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O is for Ozma
Apr. 16th, 2018 09:28 amI’ll never forget the descriptions of Ozma in the original Oz books, how beautiful she was. This description was backed up by the illustrations of John R. Neill, which captured her beauty perfectly.
I think those illustrations shaped my developing aesthetics as a child, forming a base for what I would find attractive later.
There was something utterly enchanting about Ozma. She was a little girl’s princess. She saw other little girls in trouble and whisked them away from it, often to the land of Oz. She gave those girls a home where they never had to grow up. She provided a home for their families and pets, too. Those pets gained the ability to talk once they reached Oz (although Toto pretended not to for a long time :)).
Ozma was beautiful, but there was no expectation of her beauty being there to attract a man, a husband, or a prince. It simply existed. Nor was Ozma in a great hurry to grow up, although she had a great many adult responsibilities as a ruler of Oz. She remained a child ruler, although she was at times described as being a teenager.
Ozma’s purpose was to rule Oz by making her people happy. She loved each and every one of her subjects. If she found out any of them were suffering, she’d do something about it.
She did have her special friends, though. One of them was Dorothy.
There’s something so charming about Ozma and Dorothy’s friendship. Not only did they become best friends, but Ozma made Dorothy a princess.
If you think about it, the closest thing Ozma had to a consort was Dorothy. Not that I was aware of how that might be interpreted as a child.
I just liked Ozma better than all the Disney princesses who had to have a prince. (I grew up long before Frozen.) She was our princess, not some man’s. She belonged to little girls, since she was still part child. She’d never grown up, get married, and leave us all behind.
Ozma showed me at an early age that you didn’t have to do any of these things. A girl could still a beautiful princess without any of them.
Thank you, Ozma, for offering me that insight at an early age. You were an example which gave me a certain measure of internal independence which not everyone has.
For that, I’ll always love you.
I think those illustrations shaped my developing aesthetics as a child, forming a base for what I would find attractive later.
There was something utterly enchanting about Ozma. She was a little girl’s princess. She saw other little girls in trouble and whisked them away from it, often to the land of Oz. She gave those girls a home where they never had to grow up. She provided a home for their families and pets, too. Those pets gained the ability to talk once they reached Oz (although Toto pretended not to for a long time :)).
Ozma was beautiful, but there was no expectation of her beauty being there to attract a man, a husband, or a prince. It simply existed. Nor was Ozma in a great hurry to grow up, although she had a great many adult responsibilities as a ruler of Oz. She remained a child ruler, although she was at times described as being a teenager.
Ozma’s purpose was to rule Oz by making her people happy. She loved each and every one of her subjects. If she found out any of them were suffering, she’d do something about it.
She did have her special friends, though. One of them was Dorothy.
There’s something so charming about Ozma and Dorothy’s friendship. Not only did they become best friends, but Ozma made Dorothy a princess.
If you think about it, the closest thing Ozma had to a consort was Dorothy. Not that I was aware of how that might be interpreted as a child.
I just liked Ozma better than all the Disney princesses who had to have a prince. (I grew up long before Frozen.) She was our princess, not some man’s. She belonged to little girls, since she was still part child. She’d never grown up, get married, and leave us all behind.
Ozma showed me at an early age that you didn’t have to do any of these things. A girl could still a beautiful princess without any of them.
Thank you, Ozma, for offering me that insight at an early age. You were an example which gave me a certain measure of internal independence which not everyone has.
For that, I’ll always love you.
