Reading is an act of perceiving normalities of social class, religion, politics, or most importantly, gender. In a particular way, the focus of this paper is the role in which gender plays throughout Nancy Drew novels within the historical context of North American society. This analysis will be based on Marshall McLuhan’s notion of the medium as an extension of the human self (McLuhan 1964). This will aid in explaining the book, The Secret of the Old Clock, and its connection and importance to its readership, and society as a whole. Not only will this be a reflection of the history of gendered reading on Nancy Drew in North America, but also an acknowledgement of the human agency of these female readers in regards to the celebration of the social construction of the idealized Nancy Drew character. Moreover, this paper will illustrate how Nancy Drew novels have contributed to, if not created, the construction of gender and the identities of readers and society.
One of the first novels of Nancy Drew to be published was The Secret of the Old Clock in 1930 by Carolyn Keene (1930). During this time, North American society had entered a Great Depression. Nevertheless, it was also a period in history where “the rise of the revolutionary demographic and political phenomenon known as the New Woman” had emerged (Inness 160). The freedom and independence of women from this patriarchal lifestyle began to erode after women obtained the right to vote (in the first wave of feminist history) and then started to question their civil rights; challenging this notion of being objectified, and the inequality of women. Mass media was therefore an important instrument used toward communicating one’s ideas, beliefs, and concerns to the general public. Books, in other words, were a product of this and were used as an opportunity to reach out to particular groups of people according to their age, ethnicity, religion, political outlook, and so forth.
In the Nancy Drew novels, Nancy Drew is believed to be “adventurous and smart, active and brave, yet always guided by the principles of fair play, compassion and good manners” (Brown 7). This explains why the fictional character of Nancy Drew had been, and continues to be, considered an important role model for adolescent girls; pre-teen girl readers during the 1930s (Inness 1997). For the first time, a novel about a woman with power, dominance, intelligence and independence, filled the minds and imaginations of little girls across North America. It was “an opportunity for [young] readers to compare the representation of their own life” to this empowering gender-related novel for women (Currie 468). Presently, pre-teen readers of Nancy Drew from the 1930s are now women of today who continue to inspire and be inspired by the creation of fictional characters like Nancy Drew. However, one must also take into consideration how Nancy Drew lives a timeless life, remaining sixteen or eighteen years old for the entire series of Nancy Drew novels (Dyer 1995). The intended audience remains targeted toward young pre-teen girl readers, but moreover is intentionally reciting and reinforcing particular ideas to young North American girls over generations. It will be interesting to examine what this might possibly say about how these books imagine the gender identity of their readers over time.
Over several decades, the construction of North American girlhood has been heavily influenced and molded according to a variety of media, including the Nancy Drew literary collection. The impact of social changes over time through politics, economics, religion, education and culture in North America are important factors when examining the gender reading experience of Nancy Drew novels. Although this is a critical analysis of the historical transformation of gendered reading in Nancy Drew novels as well as its contribution to the construct of women, it is noteworthy to acknowledge that these novels were an impression of many that led to the production of the idealized woman of today. “[From] 1930 and beyond, [North America] [is] still in the process of assimilating women’s new sociopolitical status, as well as reorienting to the ever-shifting ideological construct of “the feminine” (Inness 160). That being said, the agency of individuals is as vital and powerful as the medium itself in creating and sharing ideas with the external world that could potentially shape our future.
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