“Hero Strong” and Other Stories Tales of Girlhood Ambition, Female Masculinity, and Women’s Worldly Achievement in Antebellum America

Challenging traditional gender expectations, thousands of girls of Gibson's generation not only aspired to public careers as writers, artists, educators, and even doctors but also began to experiment with new forms of "female masculinity" in attitude, bearing, behavior, dress, and sexuality--a pattern only gradually domesticated by the nonthreatening image of the "tomboy." Some, such as Gibson, at once realized and reenacted their dreams on the pages of antebellum story papers. This first modern scholarly edition of Mary Gibson's early fiction features ten tales of teenage girls (seemingly much like Gibson herself) who fearlessly appropriate masculine traits, defy contemporary gender norms, and struggle to fulfill high worldly ambitions.