‘Ozma of Oz’: More of Her Gender-Swapping, Reality-Selecting Quest
L. Frank Baum published this sequel in 1907
Last month, I read Amanda Melheim’s story “Transgender Magic in Oz” in Books Are Our Superpower here on Medium. Until their story reminded me, I’d forgotten about the gender-swap experience of the baby girl Ozma in L. Frank Baum’s novel The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904).
Ozma, infant daughter of the Ruler of Oz, is kidnapped by a witch, transformed into a boy, and raised with the name Tip. Years later, when Tip is informed of his true identity, he is reluctant to be magically transformed back into a girl, but Ozma is an heiress, and heiresses have duties.
A couple weeks later, I was in a bookstore and I spotted an original hardcover of the next book in the series, Ozma of Oz (1907). Of course, I took it home with me. It’s in the public domain due to its age, and I’m sharing some of the illustrations by John R. Neill.
Tell me if this children’s story continues to be queer and trans. I think it does. Not in our way today, but in an L.-Frank-Baum, over-100-years-ago way.
