One thing that I found striking for the Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the fact that the protagonist is female. I think a lack of female protagonists in books and films is still very prevalent today- a 2014 study by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that only 23% of protagonists were female in worldwide films from 2010 to 2013 (Smith, Stacy L.; Pieper, Katherine. ). So it is surprising to me that a fiction adventure series would feature a female main character and reach the popularity that it did in the early 20th century considering the lack of rights women had in the United States. Learning today in class that Baum’s feminist and suffragist mother-in-law may have influenced him definitely sheds some light on the subject.

However, just because the main character is female does not mean that the book automatically deserves praise. Whenever Dorothy had a problem in the story she needed the help of male companion to solve the problem. Even when she acted on her own to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, she accidentally killed her not knowing that tossing a bucket of water (because she was mad) would lead to the witch’s demise.

After today’s class I was curious if The Wonderful Wizard of Oz would pass the Bechdel test, which assesses if a work of fiction has 1) two named female characters, 2) that they talk to each other, and 3) when they talk they discuss something other than a man (https://bechdeltest.com/view/174/the_wizard_of_oz/). Both the book and the movie pass the Bechdel test, and when going through and looking for conversations with Dorothy and other female characters, there are multiple instances including conversations with the Witch of the North, Glinda, Aunt Em, and the Wicked Witch of West. These conversations are about things other than men, though some are quite brief or eventually end with a male being the topic of discussion (i.e. the Witch of the North sending Dorothy to the powerful Wizard of Oz to solve her problem). I think more could be done in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz to promote feminism, for its time the book was probably one of few to showcase a female protagonist going on an adventure like Dorothy does.

1. Smith, Stacy L.; Pieper, Katherine. “Gender Bias Without Borders: An Investigation of Female Characters in Popular Films Across 11 Countries”. Retrieved 21 February, 2018.