In opposition to a literary tradition of damsel-in-distress female characters, Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking, Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy, and Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie provide examples of empowered, intelligent, and capable young girls living in a mid-20th century environment and successfully subverting patriarchal norms. Drawing on Laura Mulvey’s theory on women as spectacle, Hélène Cixous’s concept of l’ecriture feminine, and New Historicist influences, I explore the common threads within these post-World War II era texts. Pippi’s strength and humor, Harriet’s spying and writing, and Flavia’s scientific expertise and detectival work illustrate their ability to bend gender conventions and defy authorities and institutions that seek to tame them. With their infiltration of spaces, fragmentation of the male gaze, and seizure of language, these heroines set a precedent for readers to follow, and these texts offer possibilities for social disruption in the name of female child empowerment.
","abstract_html":"<p>In opposition to a literary tradition of damsel-in-distress female characters, Astrid Lindgren’s <em>Pippi Longstocking</em>, Louise Fitzhugh’s <em>Harriet the Spy</em>, and Alan Bradley’s <em>The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie</em> provide examples of empowered, intelligent, and capable young girls living in a mid-20th century environment and successfully subverting patriarchal norms. Drawing on Laura Mulvey’s theory on women as spectacle, Hélène Cixous’s concept of l’ecriture feminine, and New Historicist influences, I explore the common threads within these post-World War II era texts. Pippi’s strength and humor, Harriet’s spying and writing, and Flavia’s scientific expertise and detectival work illustrate their ability to bend gender conventions and defy authorities and institutions that seek to tame them. With their infiltration of spaces, fragmentation of the male gaze, and seizure of language, these heroines set a precedent for readers to follow, and these texts offer possibilities for social disruption in the name of female child empowerment.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McLendon, Kelsey"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"English Language and Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ramona Caponegro, Ph.D, Chair","Amanda Allen, Ph.D, Second Reader"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:27Z","subjects":["Children's literature","feminism","girlhood","Harriet the Spy","historical fiction","Pippi Longstocking","Children's and Young Adult Literature","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/907","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ramona Caponegro, Ph.D, Chair","Amanda Allen, Ph.D, Second Reader"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McLendon, Kelsey"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-08-23T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English Language and Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Children's literature","feminism","girlhood","Harriet the Spy","historical fiction","Pippi Longstocking","Children's and Young Adult Literature","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/907"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In opposition to a literary tradition of damsel-in-distress female characters, Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking, Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy, and Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie provide examples of empowered, intelligent, and capable young girls living in a mid-20th century environment and successfully subverting patriarchal norms. Drawing on Laura Mulvey’s theory on women as spectacle, Hélène Cixous’s concept of l’ecriture feminine, and New Historicist influences, I explore the common threads within these post-World War II era texts. Pippi’s strength and humor, Harriet’s spying and writing, and Flavia’s scientific expertise and detectival work illustrate their ability to bend gender conventions and defy authorities and institutions that seek to tame them. With their infiltration of spaces, fragmentation of the male gaze, and seizure of language, these heroines set a precedent for readers to follow, and these texts offer possibilities for social disruption in the name of female child empowerment.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Parody and the pen: Pippi Longstocking, Harriet M. Welsch, and Flavia de Luce as disrupters of space, language, and the male gaze"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ramona Caponegro, Ph.D, Chair","Amanda Allen, Ph.D, Second Reader"],"dc:creator":["McLendon, Kelsey"],"dc:date.available":["2018-08-23T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In opposition to a literary tradition of damsel-in-distress female characters, Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking, Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy, and Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie provide examples of empowered, intelligent, and capable young girls living in a mid-20th century environment and successfully subverting patriarchal norms. Drawing on Laura Mulvey’s theory on women as spectacle, Hélène Cixous’s concept of l’ecriture feminine, and New Historicist influences, I explore the common threads within these post-World War II era texts. Pippi’s strength and humor, Harriet’s spying and writing, and Flavia’s scientific expertise and detectival work illustrate their ability to bend gender conventions and defy authorities and institutions that seek to tame them. With their infiltration of spaces, fragmentation of the male gaze, and seizure of language, these heroines set a precedent for readers to follow, and these texts offer possibilities for social disruption in the name of female child empowerment.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/907"],"dc:subject":["Children's literature","feminism","girlhood","Harriet the Spy","historical fiction","Pippi Longstocking","Children's and Young Adult Literature","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies"],"dc:title":["Parody and the pen: Pippi Longstocking, Harriet M. Welsch, and Flavia de Luce as disrupters of space, language, and the male gaze"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English Language and Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:27Z"}