It has recently come to my attention that an author by the name of Louisa May Alcott has penned a frankly derogatory book by the name of Little Women. At first I was amused. Who doesn’t mind a little bit of railing on women? Women are, I thought to myself, littler than men. But then I had to stop and think. Had Katy Perry built this women’s world just for me to stomp on it? How about, instead of relying on preconceived notions about women and femininity, I try to change my thinking. Sadly, it appears that Louisa May Alcott was not interested in living up to Katy Perry’s standards, or else she would never have published a book with such a pejorative title. So now, as the bigger man in the room, I am obligated to correct Louisa’s perverse thinking. Louisa, let me talk to you directly. As per the blurb on the back of your book, you place your four female protagonists in the frame of “keeping their house while their father is off to war.” Did you know that women are more than that? More than caretakers, cleaners, and homebound domestic slaves. I challenge you on this narrow projection of womanhood. Why not write a book about women who have broken the mold, like Katy Perry? How about a woman who, against all odds, has become a receptionist? Or how about a woman who has shattered the glass ceiling and is working as an assistant? How about a woman who is breaking down our patriarchal society by running a daycare? I bet none of this occurred to you. Because to you, women are little. I challenge all of you to think more critically about women. Sure, sometimes women can be hard to understand, but other times, women can also be not hard to understand. Women can do big things and sometimes can be as big as men.
