We need to talk about the "I'm not like other girls" problem in historical costume dramas

Comments · 3.7K

• AB

  @AbbyCox · 5 years ago · pinned

  Hey Everyone - Links to creators I mentioned are in the description and my works cited can be found here: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/54867822">https://www.patreon.com/posts/54867822</a><br>(also I feel like I need to say this because I&apos;m slightly paranoid) - While I&apos;m not a fan of the 2019 Little Women (for a variety of reasons, one of them being that the 1994 version is just my favorite movie of all time, so it&apos;s just like...not the same.) I really adored Anne with an E, even though I was frustrated by how they portrayed Ms. Stacy. They did a lot of wonderful things in the series (Aunt Jo 👑). Also, if you ever want me to cry on cue, just get me talking about Matthew (from either Anne with an E or Anne of Green Gables. My heart. I CANNOT 😭)

  814

• FA

  @faefolkarts · 3 years ago

  just a reminder from the book Anne of Green Gables<br>“Anne took the dress and looked at it in reverent silence. Oh, how pretty it was - a lovely soft brown gloria with all the gloss of silk; a skirt with dainty frills and shirrings; a waist elaborately pintucked in the most fashionable way, with a little ruffle of flimsy lace at the neck. But the sleeves - they were the crowning glory! Long elbow cuffs, and above them two beautiful puffs divided by rows of shirring and bows of brown-silk ribbon.”<br>This girl LOVED FASHION AND WAS AN ICON

  1.4K

• PC

  @pcbassoon3892 · 4 years ago

  I went to a &quot;Girls in STEM&quot; seminar where they told us that if you dress your daughter in pink dresses, you can&apos;t be upset if they aren&apos;t into STEM. I am not particularly feminine myself, but I absolutely reject the idea that feminity and intelligence are mutually exclusive.

  6.1K

• LI

  @Lindzo89 · 3 years ago (edited)

  It&apos;s always been EXPECTED of women to look appealing to men. Many women broke away from what women are traditionaly expected to wear so that we would have the freedom to wear pants, not wear make up, let our hair be free and not wear bras if we don&apos;t want to. A woman choosing to not wear &quot;traditional&quot; women&apos;s attire is not saying she&apos;s better or not like other girls. She just doesn&apos;t want to dress like that. I&apos;m grateful for the women that broke the mold. They gave me the freedom to dress and act in a way that I feel the most comfortable in figuratively and literally.

  34

• BU

  @BuggstheBuilder · 5 years ago (edited)

  Edit: I’m talking about the book, not any of the series, just describing how I love that Anne isn’t just whimsical and doesn’t mind getting messy but is a girl who loves both the fancy things and the not fancy things which often feels rare for female characters where they seem to be divided into either indoors and fancy lady whos “girly” or imaginative and outdoors whos “tomboy”. It’s cool there’s a young girl who is both and has many sides to her.<br>Even in the book Anne of Green Gables I’m pretty sure there’s long paragraphs of Anne/the narrator talking all about puffed sleeves, I’ve always loved how Anne was shown to be a rough and tough, artsy kid while still wanting to look beautiful and feminine. It’s interesting that the book was published in 1908 and still is very relatable for young women who want to get messy and be artistic and imaginative and still want to present very feminine and care about their appearances

  5.3K

• QU

  @quiestinliteris · 5 years ago

  Despite the other issues with historical dress in Enola Holmes, I love her strategic use of femininity as camouflage. In the books, she addresses this specifically, that dressing as a boy is a bit of a cliche, and her brothers will be expecting it, so instead she will disappear by becoming beautiful.

  1.9K

• HE

  @heatgerm · 2 years ago

  I always think about how in these scenes where the &quot;unconventional female lead&quot; rejects or disparages corsets, fashion, make-up, makeover scenes, etc.... she is still played by a gorgeous actress with what is considered in modern day as an &quot;ideal body&quot;. So we are invited as an audience to say: &quot;of course she doesn’t need those silly things, she&apos;s already beautiful!&quot; I think the movie makers realise it wouldn’t have their desired effect if we saw their conformity to their time period&apos;s standards as an improvement, so they have to make sure she&apos;s already perfect.<br><br>And I kind of think, if you wanted to REALLY show an unconventional, rebellious character, how about an actress who isn&apos;t traditionally beautiful and STILL rejects beautifying means? That would be real rebellion.

  12

• BE

  @bernadettebanner · 5 years ago

  THANK YOUU for adding in the bloomer rant 🙌🏻🙌🏻

  4.4K

• TR

  @treeflamingo · 5 years ago

  There’s a real skinny bias to that whole “corsets are for sheep, I’m a Progressive Modern Woman” stereotype. If the experiences of busty women with their bras are anything to judge by, I have to imagine that busty women in ye olden days were not champing at the bit to throw out their most supportive garment, no matter how feminist their leanings.

  5.1K

• SA

  @sammysoppy3361 · 4 years ago (edited)

  ok but like when little women was written, Jo being “not like other girls” was ACTUALLY a big deal. a big fu to what society expected of women back then.

  1.6K

• AN

  @anska7475 · 5 years ago

  I often feel that the „not like other girls“ in historical movies/ fiction is also meant as a tool to strengthen our belief that we live in a much more advanced society today. When the character - and often the character alone - conveys thoughts that are „common knowledge“ today (corsets being bad for example) it might make us feel good about ourselves, because of what we as a society have achieved since those dark days. An insidious feeling, because it glosses over what we have not achieved.

  2.5K

• PA

  @patiencenails6632 · 5 years ago

  My pet peeve is the girl who doesn&apos;t sew because she&apos;s not like other girls. &nbsp;That&apos;s like a modern woman who doesn&apos;t know how to do dishes. &nbsp;It&apos;s not quirky, it&apos;s a lack of a basic life skill.

  2.8K