tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post5261418850237946968..comments2024-03-12T04:39:29.868+00:00Comments on A Vindication of the Rights of Mary: Follow up on dress upRoberta Wedgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13619847452197496153noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-56572273535193611922011-10-28T23:19:56.620+01:002011-10-28T23:19:56.620+01:00I'll hold you to it!I'll hold you to it!Roberta Wedgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619847452197496153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-85757867264529322972011-10-28T17:17:26.828+01:002011-10-28T17:17:26.828+01:00You've planted a seed, Roberta. I shall procu...You've planted a seed, Roberta. I shall procure a paper dolly or two for the younger of my two grandsons (he of the imaginary friend George/Georgia, whose gender is mutable) and report back...Vicki PShttps://sites.google.com/site/maryjanesdaughter/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-60902461391292807052011-10-28T12:10:09.009+01:002011-10-28T12:10:09.009+01:00How intriguing about Tremlett! I like that "m...How intriguing about Tremlett! I like that "most delicate concern". Wills can be creative, and (even centuries later) telling.<br /><br />Re dolls: what else are Action Man toys? Of course you are right that all sorts of children grow up in all sorts of ways. Part of the fun is watching them take the dolls and act out sceanrios that might seem to the unwary somewhat inexplicable. I wonder what little girls (and boys) are making of the Mary cut-out.Roberta Wedgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619847452197496153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-91302481373587720012011-10-28T11:06:20.136+01:002011-10-28T11:06:20.136+01:00Re. gay boys/lesbian girls and doll play, I meant ...Re. gay boys/lesbian girls and doll play, I meant no implication. And the obverse often holds, too: being a "tomboy" girl doesn't preclude doll play, whether or not the youngster grows up to be lesbian. A propos Mary's publisher, my sleuthing into Mary Jane Vial Clairmont Godwin's antecedents identified Mary Jane's great-uncle Richard Tremlett, an Exeter merchant of cultivated interests whose will demonstrated the most delicate concern for the future welfare of a number of single women of his acquaintance, and who set up a bequest to provide a benefaction to impoverished young women of good character on their marriage. He, too, never married.Vicki PShttps://sites.google.com/site/maryjanesdaughter/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-82945268469315741862011-10-27T13:26:38.131+01:002011-10-27T13:26:38.131+01:00Vicki, what a fabulous story! It sounds as if your...Vicki, what a fabulous story! It sounds as if your nephew did very well, even without the help of Gender Splendour Week such as they have nowadays. (I suppose I should pull you up on the implication that it is only boys who grow up to be gay who are interested in dolls. Not so.) Mary's publisher, Joseph Johnston, may have been gay. He was a kind man to all, but really fostered her talent, and never chased her around the table. He had particular friends among the young men who flocked to his dinner table, and, as they used to say, "he never married".Roberta Wedgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619847452197496153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-91264674967223967472011-10-27T05:26:54.275+01:002011-10-27T05:26:54.275+01:00Fact is, little girls (and quite a few little boys...Fact is, little girls (and quite a few little boys)* tend to love dolls and dress-ups. Paper dolls have the added charm of novelty. I am quite taken with the idea of historical personage dolls, with the caveat that authenticity in costume is a must. Cheers for Paper Doll Heaven for their imaginative use of a charming old favourite.<br /><br />*I mention, as a case in point, my eldest nephew who, as an 8 year old, liked to take his Cabbage Patch Kid to school and play dolls with the girls at lunch time. His mother suggested to him (in a non-coercive way) that some of the kids might laugh at him playing with dolls. He replied insouciantly that they laughed at him anyway. Today he is a confident, totally loveable and devastatingly handsome 30-something gay man (who learned to sew from his dearest darling Auntie Vicki).Vicki PShttps://sites.google.com/site/maryjanesdaughter/noreply@blogger.com