No Boys Allowed: Girlhood and Programming for Girls in 19th and 20th Centuries, United States

3 units

This course takes an intersectional feminist approach to studying girlhood in 19th and 20th Century United States using fictional accounts of girlhood, conduct books for girls, the history of girls' education, psychological theories of girlhood, girls' toys, and the development of extracurricular programming for girls. Each topic will allow us to study the way stereotypical girlhood of a particular historical moment serves a political purpose in articulating American identity. At the end of the course students will understand how the concept of girlhood is socially constructed, which means that understanding historical context is a core component of the course. The title of the course is a play on words because in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, most schools and boys' clubs excluded girls. All are welcome to enroll in the course.