Official Course Description
“From “sugar and spice and everything nice” to “girls rule, boys drool” the expectations for a girl’s life mirror the ever-changing social, cultural, religious, and political conditions in the United States. In our examination of girlhood from the late 18th to the early 21st century we will learn of society’s changing expectations for females, and the political and cultural roles Americans believed girls played in society. Throughout our examination, we will pay close attention to the roles of class, ethnicity, race, and other differences–keeping in mind that there is no single American girlhood.”
My Description of HIS 204
In this course, we have looked at the expectations of females and their political and cultural roles. We have analyzed the changes and continuities of these social norms through literature such as Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, and The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls by Joan Jacobs Brumberg. This analysis has occurred over several mediums: novels, art, pop culture, and films.
What I Did in HIS 204
Term project: includes an essay that discusses 5 objects that represent girlhood in a particular time period while providing a persuasive discussion of the continuities and changes over time along with a discussion of the factors that have prompted those changes
