239507294 gender stereotype and children s lit

8/9/2019 239507294 Gender Stereotype and Children s Lit

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The Language Teacher

Gender Stereotypes and

Children's Literature

Toshiko SuginoThe National Defense Academy

A few months before I was to go to the United States to study, a banquet was held

by my high school for the teachers who were not coming back the following school

year. The vice-rincial gave comments about each teacher who was leaving. !hen

my turn came, he said, "In site of her age, #rs. Sugino is lanning to go to the

States to study. I think she is very otoko masari." A woman who is otoko masari

e$cels men in some way, in brains, muscles, or in sirit. It imlies not only e$tra

ability, but also a lack of femininity %&herry, '()*+. I was rather shocked and

wondered what he would have said if I were a man. #ost likely, he meant that I

should stay home as ryosai kenbo %good wife and wise mother+, according to the

aanese stereotye. This incident motivated me to investigate gender issues.

&oming from a country where gender-biased language such as otoko masari and

memeshii %womanish+ revail, I e$ected that there would be more equality in the

relationshis between men and women in the U.S. owever, I was surrised to find

that many women there still do not feel that male-female relationshis are equal or

that se$ist attitudes are in any way disaearing. These attitudes are also seen in

childrens literature. &hildren learn certain behaviors through role models that

aear in society and also in books. In this aer, I will discuss %'+ definitions of

se$ist language and gender stereotyes/ %0+ gender-biased American and aanese

te$tbooks and childrens books/ %1+ research findings on aanese childrens books/

and %2+ imlications for the classroom. 3y investigating the above, hoefully moreknowledge and understanding will hel ensure a gender-fair atmoshere in the

classroom and in society.

Sexist Language and Gender Stereotypes

Se$ism, defined by 3anfield %'(*4+ as, "the systematic oression and e$loitation

of human beings on the basis of their belonging to the female se$" %. ''+, is tightly

linked with language. !ords such as "he,""man," and "mankind" are often used to

reresent all human beings. !henever a generic term is needed, we often use the

masculine as the roer form, and to a lesser e$tent and "he or she." This illustrates

the inequality between men and women in language where, ironically, women are

noticeable because of their invisibility %3rouwer, '((1+. 5ne-sided use of the


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ersonal ronoun "he" referring to human beings, "roduces the imression that

women are ignored and assed over. 6sycholinguistic research has demonstrated

that te$ts which refer only to he do not rovide women with any oortunity for

identification" %3rouwer, '((1, . 2'+.

Though the social roles of men and women American and aanese societies have

changed drastically in this century, stereotyical images and ideas can still be found

in both countries. They e$ist because of commonly acceted over-generali7ations of

men and women, such as8 women are intuitive and emotional/ women do not

understand mechanical devices/ and women are not good at math or science. 5n the

other hand, men are characteri7ed as logical, ragmatic, realistic, aggressive,

assertive, and cometitive. These masculine traits are generally regarded as more

desirable than feminine traits %9akins: 9akins, '(*)+.

#y intent in resenting the above material is to frame the following discussion of

the kinds of language and concets which are gender-biased and are often found inschool te$tbooks and childrens books.

Textbooks

To hel children recogni7e and interret social messages found in te$tbooks,

teachers in ;ermont asked si$th-graders to conduct surveys %


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kitchen, and nurses. 5n the other hand, males led e$citing lives as fighters,

e$lorers, and adventurers.

In an attemt to hel a grou of elementary school students identify and e$lore the

imact of gender discrimination, ett-Simson : #asland %'((1+ asked students tofinish a story about a girl who at first couldnt lay on a team but who, in the end,

was able to =oin. The elementary school boys wrote that the girl in the story was

successful in the end because of her own determination and much ractice, but the

girls wrote that the boys in the story finally gave in and let her lay. This suggests

that the girls here felt they were under control of their male counterarts.

In a '(*1 study %cited in ?o$, '((1+, )>C of the main characters in storybooks for

children were male. According to ?o$, "its alarming to consider that by > years of

age, children mentally enforce a se$ change in a literary female rotagonist because

they find the idea of an active, interesting, self-resecting, female main character

simly unthinkable" %'((1, . )2+. 3oth girls and boys have to be free from genderstereotyes in order to en=oy their full human otential.

