I saw your answer to @fandomsarefamily1966's question whether Meg is "vain" or not, and it made me wonder. Do you think Alcott shows some internalized misogyny in portraying Meg's desire for pretty clothes and status as "vanity"? Do you think subconsciously at least, Alcott was being anti-femininity and judged Meg more harshly than she deserved?

That is a good question. I have never seen Meg as a vain character, I always thought that the "Vanity Fair" chapter name, was intented as criticism for the Sally Moffat's and the likes, and I love that Meg is having inner conflicts.

There is a part of her who enjoys being pampered, but she also feels (and knows) that these girls are not real friends, they speak gossip about her, they make fun of her being poor and spread rumors about her and Laurie.

I have read quite a few times that Louisa May Alcott, enjoyed beautiful clothes, and when she had extra money she liked to buy new clothes and hats. It doesn't sound like a person, who is against having nice clothes and material things (in reason).

Also, Louisa loved to write about clothes. She is often describes the fabrics and laces (Rose in Bloom is another example where this happens).

I do think there is some unconscious criticism against femininity. It's almost like there is guilt for liking pretty clothes, when you have a reputation of someone who is "not like the other girls" type of tomboy.

In the "under the umbrella" chapter, it's almost sad, because Jo feels guilty for having romantic feeligns for Friedrich, she is afraid that people are going to laugh at her, when she is going back on her words of being above marriage and all kinds of romantic feelings.

Another thing that I believe is unconscious, is the religion. The transcendentalist believed to the idea of person constantly transcending and evolving as an individual. Thoreau has some criticism of men and women who were bragging with their clothes so much, they were being ridicilous. Louisa has some similar statements, when we see Jo mockering the way how much money Laurie spends on gloves. They believed that person's value should not only be based on their wealth or how much money they have, but on their actions and how they treat others. This is an idea that we can find already from early Christianity and especially from Protestant Germany, which is where transcendentalism originates. This is also why in Little Women poor characters such as Fritz and the Hummels are portrayed in a good light. They maybe poor but there is richness of the heart.

Having money is not directly seen as a bad thing, but bragging with money is condemned in the Alcott's world. Even when Louisa herself became rich, she continued to be critical of other rich people who bragged with their money or were "vain". In London she saw Charles Dickens, her former idol, but she was dissappointed, how dandy he was.

I wonder… What are the March sisters' (Amy, Jo, Beth and Meg) favorite flowers?

Well, Little Women has several references to roses throughout, so I'll assume that all four sisters like roses. Each sister also has her own portion of the garden where she plants certain flowers, so those specific flowers must be favorites too.

Meg I imagine likes pale pink or peach roses; "blush roses," which her sisters all wear as her bridesmaids. Old-fashioned and ladylike. She also likes heliotropes, myrtle, and orange blossoms, all of which she grows in the garden. Once she falls in love with John, she comes to love lilies of the valley too, because they're his favorite flower.

Jo doesn't care much for "sentimental" things (except in stories), but I imagine she does like vibrant red roses, as well as bright yellow sunflowers, which she sometimes grows.

Beth I think likes white roses. A white rose is associated with her recovery from her scarlet fever, after all. Meg picks it to place in her hands if she dies, but instead, after her fever breaks, they place it by her bedside to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up. She also loves "old-fashioned fragrant flowers": sweet peas, mignonette, larkspur, carnations, pansies, and southernwood.

Amy is probably disappointed that roses don't come in blue, but I see her liking red or pink roses anyway. She also loves the flowers she grows – lilies, honeysuckle, and morning glories – and she's mentioned to wear azaleas at one point in France, so she must be fond of those too.

What are the March sisters' (Amy, Jo, Beth and Meg) favorite foods?

Well, we know from the book that Beth adores fruit. Jo and Laurie even include a basket of fruit among her Christmas presents in Part I, and in Part II, during the final months of her life, John Brooke's contribution to all the efforts to make her comfortable is to set aside a fund to buy a constant supply of fruit for her. I think I'll imagine that of all fruits, she especially loves grapes, because those are the first fruits she samples from her Christmas basket.

We also know that Amy likes muffins. They're said to be her favorites of all the items in their Christmas breakfast – which is why she "heroically" volunteers to take them specifically to the Hummels – so I'll imagine they're her favorite food in general. Of course the food most associated with her is pickled limes, but I won't assume those are a particular favorite of her's; she mainly brings them to school to trade because they're a fad.

The food most associated with Meg, meanwhile, is currant jelly, since she so memorably tries but fails to make it as a newlywed wife. So I'll imagine that homemade bread with currant jelly is her favorite food. Though I think she also loves ice cream: it appeals to her glamor-loving side, since it's associated with elegant parties, and she makes some as a Christmas treat for Beth in Part I.

Jo's favorite foods I think are apples, gingerbread, and molasses candy. She can eat six apples in one sitting while reading her favorite books, and it's mentioned that gingerbread and molasses candy are the only two things she knows how to cook. All three of those foods have character – whether in texture, flavor, or both – that suits her strong, hardy, no-nonsense personality.

What's your favorite relationship (romantic, platonic, familial, you decide) in Little Women that doesn't get talked about much?

Probably Meg's relationships with Jo and Amy.

When it comes to the sisters' relationships, all the focus in pop culture tends to be first and foremost on Jo and Amy, then on Jo and Beth, with Meg just there in the background as "the conventional one who gets married first and has kids." But Meg and Jo's closeness deserves attention: they're fairly inseparable throughout Part I, and while we traditionally think of Beth as being Jo's favorite sister, Meg is actually the one she calls her "best friend." (Not to diminish her closeness to Beth in the least, but theirs is more of a surrogate mother/child type of sister bond, while Meg is more of an equal confidante to Jo.) They also butt heads slightly, since their gender presentations are so different and since Meg urges Jo to be more of a proper lady but Jo resists; yet Meg knows how to be gentler and kinder about it than Amy does (understandably, since she's older), which lets them get along better than Jo does with Amy. Meanwhile, Amy is Meg's special "pet," whom she particularly looks after and acts as a second mother to, just like Beth is to Jo.

For that matter, I wish we got to see more of Beth's relationships with both Meg and Amy. Especially because Beth and Amy are often paired together throughout Part I: they're the two "little girls" of the family, they're homeschooled together after Amy is pulled out of regular school, and they even share a bedroom, while Meg and Jo share the other one. Amy is also the sister who names her daughter after Beth in the end. Yet we so rarely get to see them together without the older girls. I'd love a closer look at their interactions.