Molly Gilman
Actor, Singer, Musician / New York, NY

"Little Women" promo: A Tik Tokker asked, "The women are put in very traditional gender roles, aren't they?"
Professor Nogender (here) answered: "I think a main reason this story is so loved is because the four main characters have four different relationships to gender identity.
The protagonist hates that she was born female, identifies with male characters, and her ambitions are in spheres reserved for men—and she uses "male"-coded strategies to accomplish them!
One sister is agender: her two loves are her family, as a sibling, and music, in private. Actually, being born female might help her stay in private; if she were a boy, he might have been pressured more into public life.
The two remaining sisters do inhabit traditional female roles, but the eldest does sincerely, wanting to embody the aesthetics and values; while the youngest does strategically, seeing how she can use society to maximize control over her life.
A lot of literature from the time can seem to show/celebrate only one kind of woman (if any); but we know how varied representation can affect people, sometimes to validate and expand possibilities."
Professor Nogender (here) answered: "I think a main reason this story is so loved is because the four main characters have four different relationships to gender identity.
The protagonist hates that she was born female, identifies with male characters, and her ambitions are in spheres reserved for men—and she uses "male"-coded strategies to accomplish them!
One sister is agender: her two loves are her family, as a sibling, and music, in private. Actually, being born female might help her stay in private; if she were a boy, he might have been pressured more into public life.
The two remaining sisters do inhabit traditional female roles, but the eldest does sincerely, wanting to embody the aesthetics and values; while the youngest does strategically, seeing how she can use society to maximize control over her life.
A lot of literature from the time can seem to show/celebrate only one kind of woman (if any); but we know how varied representation can affect people, sometimes to validate and expand possibilities."