Battling Girlhood

<p>From Jo March of <i>Little Women</i> (1868) to Katniss Everdeen of <i>The Hunger Games</i> (2008), the American tomboy figure has evolved into an icon of modern girlhood and symbol of female empowerment. <i>Battling Girlhood</i>: <i>Sympathy, Social Justice, and the Tomboy Figure in American Literature</i> traces the development of the tomboy figure from its origins in nineteenth-century sentimental novels to twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature and film.</p> <p>Acknowledgements</p><p></p><p>Introduction</p><p>1 Tomboys in Rag Alley: Understanding Cap Black and the Sentimental Tradition</p><p></p><p><b>2</b> Teaching Jo: Philanthropy, Education, and the Tomboy Trajectory in Louisa May Alcott’s Trilogy</p><p></p><p><b>3</b> Tomboys on the Prairie: Violence, Discipline, and Community in the <i>Little House</i> Series</p><p></p><p><b>4</b> Queer Sentiments: Tomboyism and Familial Belonging in Carson McCullers’s <i>The Member of the Wedding</i></p><p></p><p><b>5</b> Scout as Social Critic: Sympathetic Alliances in <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i></p><p></p><p><b>6</b> <i>Beasts of the Southern Wild</i>: Queer Childhood, Race, and the Dystopian South</p><p></p><p>Coda</p><p>Works Cited</p><p></p><p>Index</p>