I really enjoyed the discussion today in class and our coverage of various dynamics at work in Oz.
The one that interests me most is the extent to which The Wonderful Wizard of Oz can be considered feminist. Because of his family’s noted relationship with activism, I researched Frank L. Baum’s personal stances on women’s rights. According to a New York Times article, an “Oz historian” and Baum biographer characterizes the author as ”a secure man who did not worry about asserting his masculine authority.” In a newspaper editorial, Baum wrote that men who did not consider themselves feminists were ”selfish, opinionated, conceited or unjust — and perhaps all four combined.” I am so pleasantly surprised to find a man in a powerful position – especially of the early 20th century- who took such an outspoken and steadfast stance towards feminism!
In class, I said that Dorothy was essentially a conduit for the plot; simply, a manipulatable figure who passively reacts to the events surrounding her. After giving her character and her function more consideration, I would like to amend this statement!! I think that Dorothy’s empathetic, compassionate, and relatively quiet personality represent rare, benevolent traits that are often diminished, ridiculed, and overlooked in women and female characters.
Despite The Wizard of Oz being considered a feminist text, I would argue that Dorothy does not resemble a strong female character. For instance, Dorothy achieves all of her accomplishments accidentally. As another blogger pointed out, Dorothy did not know that tossing water on the Wicked Witch of the West would kill her. Similarly, she received praise for killing the Wicked Witch of the East, but she did not have control over where her house landed once the twister subsided. In the end of the book, we learn that Dorothy had the ability to return home on her own accord, but this ability was given to her by the power of the silver shoes. Furthermore, the mark of the good witch protected her throughout her journey, and she also would not have been able to make it to Oz without the help of the other characters (e.g., when she was carried out of the poppy field).
However, Dorothy is also supposed to be a child in this story, so a more careful look at the men’s roles might be even more useful when viewing this book as a feminine text. Typically, male characters are displayed as stronger, more competent, and more confident than women. However, Baum flips this traditional dynamic. For instance, the terrible Wizard of Oz reveals himself to be nothing but a phony man who is incapable of using the powers he claims to possess. Although one may argue that the Lion does not display masculine traits due to his lack of courage, I believe that the true reversal of tradition roles lies in the male characters’ inability to acknowledge their own strengths and have confidence in themselves.