Gender Stereotypes in Japanese Children's Books

I began my research on aanese childrens books by aanese authors by selecting

books with the hel of a young aanese mother. !e randomly chose *B

contemorary children ﾕ s books from the ublic library, most of which were for

children ages 1 to '0, and ublished between '()B and '((* %See Aendi$ for the

list of *B books+.

?irst, I looked at the male characters. In those *B books, 2> stories %42C+ had male

main characters. 3oys were described as follows8 energetic, adventurous,

mischievous, courageous, honest, cooerative, bullying, deendable, and curious. In

si$ stories, boys dislayed characteristics such as sweetness, shyness, loneliness and

a liking to be babied. In Ta-kun DThe boy, TaE %#achida, '()*+, the *-year-old boy

was ortrayed as a very mischievous, bullying kindergarten child. owever, one

rainy day, he offered his umbrella to a girl in his class. In another story

%Otokonokode gomen+ DSorry that I am a boyE %Famashita, '((2+, this *-year old

boy cried when his friend %a girl+ ulled his hair. The boy sometimes wondered

whether all his family were disaointed that he was born as a boy not as a girl.

These e$amles suggest that boys can sometimes be liberated from stereotyes8 it isall right for boys to cry and to show sensitivity.

Ge$t, I comared male and female authors deictions of their boy and girl

characters. There was not much difference between male authors deiction of boys

and female authors ﾕ deiction of boys. #ost boy rotagonists were small-framed,

energetic children who loved to lay, were good at sorts but not at studying, and

often got into fights. This is a common stereotyical image of how little boys should

behave in aan.

#ain character boys often cometed with other boys they didnt like8 those who

were described as good at studying, who were class-leaders, or who were well-liked by girls and teachers. In only one of the 2> boy rotagonist stories, Himitsuno neko


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nikki DThe secret diary on catsE %@ami=yo, '((>+, was the hero deicted as a very

intelligent, hard worker who cared only about assing the entrance e$amination to a

rivate =unior high school. This tye of boy accurately reflects boys in todays

society in aan, where entrance e$ams control education.

There were differences between male and female authors deictions of girls. 5nly 4

out of 0> stories with girl main characters were written by male authors. In these

stories and others with girls in suorting roles, girls described by male authors

were caring towards their friends and families, curious about cooking, sweet, and

timid. In stories by male authors, boy main characters had younger sisters whom

they looked after.

irls in books by female authors were described variously as adventurous, curious,

deendable, cheerful, sweet, friendly, mean, careful, imaginative, a little afraid,

resonsible, and self-centered. ?or e$amle, in Gogatsuno Fushigina Tomodachi DA

strange friend in #ayE %Famamoto, '((1+, #ei, the girl rotagonist, was confrontedwith the news that her mother had had a bicycle accident and had to be hositali7ed.

@nowing she couldnt count on her fathers hel because he was always too busy at

work, #ei attended to her mother all by herself. #ei was described as very mature,

indeendent, and also courageous as she tried to find the "offender" in her mothers

accident by herself.

?rom e$amining these contemorary childrens books, it is clear that male main

characters dominate. ?urther, male authors tend to stereotye girl characters %i.e., in

traditional female characters and roles+, while female authors generally do not.

?our other oints are worth noting. ?irst, in stories where the main male characters

were vigorous, mischievous, and a bit too rough, there were usually female figures

who were lenient or gentle. ?or e$amle, in Kaminari Dodoon DHoud ThunderboltE

%oto, '((*+, a boy named on-chan was a little bully. !hen he forgot to bring his

homework to class, he raised an uroar. owever, his female teacher acceted his

behavior with a sweet smile. In another story, Ganbattemasu Seii-kun DThe 3oy,

Sei=i, Is Trying ardE %Foshimoto, '()>+, when the father of two children was

hositali7ed and the mother was busy taking care of him, the little sister encouraged

her brother by saying that since he was a boy, he had to be deendable.

