Dec 11, 2021
Toxic Masculinity of Jo March
Jo is often portrayed as a feminist icon and this has been only highlighted by the movies but in the book, Jo does fall into misogynist behaviour more than once, especially in her younger years. There is a lot of talk about toxic masculinity, in her friendship with Laurie both Jo and Laurie adopted behaviour patterns that we might now day refer to as sexist, they fed each other with misogynist ideas. They made fun of the feminine girls Laurie was flirting with. Jo mocked both Amy and Meg for wanting to fit into the female circles. When Jo lost her trip to Europe, it happened because she made fun of the feminine labour. when Laurie proposed to Jo he took a position that was demanding. In comparison to Jo, who is very blunt, Laurie was very emotional and became easily offended. For Jo showing emotions was a weakness. This is something that Laurie even calls her out in the book. In the 2017 series, after Marmee goes to Washington Jo tells her sisters not to cry.
In her relationship with Friedrich for the first time, Jo allowed herself to be completely vulnerable with another person. After Beth´s passing the novel that Jo writes, is not “Little Women” and neither is it a thrilling story. It is a story about Beth, a book about home. She took Friedrich´s advice to write from her heart and it becomes Jo´s first big hit.
When Amy marries Laurie Jo is genuinely happy for them, but she does envy their happiness. She does not envy Amy for marrying Laurie, she envies their happiness. In the book, Jo misses Friedrich a great deal. The loneliness she was afraid of does happen because it is inevitable.
When Jo falls in love she embraces all the emotions, including the romantic ones which are the ones she has been afraid of because of her fear of commitment. According to Jo´s early experience, love and marriage destroyed families. Fear of not being accepted as she is (outside of her family) is tied into Jo´s fear of being alone. Friedrich doesn´t want Jo to change and once Jo realizes this she lets go of her fear.
Friedrich has an emphatic world view which is often seen as a more feminine trait. He is also kind and soft-spoken. For some people this makes Friedrich emancipated. Insisting that Friedrich is not “masculine” is more indicative of someone being tied up in their own binary views of gender than anything else. In the same way, it is misogynistic to condemn Amy because of her femininity.
Some people, usually younger ones, admire Laurie when he tries to blackmail Jo to marry him. It is a complete juxtapose that shies away from Louisa May Alcott´s very intentional attempt to tear down gender stereotypes. Jo´s feelings of being an outsider and her struggles with non-conformity come at ease when she meets Friedrich who embodies those feminine traits that she admires in a man.https://www.fairychamber.com/blog/evolution-of-friedrich-bhaer.html
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