Professional paper
Femininity, Masculinity, and the Tomboy: Gender Behavior in Enid Blyton's The Famous Five
Nadja Jukić
; University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
The Famous Five book series is a staple of children’s literature. Yet, there
is a serious lack of academic criticism regarding these books. Somehow, Enid
Blyton has mostly slipped through the cracks of contemporary gender studies
in literature. It is my aim in this paper to compensate for this by examining
gender behavior in the novels, focusing on the interplay between femininity and
masculinity in the two female protagonists, Anne and George. Gender appears allencompassing but can be analyzed methodically using various approaches within
gender studies and feminist theory. Post-structuralist feminism deconstructs the
notions of femininity and masculinity, which enables an exploration of how and
why they are used in society. During the twenty-year period (1942-1962) in which
Blyton was writing her series, femininity and domesticity were propagated as the
ideal for women. This was done in order to reformulate British national identity:
harmony between the genders metaphorically represented harmony in the nation.
In the novels, this socio-political background is implicit but undeniably present.
Gender behavior is only accepted and approved by others when it naturally
follows from sex: girls are only allowed to be feminine and boys masculine.
Therefore, Blyton subscribes to the essentialist understanding of sex and gender,
which unites the two into an inseparable entity. The books are especially hard
on the tomboy character, George, who is sometimes seen as an example of a
subversive gender identity. I argue that this is certainly not the case, as George is
repeatedly punished for her incorrect and inappropriate gender behavior.
Keywords
femininity, masculinity, tomboy, gender studies, feminist theory, The Famous Five
Hrčak ID:
264983
URI
Publication date:
29.10.2021.
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