo March and therefore display the character’s rejection of her gender. The study of “inferiority complex”, which explores the concept of organ inferiority, stated that people enduring conditions resulting in them being at disadvantage in society would in turn experience sentiments of inferiority, thereby maneuvering the way one aim for superiority. Jo March was a woman in good health, still she conspicuously resented that her sex resulted in her being at a disadvantage in the society of her era. ”I hate to think I’ve got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China aster! It’s bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boys games and work and manners! I can’t get over my disappointment in not being a boy; and it’s worse than ever now, for I’m dying to go and fight with papa, and I can only stay at home and knit, like a poky old woman!” From this harangue we can distinguish the helplessness felt by Jo regarding her inability to become a soldier as a result of her gender. As mentioned by Sentana, considering Jo beliefs herself to be inferior she rather strives to be superior, which in this case translates to being a man. In essence, Jo is rejecting her feminine role, rather adapting a masculine orientation and becoming assertive as a result of the inferiority she is experiencing as a result of her gender.

Challenging the Gender Construction of Domesticity

By rejecting the expectation of a woman’s domesticity role, Jo March objects the societal construction associated with her gender. As noted by Alberghene and Clark, this period in which little women was set was often referred to as the domestic ideology which was based primarily on notions of biologically determined gender roles and patriarchal religious doctrine, it claimed that women should avoid the public sphere. Jo exclaims when talking of dreams how “… I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead…. I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous, that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream.” This direct repudiation of conventional domesticity and longing aspiration for a life beyond the walls of her own homestead resulted in Jo being a revolutionary and thereby feminist character for the contemporary time period. Consequently, by aspiring further than the domesticity of in which she grew up, the character of Jo March challenges the societal construction associated with her gender.

Summary and Conclusion

To summarise, the character of Jo March challenges the gender roles of the time through rejecting the ideology of domesticity and adapting a masculine orientation, subsequently rejecting the contemporary definition of femininity. In conclusion, Jo March strains powerfully against the gender stereotypes that bind her, and she emerges as a modern figure with ideas about gender roles that seem completely opposed to the social order reigning at that time, resulting in her being an avant garde feminist icon.