We need to talk about the "I'm not like other girls" problem in historical costume dramas

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While originally I was planning this video to be a more in-depth discussion on the costumes in Anne of Green Gables (the 1980s version, not Anne with an E) - I ended up falling down a rabbit hole on the "not like other girls" trope and realized that this whole "not like other girls" thing is increasingly common in historical costume dramas.

and that's not a good thing.

however, it explains a lot of costuming and writing choices that we're seeing in remakes of movies like Little Women and Anne with an E, where strong, progressive, and feminist characters - like Jo March and Ms. Stacy - reject their societies' dress and culture norms and embrace more masculine styles of dress to express their "progressiveness".

Where, when we look at the historic realities that these women would have lived in, the opposite was the case. Keeping to Victorian and Edwardian female dress standards and expectations and dressing impeccably were huge in women's fight for equality.

So, we have a lot to cover today - from Mary Wollenstonecraft, George Sand, Amelia Bloomer and her tunic and trousers, women dressing as men during times of war, suffragists, Dr. Mary Blackwell, and the costumes in Little Women (both 1994 and 2019s), Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne with an E, and Gentleman Jack.

Here are the videos from other creators I mention who have covered the "not like other girls" trope in-depth:

‪@tiffanyferg‬ "I'm Not Like Other Girls"    • "I'm Not Like Other Girls"  
‪@SarahZ‬ "I'm Not Like Other Girls"    • "I'm Not Like Other Girls"  
‪@TheBookLeo‬ "I'm Not Like Other Girls" in Young Adult Books    • 'I'm Not Like Other Girls' in Young Adult ...  
‪@caseyaonso4270‬ "tik tok made "i'm not like other girls" trendy again... great    • tik tok made "i'm not like other girls" tr...  
‪@jordanatheresa‬ "i'm not like other girls"    • "i'm not like the other girls"  

Works Cited for this video:   / 54867822  

Chapters:

00:00 - 2:42 - Intro & Sponsor
2:43 - 6:24 - What is the "not like other girls" trope and how does it show up in historical costume dramas (ft. corsets - shocking!)
6:25 - 12:10 - Feminists in History (Mary Wollenstonecraft, Suffragists, and others)
12:11 - 14:29 - Little Women (1994 vs. 2019)
14:30 - 20:24 Amelia Bloomer and that whole thing
20:25 - 21:57 Social Class, Acceptability, and being Eccentric in the 1800s
21:58 - 25:39 Women who DID dress as Men in the 1700s and 1800s (George Sand and others)
25:40 - 26:34 - Gentleman Jack Costumes
26:35 - 33:22 - Anne of Green Gables & Anne with an E
33:23 - 35:09 - Corset Alternatives were a thing (ft. an original corset waist)
35:10 - 36:06 - Chaos

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#notlikeothergirls #historicalcostuming #costumereview #littlewomen #annewithane #anneofgreengables #gentlemanjack