Could Jo Starting A School For Boys Be A Feminist Act

Summary

Many people wonder why Jo starts a school for boys..even though Little Women mentions how much Jo loves boys many times. In Little Men, we can see how Jo and Friedrich wish that their boys grow to respect women, so could Jo starting a school for boys actually be a feminist act?

There are lots of people who say that Friedrich forced Jo to start a school or Friedrich forced Jo to become a teacher. None of that happens in the novel. So have these people even read Little Women? In the book, Jo is the one who says that she wants to start a school. Her exact words are Quote "even before I met my Fritz, I used to think how when I made my fortune and no one needed me at home, I'd hire a big house and pick up some poor fore-long little lads who hadn't any mothers and take care of them and make life jolly for them before it was too late.

I see so many of them going to ruin for want of help, and at the right minute. I love them, so to do anything for them, I seem to feel their wants and sympathize with their troubles. I know I should so like to be a mother to them". End quote. In the scene in the book where Jo explains her plans on starting school, she clearly says that what she wants to do is to have a flock of boys that she can nurture, she can take care of them and can be a mother to them and love them. A lot of people erase the maternal elements from Jo's character.