Even Laura Ingalls Wilder had body issues...

I have been reading the Little House books to my children. We just finished "Little Town on the Prairie," which is the 7th of 9 books in the series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It's been an enjoyable journey, especially for my daughter.

I have written several pieces on women and body issues here at Motherscribe. Perhaps my most disturbing post, is Will they wonder why we didn't stop the make-overs at 5... In it, I talk about the growing acceptance of a trend, where we are responsible for sexualizing younger and younger girls in our culture and media.

Lacking a positive body image is something that many of us have attributed to a modern culture. Imagine my surprise when coming upon these passages written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as she is preparing herself for her first evening party.

"She could not sit still. She took one more look into the looking glass that hung on the wall. She wished so much to be tall and slim that she almost hoped to see a slender, tall girl. But in the glass she saw a small, round girl in a Sunday-best dress of blue cashmere.

Laura could not find one fault with the dress. But, oh! how she wished she were tall and willowy, like Nellie Oleson. Her waist was as round as a young tree, her arms were slender but round, too, and her very small hands were rather plump and capable-looking. They were not thin and languid like Nellie's hands.

The eyes, Laura thought, were too far apart, and they were a softer blue than Pa's. They were wide-open and anxious. They did not sparkle at all.

At least, her hair was thick and very long, though it was not golden."**

Although Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her sixties writing these autobiographical stories, and reflecting back on her girlhood, it only reinforces how insecure and self-critical she was of her physical form. The story took place in 1882.

This leaves me with the thought that a girl's dissatisfaction with her body lies much deeper than damage inflicted by the advertising media. Yes! We should hold the media to the fire for the harm they are causing to our girls, but we should also dig down into our own feelings of body self-hatred. Really question WHERE our own thoughts and views come from. Perhaps most important, is to think about what we can do to empower our daughters, and how we can bring about change for the future generations to come...


**These quotes from "Little Town on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder are not sequential, but within the same chapter.

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JCK is participated in NaBloPoMo, (30 posts in 30 days), for the month of November.

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