Final answer:
Jo likely hid her gender to explore freedoms and opportunities not readily available to women of her time, reflective of the themes in literature where characters' gender disguises critique societal norms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jo from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott hid the fact that she was a girl for a variety of nuanced reasons, closely linked to societal expectations and personal aspiration. The character Jo struggled against the constraints of her gender during a time when women's roles were quite limited.
Much like Jane Withersteen's recognition of Bess's true gender in Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey, Jo's concealment of her gender can be a metaphor for women's struggle to find equal footing in a male-dominated society. Concealing her gender could have afforded Jo freedom or opportunities not typically available to women during her era.
These narratives highlight the larger theme of gender identity in literature, where characters sometimes disguise their gender as a critique of the limitations placed on them because of societal norms.