Second, of the *B books, four characters, all female, were either sickly,handicaed, or met with a tragic accident. The fact that no male character in the

stories e$amined e$erienced these hardshis suggests that aanese society

considers females to be weaker and less fortunate than males.

Third, mother characters aeared in stereotyical conte$ts8 in kitchens, rearing

meals, at art-time =obs, at tea-time, doing laundry, making ale ies, and wearing

arons. ?athers were not much in evidence. ?urthermore, the fathers words and

behaviors were e$lained to the children in the stories by their mothers. ere, it was

surrising to see such traditional stereotyical roles for men and women. These

deictions show the reality of aanese society, in which fathers lay minor roles in

family affairs, and mothers have greater resonsibility for the children.


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Hastly, in '* of the *B stories, boys interacted with animals, monsters, or ogres, or

they themselves became mythical thunderbolts. In si$ stories, girl main characters

interacted with small animals and flowers, with neighbors in one story, with

grandmothers in three stories. In five stories, they interacted with mothers but had

little or no interaction with fathers. Again, this shows that boys were deicted asmore active, more cometitive, and more adventurous. irls were deicted as more

assive, and more keen on female relationshis, both of which are stereotyical

images of females.

Applications for Language Teachers

As a language arts teacher of college students, many of whom are lanning to be

teachers themselves, I see imortance in resenting oortunities to identify and

e$lore the imact of gender issues. The following is a list of ossible class

activities8

'. Students find and discuss gender-biased e$ressions and e$ectations in

their first language.

0. Students count the number of women and men in the field of sorts, in

history books, and other sources.

1. Students analyse the gender-biased e$ectations in 9nglish e$ercise books or

te$tbooks written by aanese authors.

2. Students do "what-if" writing, where they re-write a story %i.e., a fairy tale+

by changing a main characters gender. Teachers can introduce new versions

of the story to the class or students can e$change and read others stories.

Conclusion

I have briefly introduced the concets of se$ist language and gender stereotyes.

Through my observations of aanese childrens literature, I have demonstrated the

e$istence of gender stereotyes. I hoe my research findings, however limited,

together with other research findings will be beneficial to teachers who are

interested in heling their students be watchful of gender stereotyes and rise above

them.

Acknowledgeent

The author !ould like to thank "ie Seki and #heryl $enn for their hel% and ad&ice

!ith this article'

!eferences

3anfield, 3. %'(*4+. Human--and anti-human--&alues in children(s books. Gew

Fork8 &ouncil on Interracial 3ooks for &hildren, Inc.

3rouwer, J. %'((1+. Hanguage and gender8 ?eminist linguistics. In


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Smelik %9ds.+, )omen(s studies and culture* A feminist introduction %. 2B->>+.

!iltshire, U@8 +. Himitsuno neko nikki DThe secret diary on catsE. Tokyo8 unior3ungakukan.

#achida, . %'()*+. Ta-kun DThe boy, TaE. Tokyo8 @aisei-sha.

+. Ganbattemasu Seiikun DSei=i is trying hardE. Tokyo8 6oura-


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sha.

Appendix

3ooks with male main characters %in alhabetical order by title+ GL2>Title "Author "#ear

A-da iisan to #o-da iisan %randas Arda and @oda+ G. Tatara '((>

Atarashii tomodachi %A new friend+ F. @imura '(('

$okuno e%uron !a sorairo %#y aron is blue+ #. Famamoto '()(

$oku!a yuada0o %I am a brave boy+ #. Sato '((*

$oku kyan%uni ittanda %I went caming+ S. !atanabe '()'

Daichan no aoitsuki %The blue moon and the boy, Jai+ T. Foshida '())

Doronko youchien %muddy kindergarten+ Gagasaki, '()4

.nsokun kishani nor u %The boy, 9nso, rides a train+ Su7uki, @ '()4

Fushigina koto!a buranko kara %A strange thing haens in a swing+#. Sano '()>

Futon danukino bouken %The adventure of futon raccoon+ A. Foshihara '(('Ganbattemasu Seii-kun %Sei=i is trying hard+ G. Foshimoto '()>

Haru ichiban no okyakusama %The guest in sring+ A. Famashita '((2

Henna tenkousei ga yattekita %A unique new student came+ T.Shimi7u '((0

Himitsuno neko nikki %The secret diary of cats+ S. @ami=yo '((>

1ta0ura %onkotsukun %The naughty used car+ . Tominaga '(*)

Kaminari dodoon %Houd thunderbolt+

2o%orokun no sentakuya-san %6ooro, a laundryman+ #.


