The Flying Girl - Feminism

Feminism

Baum lived during an era of increasing feminist and suffragette agitation; women gained the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, the year after his death. Baum's mother-in-law Matilda Joslyn Gage was a leading feminist of her generation, and influenced Baum's views.

It is certainly true that Baum pokes gentle fun at the feminist and suffragette movement in his books — the most obvious example being General Jinjur and her Army of Revolt in The Marvelous Land of Oz. Yet Baum also had a strong sympathy with the broad goals of the movement, a sympathy that is reflected in his literary canon. Oz, of course, is a female-dominated society, with Princess Ozma, Glinda, and witches good and bad. Baum wrote a number of books specifically for girls; his ten-novel series Aunt Jane's Nieces portrays young women acting with independence, initiative, and individuality in preference to traditional gender roles. In one case, Baum went too far for his publishers: though he was their star writer, Reilly & Britton rejected the first version of his 1916 book Mary Louise, "presumably because the heroine was not sufficiently idealized." Though unhappy with their decision, Baum re-wrote the book to deliver a more tame and stereotypical heroine.