{because it´s march, lets talk about the march girls}

I couldn't sleep last night trying to find the 1949 movie version of Little Women to watch online. The one with Elizabeth Taylor and the rest... I found it but then it was so late I fell asleep and dreamt about the March girls... BTW, the prose is turning out to be a bit romantic because in order to shut out the unpleasant high noises of the city Ive been listening to a very soothing soundtrack. I believe someone was facing my exact same dilemma and decided to put all the greats together, Chopin, Mozart, Bach. If the decibel levels in your current town are annoying the hell out of ya, click on this link and enjoy as the quietness is delicately reestablished...

Back to our theme of the day, Little Women. Im not going to review the novel (right now) though I might as well share with you that it´s an all time favorite, and was rather embarrassed by this fact back in college. I mean, first day of class, professor points out at the young girl who appears quite confident adverting this attitude as a facade of some rather uncomfortable feelings of inadequacy. Spot on, smart man! I tried to sell, no one bought. So next thing I know, the subject of favorite books and Little Women surfaced. I did avoid the seemingly foolish declaration that a first edition of that book was gifted to me and was possibly the most thoughtful present I had ever received. He never knew. Well if he happened to discover my blog I suppose he is now well aware of this and can finally find relief and understanding regarding this powerful affair between Miss Alcott and Miss Neumann, I bet he´s even having that Eureka moment right now....

I wonder if there ever was a time in which witty, chatty, fashion driven, slightly cultured, lunch eating, club loving, city contained women debated whether they were more of a Jo, or a Beth. The same way as our current culture intrinsically divides women into four very clear and concise categories: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. There are NO OTHER OPTIONS so pick one and move on! Despite Sex and The City being over for so long, reruns do not count, many aspects of this amazing series have been heavily imprinted in our hearts and our souls. Its going to take a very potent contender to knock them down and erase the chip in our memories.

Im a late 80s/90s gal so I missed the Mary and Rhoda competition but thanks to a very creative piece of cinematography delight referred to as Romy And Michelle I have learned a great deal about our female ancestors and the variety of stereotypes that was available back then. Thanks to this movie, I also know who invented Post Its, but that´s for another post (it). I do imagine that history has offered plenty more choices but I would need to do a lot more research and Im getting of the page entirely...

In the end, I am A JO, the book nerd, author who rejects the pretty boy and falls for the old decrepit and infirm version of what was once a pretty boy. She takes charges and takes no BS from anybody. A feisty little creature with strong beliefs of righteousness and well, the hair thing, nah wouldn't cut my hair for all the money in the world... I said "a Jo", not just call me Jo.

It just makes me think about the values that stand in our present societal system. If we could just find the right balance between consumer frenzy and well, those things that really matter... I dont know, just sending the question out there...Wouldn't we be in a better place if our choices were as simple as choosing if we were a Meg, Jo, Beth or Amy?...

I read an interesting article by Dana Stevens regarding the subject of as she likes to call them "tradition of plucky female heroines". You can find it right HERE...

And today (3/31) I go and find an article titled - Was Jo March a lesbian? Right after Im comparing myself to Jo!! Im not a lesbian, not that there´s anything wrong with that... But I love theories so I wanted to share this one with you...