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3chuu sukeito %Skating in the sace+ S. Tamura '(('

3chuuinn ga yattekita %The alien came over+ G. #atsui '((4

4ukino onitaii %Fuki chased demons away+ @. Seiya '((*

3ooks with female main characters %in alhabetical order by title+ GL0>

Title "Author "#ear

Akai sandaru %

Nikyu mahotsukai kurobarasan %The second-rated witch+ A. Sueyoshi '()'

"usuban %ousesitting+ !. Sato '((>

Shikkari dakko %old me tight, #om+ &. Gatori '((4

Tanyoukai ga haimaruyo %Four birthday arty will begin+ @. #iya7aki '((>

Tenohira no %i-ko %6i-ko on a alm+ 9. @ishikawa '()(

)agamama /a-ma hime %The selfish rincess #a-ma+ . Saito '((*

)atashiga kobutadatta koro %!hen I was a iggy+ S. Umeda '((0

)atashimo ensoku %Ill go on an e$cursion, too+ S. Umeda '()4

4u0uchan %The girl, Fu7u+ . ida '((>

Article coyright M '(() by the author.

Jocument U


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ri,arily deicted with roduction artifacts.

!he trans,ission of culture through language is a owerful tool $Greif %&012 3eit*,an) 4ifler) 5okada)6 7oss) %&8%(. 9evertheless) its i,act is often taken lightly when selecting books for young childrento read or have read to the, $Allen) Allen) 6 igler) %&&;2


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focused on the roble, of euality in the treat,ent of ,ale and fe,ales in school ,aterials" $. >>?(.

4ngel $%&0%() in using the sa,e counting ,ethod as 9ilsen $%&80() analy*ed %& aldecott Bof all characters. 4ngel $%&0%( further believed that children's literature resents a "li,ited view ofwo,en's real activities) whereas the roles of ,ale characters were shown closer to reality" $. B&(.

reany $%&&?( recogni*ed a si,ilar trend and noted) regarding the aldecott award-winning books)that "the gender roles layed by ,ale and fe,ale characters still reflected and thus trans,ittedtraditional gender roles" $. >&>(.

rabb and #ielawski $%&&( also e+a,ined the gender-tyed ortrayal of ,aterial culture in aldecott Award-winning books ublished between %&;8 and %&0&. !hey analy*ed the ictures in these booksand what tye of artifacts the characters e,loyed. !heir work showed that a greater roortion offe,ale characters were reresented utili*ing household artifacts) while a larger roortion of ,alecharacters were deicted using non-do,estic roduction artifacts. #andura $%&0B( argues that thegender reresentation of these artifacts ,olds a child into secific gender roles for secific gender,arking. !his gender ,arking) according to rabb and #ielawski $%&&() indicates that a givenhousehold or roduction artifact is ,ost aroriately used by either fe,ales or ,ales) thereby linkingthe world of hu,an-,ade things with gender categories.

!he work of !ognoli) Pullen) and Lieber $%&&( suorts rabb and #ielawski's $%&&( findings. !heirwork found that the nor, for ,ales was to be identified with the rugged outdoors) away fro, theconfine,ent of "fe,ini*ed sace of ho,e and fa,ily life" $. >8;(. =f not outdoors) ,en were found inthe workforce in a variety of occuations) while wo,en were li,ited to the confines of the ho,e andresonsibilities that included fa,ily roles. 9otably) rabb and #ielawski $%&&( showed an increase inthe reresentation of ,ale characters using household artifacts over ti,e. !hey suggest that a culturallag ,ay e+lain the lack of rogress in reresenting fe,ale characters using roduction-tye artifacts.

