Boyish girls and girlish boys in 20th century children's literature

[SaltPorridge]

George in "The Famous Five", Enid Blyton

Peter in Malcolm Saville's books set in Shropshire

Nancy and Peggy in Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransome

Petrova in "Ballet Shoes", Noel Streatfield

Please add more/ discuss/ disagree etc.

The indomitable Dido Twite in Black hearts in Battersea, Night birds on Nantucket, The Stolen Lake etc.

I liked Dimsie, a series of school stories set in Scotland (though unbeknownst to me at the time the author lived round the corner from me in London!). Lots of adventures but not sure she was boyish more that girls schools at the time - 40s/50s - expected girls to be sporty and resourceful, at least private schools in school stories.

So wanted to be like Darrell Rivers when I was growing up! Splendiferous!

I think it's true there aren't many non boyish boy characters. Those there are - Fotherington-Thonas, Walter the Softy, Walter Blythe aren't mostly seen as great role-models, though Walter isn't contemptibleand to be looked down on as the first two.

I'm not sure that examples like Poirot help, because they are foreign, so not like proper British men.

Of course girls would want not to be restricted by pretty dresses and being demure and doing chores, men mostly did have a better deal there. Through much of the 20th century, girls also wouldn't have been encouraged to be too girly, if they were good sorts - see Susan Pevensey in The Last Battle - except you can't, because she's not one of the ones who make it, because she's more interested in lipstick by then. Similarly, girls in Blyton who are interested in how they look rather than healthy pursuits like lacrosse are usually looked down on. You should be feminine but wholesome, not tarty. So it would be even harder for boys to experiment with make-up etc.

Most of the boys stories I remember are about healthy pursuits like cricket and football, and saving the world from various evils, like Biggles - though Worralls, who WE Johns was asked to write to encourage girls to consider service in the WAAF seems quite feminist and adventurous, and seems to give up the choice of a life with Bill in favour of flying planes.

There are boys in the various ballet books, but they're usually there are a prop for the girls- dancers need partners and love interests. Plus dancing is pretty hard-core physically.

So I agree, there aren't really any alternative models of how to be a boy in children's fiction.

I always thought Titty was Letitia!

Ramona Quimby - series by Beverley Cleary

Sophie - eponymous series by Dick King-Smith

Both "tomboyish" girls. (I hate that word).

It's interesting about boys, I feel like there are a few different things going on here.

Whilst I can think of boys in fiction that are less of the stereotypical sporty adventuring type and may have personalities that we might perceive as quieter, bookish, kind, I'm not sure they read particularly as stereotypically feminine. I'm wondering if that's because with man as default human they have always had more of an expansive range of acceptable personalities. Whereas a girl expressing sportiness, competitiveness, and at some points in history even intellect etc is seen as wanting to be like a boy/man. What areas are really left to be perceived as wanting to be a girl? Even nurturing younger kids is seen as a leadership/paternal role for boys whereas in a girl it would be perceived as more motherly. Thinking here of Julian taking care of Anne.

There's definitely long been a sort of gentlemanly idea of being a man that is more intellectual or artistic, physically restrained, socially adept. Class playing a role here.

Pip from Great Expectations, Laurie from Little Women. We wouldn't describe them as girlish really but surely sexism forcing women to be judged as acting unnaturally for having a temper, or wanting a writing career or caring more about her family than her beautiful hair are the only reasons we think of Jo March as being boyish.

If we are going to be more strict about what being perceived as feminine would entail then I suppose Colin from The Secret Garden is perceived as weak and emotional with indoor pursuits and may fit that bill, largely because he is or has been perceived as in ill health and in an odd way both spoiled and neglected.

Dicken is more outdoorsy, but he's quiet and intune with animals which if he were a girl would be perceived as kind and nurturing and seen as feminine but again we don't really think of it as not being a suitable interest or character for a boy anyway.

Just thoughts anyway that the older idea of what it meant to be man of a certain class would perhaps be thought of as female stereotypes now but wouldn't have at the time because men held almost all the cards. I have enjoyed all the little trips down memory lane! Currently reading the Famous Five to my kids.

Fatty from the Five Find Outers (Mystery series) is quite a different personality to Dick and Julian but again he is sweet with Bets. If it were a female character protecting and babying a younger one it would be seen as being a mother hen, but when a boy does it is seen as chivalry and masculine too.

