"You had the power in you all along, my dear." Female Empowerment in The Wizard of Oz.
Dorothy is bad-ass. I am a die hard Wizard of Oz fan. (Not that you would have guessed already). Watching it as a child made me envious. Gosh, what a brave young girl. She stood up to the mean ol' cow who tried to put an animal to death! AND it wasn't just any mean old cow that Dorothy stood up to, it was the MAYORS WIFE. Wow. Dorothy was an image of wanting more. Of aspirations. (Bearing in mind that L.Frank Baum wrote this during a period in America when youngsters were travelling out to study, and this tale was almost used as a political ploy to keep youngsters 'close by.') Just the other day, an idea came to me. Dorothy is a metaphor for female empowerment. When you initially watch the film, you think "Ohh poor pathetic little farm girl. She's not well travelled. She needs an escape." But in retrospect, it's Scarecrow, TinMan, and Lion I feel sorry for. Had it not been for Dorothy's agency, these characters would never have achieved the hi