@ata and > non-award storybooks were chosen by selecting one book fro, a series listed under eachletter of the alhabet in the children's section of easy readers $see !able %(. #eginning with the letter Aand working to the end of the alhabetical listing of books) a stratified sa,ling fra,e was co,iled of all books belonging to a series. our letters of the alhabet were not reeated in the listing. 9e+t) oneseries fro, each reresented letter was rando,ly drawn. !hus) if "A" had %> identified series) there

was a % in %> chance of the series being selected in the sa,le. !he final stage of sa,le selectioninvolved rando,ly selecting one book fro, each of the already rando,ly selected series.

After selecting the >> books to be included in the sa,le) all ictures were hotocoied in black andwhite. !he analysis was restricted to illustrations since that is what the aldecott award recogni*es.bviously) this rocess o,its an understanding of what gender ,essages children ,ay ick u whenreading the te+t. !he advantage) however) of li,iting the analysis to illustrations is that it is easier to berecise when coding icons in ictures than it is to deciher and interret gender ,eanings in words.9evertheless) by only coding illustrations) the study only focused on one art of a book's ,any,essages.

Jsing the coies) a content analysis was erfor,ed on each age) in line with rabb and #ielawski'swork $%&&(. Again) artifacts used by each of the characters were coded as: ,ale or fe,ale with a

roduction artifact) fe,ale or ,ale with a household artifact) and fe,ale or ,ale with a ersonalartifact.


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or the urose of this study) the artifacts used by characters ,ay be defined as roduction)household) or ersonal. rabb and #ielawski $%&&( offer the following definitions. Production artifactsare "obEects used to roduce effects outside the household) including artifacts used in construction)agriculture) transortation and all other work outside the ho,e" $. 8;(. or e+a,le) if an adultcharacter was deicted as a doctor) with a ,edical instru,ent in hand) that artifact would be coded as

one of roduction. 5ousehold artifacts were defined as "hu,an-,ade obEects used to roduce effectsin the ho,e) including artifacts used in food rearation) cleaning) reair) fa,ily care and ho,e,anufacture." !hus) if a character aeared in the kitchen and was using a ,i+er) then that artifactwas coded in the household category. Personal artifacts are "hu,an-,ade obEects not e,loyed inlabor and used to roduce effects on the i,,ediate erson of the user) including artifacts used forgroo,ing) rotection fro, the ele,ents) and leisure" $rabb 6 #ielawski %&&(. hould a character beco,bing his hair) this artifact would be listed under ersonal artifacts.

!o ensure the reliability of the coding rocess) cross-rater analysis was erfor,ed. !hree volunteersco,leted a content analysis of %? books using the instructions and code sheet rovided by theresearchers. #oth the researchers and the volunteers wrote in red ink) directly on the coied ages)ne+t to each character to avoid a,biguity in identifying the artifacts. !he coding of the volunteers forthese %? books was co,ared to the coding by the researchers. !here was a &%.>8 reliability

between the cross-raters and the researchers.

=n addition) the title of each book) the coyright date) the author's gender) and the total nu,ber of ,aleand fe,ale characters reresented in ictures of each book were noted. everal variables werecreated. Production $P7@( is the ercent of characters with roduction artifacts divided by the total of all fe,ale and ,ale characters in the sa,le. 5ousehold $5J4( is the ercent of characters withhousehold artifacts divided by the total of all fe,ale and ,ale characters in the sa,le. L4=J74 isthe ercent of characters with ersonal artifacts divided by the total of all fe,ale and ,ale charactersin the sa,le. ictures $see !able %for a list of books(. !his is a ratio of fe,ale to ,ale characters of %:%.?. !he books in the sa,le wereublished between the years %&B;-%&&?. !he sa,le included %> fe,ale and & ,ale authors. ,orecharacters will be shown with a roduction artifact. verti,e) the ercentage of characters havingroduction artifacts increased at the rate of %.> a year.

