Our Girls — Story, Setting & Ideas

Anecdote as Argument

Lewis frequently uses extended anecdotes to make his points, often placing himself as a character within them. In the piano chapter, he describes a scene where a father discussing Bismarck is interrupted by his daughter's piano piece. Lewis reports the reactions: 'We sat there with a hypocritical smile on our faces but, internally, as mad as we could be.' The story ends with the editor using 'an awful big word' to express disgust. This technique does more than illustrate—it performs the critique. By embedding his argument in a social scene, Lewis invites readers to recognize themselves in the uncomfortable guests or the oblivious parents. The anecdote also reveals his method: he observes behavior, diagnoses a problem (here, the imposition of mediocre performance), and prescribes a remedy (not interrupting conversation). First-time readers should note how Lewis builds credibility through these personal testimonies, even as he risks seeming self-important.

The Body as Evidence

Lewis's medical background shapes his approach to girls' health. The table of contents lists chapters on 'Girls' Boots and Shoes,' 'Stockings,' 'Supporters,' and 'Woman Tortures Her Body.' These titles promise physiological analysis, and the excerpts confirm that Lewis treats fashion as a physical harm. He writes of 'fashionable sufferings' and 'outrages upon the body,' linking tight lacing, improper footwear, and sedentary habits to specific ailments. In the chapter on walking, he offers 'Important Help in Learning to Walk,' suggesting that even basic movement has been corrupted by fashion. Readers should attend to how Lewis uses bodily evidence—the shape of a foot, the effect of a corset—to ground his social criticism. He does not merely assert that something is wrong; he describes how it damages the body. This physiological lens gives his arguments a concrete, almost clinical tone, distinguishing Our Girls from more abstract conduct books.

Employment and Independence

A substantial portion of the table of contents lists occupations for women: 'Amanuenses. Bank Clerks. Brokers. Copyists. Dentists. Lawyers. Lecturers. Librarians. Physicians. Preachers. Proof-Readers. Publishers. Teachers.' This catalogue, running over a dozen lines, signals Lewis's advocacy for women's economic independence. The chapter 'Work for Rich Girls' and 'A true Love Story' suggest he addresses both practical and romantic dimensions. In the excerpt, he criticizes idleness as fashionable, writing that 'work is for the poor' is a false test of gentility. First-time readers should note that Lewis does not merely list jobs; he argues that employment is a moral and physical necessity. His tone is persuasive, even urgent, as he counters the notion that work degrades women. The variety of occupations—from dentist to carpenter—shows his belief in women's capacity across fields. This section of the book likely offers the most direct social reform argument, grounded in the earlier physiological critiques.

Music, Language, and Social Performance

Lewis devotes separate chapters to piano music, French study, and dancing, treating them as arenas of social performance. In the piano excerpt, he attacks both the music and the manners: 'It is an amazing blindness on the part of parents. They certainly wouldn't think of asking the company to cease their conversation to hear you speak your piece.' He extends the critique to vocal music, contrasting 'Way down upon the Swanee River' with fashionable Italian songs 'couched in language, listened to by pure-minded people, only because they don't understand it.' This reveals a preference for simplicity and sincerity over display. Similarly, the chapter on French questions its disciplinary value compared to English classics. Readers should observe how Lewis uses these cultural practices as evidence of broader social ills—hypocrisy, vanity, and wasted time. His judgments are sharp, but they are grounded in specific observations of behavior, making them useful for understanding late-nineteenth-century debates about women's education.

Reading Our Girls requires adjusting to Lewis's direct, sometimes abrasive tone. He writes as a reformer convinced that small changes—in shoes, in posture, in daily habits—can transform health and character. The book is not a systematic treatise but a collection of talks, each with its own anecdotal logic. First-time readers may find the chapter on piano music particularly revealing of his method: he diagnoses a social ill through a story, then prescribes a remedy. The later chapters on employment broaden the scope from individual health to economic independence. Lewis's evidence is always personal, drawn from observation and experience, and he expects readers to apply his lessons to their own lives.

Holding Our Girls, I remembered my grandmother’s stiff corset stays, and how she’d press her palm to her ribs. That ache of prescribed posture returned when I later found the American Red Cross Text-Book on Home Hygiene and Care of the Sick — Text and Context, its thin pages insisting on fresh air and simple beds. Both books felt like quiet permissions to breathe.