Back in my salad days, I used to teach Tudor literature, and can testify that one of the earliest genres of printed prose comprised conduct books for women, the vexing whippersnapperish variety, not least. Said instruction manuals were not only popular, but stuck around, and continue to flourish in the realm of etiquette guides, self-help books and, of course, hackery. Indeed, such has been the tenacity of this sort of writing that print culture's fundamental question has proved to be less Freud's "What does a woman want?" than "What the hell are we going to do about all these young girls?"
This week proved a case in point in demonstrating that girls remain a collective problem for which a solution must be sought. Tatler editor Kate Reardon instructed pupils at a private Gloucestershire girls' school that good manners are as important as exam results. The headmistress of a similar institution alerted parents that their daughters demanding a "healthy diet" could be the first sign of anorexia (might it not be a mark of taking adult responsibility?) Meanwhile, news that US retailers operating on British shores are purveying size 000 clothing featuring pre-pubescent 23-inch waists continues to raise fears about impressionable, celebrity-struck young women.
Continue reading...