They just own all the things except weakness physical and emotional.

Poor Susan Pevensey, damned for lipstick and stockings. I read the other Narnia books to my dd but not that one.

@ThisIsMyGCname you’re right, I watched the film as a 13 year old, having previously read all of Arthur Ransome’s books & just took it as gospel. I had always wondered what Titty was short for. I have now read the
article about it upthread.

@GryffindorsSword has articulated what I was trying to think: it's notable that two of the boys that have been proposed as possibly girlish, Albert Sandwich and Colin from "The Secret Garden", were ill. Colin is still the man of the house and bosses Mary as well as the servants, while his father is away. Albert becomes a lawyer.

But the thing about Eustace is that he is selfish and self centered. He cannot think outside himself. When he is 'undragoned' he peels off the skin of indifference and finds his real self- a much nicer and more honest person. In The Silver Chair he has adventures and is brave and kind, which he could not have been before. I don't think you are right about the Empire stuff, that wasn't Lewis' thing at all - he was interested in the medieval world view which is a very different beast.

But if you love E Nesbit don't read it!

That's very true.

Class and family affinities are important in a lot of the books - despite friendships, Colin and Mary have more in common with each other than they do with Dickon and Martha.

Dimsie is interesting because of the anti-soppists - a faction in the school dedicated to opposing sentimentality and excessive interest in fashion and hirly presentation, an idea that Jean Ebster also explored in one of the Patty books and that Brent-Dyer re-used (with acknowledgement) in A Head Girl's Difficulties (I think).

Across school stories generally the message was

Fashion, make-up, boyfriends: bad,

Academic achievement, sport, general competence including camping, cooking, social graces, drama, organisation: good.

Sewing, art, take it or leave it. Music a bit freakish but acceptable.

Loyalty and kindness, essential.

Probably not the worst rules to have to conform to through adolescence, if only because by 18 you'd be longing to grow up.

Sewing, art, take it or leave it. Music a bit freakish but acceptable.

But if you do do them, you should ideally be exceptionally talented.

Yes. Irene & Belinda’s idiosyncrasies would have been tolerated far less at Malory Towers if they weren’t geniuses.

However in addition to the solid virtues, there’s imagination - writers can’t help but love the kindred spirits they create.

True. Elinor M Brent-Dyer clearly adored Jo Bettany.

Titty was a standard shortening for Letitia when the Swallows and Amazons was written so not at all problematic then. Peggy is a standard nickname for Margaret (no idea why!).

I just looked up Bessie Marchant, who I have read very little of (ditto Henty and Brereton, I'm not really into narratives of Empire) but I found her Wikipedia article gives plot summaries and now I want to read them all.

I suspect her heroines had no time to wish they were boys - much too busy,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Marchant

I also loved the introduction of Dick and Dotty - because they were so different to the others, but equally brilliant in different ways that are not related to their sex (although Dot a bit protective of Dick, social conditioning among other things)

Also (sorry S&A is one of my favourite series ever and i've read them several times) the Swallows' mum, robust, practical, down to earth. Not averse to rowing over to the island and cooking with Titty.

Nancy and Peggy just are what they are. They never try and change their very feminine names.

sorry got this far. Of course Nancy isn't actually her name, it is Ruth - but pirates are "ruthless" hence the name change. Note changed to a girls' name though. It never dawns on any of the children, or (most of) the grown ups that girls can't be pirates.

ETA: ah, i see @ErrolTheDragon beat me to it

Rush Melendy, teaching piano to the boy who implies Rush is 'soft' and punching hi on the nose (to the approval of the boy's father).

Oliver Melendy becoming best friends with Mr Titus, a much older single man whose passions are fishing, vegetable gardening, and cooking, at which he is acknowledged to be the outstanding expert.

And no-one thinking there's anything wrong with that.

Interesting. When I was young, I've never felt that the Ransome's Amazons would be particularly boyish. They were just another set of children with a boat who happened to be girls. Given the Swallows were mixed, it wasn't really surprising.

Similarly, Pipi was just an active girl for me.
Bibi was another case.
Yeah, maybe some older relatives tried to say something about ladylikeness, but that was their (the older relatives) problem, not something the girl in question should be overly concerned with .