Women in Creative Fields—Why We Should Be Both Jo March and Amy March

The two March sisters from Little Women pursued different creative paths and their fates are representative of the dilemma of many women in creative fields.

I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. Way back when I was eight years old and I read Little Women for the first time, I saw myself as the protagonist Jo March. 

As a writer and free spirit, Jo has been my north star, biggest inspiration, spirit animal—whatever you’d like to call it—all these years. The 2019 Greta Gerwig remake (which Saoirse Ronan absolutely crushed) only made me love Jo even more. 

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched that movie. The themes in Little Women are still so relevant in modern times: sisterhood, family, but more pertinently, women in art, women and money, women chasing their dreams. 

Jo March chased her dream—but at what cost?

Jo is exactly who I was and wanted to be—passionate, creative, free-spirited, and most importantly, an incorrigibly avid writer. She had a dream to be not just a writer, but a writer who made a living and was able to support her family through her art. 

Jo March made me believe that it was possible to earn a living as a writer as long as I held on to that dream.

And my goal ever since then was to be a published author. Along the way, I bought into the misconception that you need to pay money to get your book published, which is absolutely not true. But I eventually figured that out and resumed on my path to pursuing that author life. But even then, I didn’t stop writing. I wrote with and without the prospect of getting published, and after I learned that you don’t need to invest a tonne of capital into publishing a book, I pursued traditional publishing with laser focus.

Jo had that fire too. She was steadfast, and she did whatever she could to realise it.

Yet, while she managed to earn some money from selling her writing, she wasn’t the most well-off among the sisters—Amy was. Amy married well, she was well-educated and lived in Paris (thanks to her aunt’s sponsorship).

Jo, on the other hand, turned down the boy who loved her and moved to New York to be closer to the publishers. But she was constantly struggling to make ends meet. She was always frustrated and felt stuck as she watched her sisters move on in life and career. She was, in short, the stereotypical starving artist. What little she made from selling her writing, she gave to her family to tide them through the tough times.

Amy, the pragmatic antithesis to Jo

Like Jo, Amy had dreams of pursuing art too. She wanted to be a renowned painter, and she was actually good at it.

But she while she had a wealthy aunt who sponsored her creative pursuit, she was just a woman and in that day and age, the financially sound option was to get married. So she packed away her paintbrushes and chose to marry a wealthy man she didn’t love (until Laurie came along and Laurie was rich anyway).

Amy took the pragmatic route because her aunt told her she was the only hope in her family. And logically, I can understand her choice. (My dad, too, gave up art school to get a full-time job because he wanted to be financially independent as soon as he could.) Eventually, she came to terms with the fact that financial stability was more important to her than pursuing her artistic dreams.

I should have been like Amy. I should have gotten an MBA and become an investment banker or whatever. I should have been less idealistic and picked the more comfortable route. I should have left my manuscripts behind in university. 

But I couldn’t, for the life of me, give up writing, no matter how many people dissuaded me from pursuing it, no matter how many times I’ve been told it’s not a viable way to earn a living. 

This leads us to the age-old question: passion or money?

I too used to be extremely idealistic, thinking that my finances would settle itself as soon as I got a book deal. It wasn’t until after a decade of grappling with the fact that most writers don’t get six figure advances or write full-time that I realised in order to keep the dream alive, I need to be pragmatic. For now. Banking on a potential outcome in the future doesn’t take care of short-term practical needs. So even if it means less time to write, I’d just have to suck it up and work a day job and write on the side until it makes me enough money to give up the 9-to-6. 

But my question now is, why does it have to be one or the other? Why do creatives have to be doomed to financial mediocrity? Why can’t we break free of the starving artist stereotype?

The future of writers in a tech-saturated world

You might argue that Jo a fictional character, so of course things would work out for her by the end of the book. But the author, Louisa May Alcott, did okay for herself too. 

And you might also say that times are different now, and the threat of AI looms ever closer as the tech overlords grow more unscrupulous day by day. But I’m not giving up. In fact, with technology in the state it is, it’s easier than ever to earn a living through writing. (I’m talking about monetising your work on the various platforms out there, NOT using AI to write for you.)

Jo March set me on this path of writing books, and I will continue on it. We don’t know what the future holds for creatives, but I think the notion that we’re all doomed to starve as artists is defeatist, and I would much prefer not to subscribe to this self-fulfilling prophecy. We can get good at managing our money at the very least, and then pursue our craft once we have our finances in order. Maybe if we merge Jo March’s idealism and passion with Amy March’s pragmatism we could find some form of success and thrive—not just survive—as artists, writers, and creatives. 

As an investment content specialist by day and author by night, I’m fascinated with (though at this point, it’s nearing an obsession) finding the intersection between my two selves, my two interests. One part of me is driven to tell stories for a living and another part wants to be in my rich girl era and not struggle financially. I have hope that I can marry these two parts and someday be a financially independent and free writer.

To end off, here's my favourite quote from Jo in the 2019 remake:

Q: Which March sister do you see most in yourself? Do you think women can have both financial stability and a fulfilling creative career in this day and age?

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A contemporary version of Little Women set in Singapore?

Speaking of Little Women, I’m currently working on a contemporary women’s fiction novel that’s a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic—with a dash of magic. Can’t decide if I should categorise it as cosy fantasy or women’s fiction yet, but it’ll touch on the topics mentioned in this blog. I’ll share more when I can!

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