!he ercentage of characters utili*ing a household artifact $5J4( was regressed on the ercentageof ,ale characters in the books) the gender of the author) and the coyright dates. !he results arereorted in !able .


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ictures of fe,ale characters with such artifacts. Jnlike rabb and #ielawski $%&&() there was nosignificant increase in the reresentation of ,ale characters using household artifacts over ti,e.

inally) the ercentage of characters ictured with a ersonal artifact $L4=J74( was regressed on theercentage of ,ale characters in the books) the gender of the author) and the coyright dates. !heseresults are reorted in !able ?. or every one ercentage change of ,ales shown in a book) there is

a .; increase of ,ale characters ictured with a leisure artifact. 5owever) the later the coyrightdate in this study) the less likely $%.; er year( it is that a character will be shown in a leisure activity$ K .1?(.

#oth fe,ale and ,ale characters are ,ost likely to be ictured in a leisure activity rather than in aroductive or household role. =f a ,ale character is not ictured at leisure) then he is ,ost at to beseen with a roduction artifact $few ,en are featured with a household artifact(. or fe,ale characters)if they are not in a leisure activity) they are eually likely to be seen with either a household orroduction artifact. !he real difference in character deiction lies with ,ale characters not beingfeatured in household activities.

onclusion

!his study of non-award-winning books suorts the findings of others showing the overall deiction of ,ore ,ale than fe,ale characters. 5owever) the difference was not as drastic as reviously reorted.!he >> books $a total of BB> ages( analy*ed showed that fe,ales reresented 1 of all thecharacters. !his is higher than 9ilsen's $%&80( finding of >> or 4ngels's $%&0%( reort of >B. Giventhat ,ost of the books analy*ed were ublished after the late %&01s) erhas this finding oints to areal change in the nu,ber of fe,ale characters deicted in illustrations in children's literature.

!he ratio of ,ale characters to fe,ale characters coded as utili*ing a roduction artifact was >:%. !hisfinding suorts work by rabb and #ielawski $%&&( showing that ,ales were identified with therugged outdoors) in a working environ,ent) or oerating a ,otor vehicle or other for, oftransortation ,ore often than fe,ales. =t also suorts the finding by reany $%&&?( that "the genderroles layed by ,ale and fe,ale characters still reflect and thus trans,it traditional gender roles" $.>&>(. !his study also suorts the findings of 3eit*,an et al. $%&8%( that children's books lack

reresentation of working wo,en. 3hile the fe,ale characters were shown ,ore often outside theho,e) utili*ing roduction artifacts) it was either as a teacher or in a leisure activity.

e,ale characters were deicted with household artifacts far ,ore often than were ,ale characters. Although ,ale characters were shown in a variety of household activities) this was the least likelyartifact e,loyed by ,ale characters. urther,ore) ,ale authors were not as likely as fe,ale authorsto icture ,ale characters in the real, of do,estic roduction.

Although gender role stereotying does e+ist in this sa,le) the icture does not aear as bleak asreviously reorted. !he reresentation of fe,ale characters is increasing overall) but ,ore i,ortant)the reresentation of fe,ales with a roduction artifact) or in a role outside the ho,e) is growing. 4venso) this study raises the uestion as to why children's books) esecially award-winning books)continue to be gender stereotyed.

uture research in this area ,ight ai, to incororate how children the,selves understand ,essagesin books. tudies on the rocess by which children erceive i,ages in illustrations in children'sliterature are sorely ,issing. inally) it would be useful to learn how stereotying in illustrations variescross-culturally.

7eferences

Albers) P. $%&&B(. =ssues of reresentation: aldecott Gold B8->0?.

Allen) A.


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liffs) 9D: Prentice-5all.

#auer) -0>.

ollins) L. D.) =ngoldsby) . D.) 6 @ell,ann) .

4rnst) . #. $%&&?(. Gender issues in books for children and young adults. =n . Lehr $4d.() #attlingdragons: =ssues and controversy in children's literature. Ports,outh) 95: 5eine,ann.

o+) ?;->?0.

@ell,ann-Denkins) .

inder) @. 7.) ,ith) !.) 6 Gerard) 5. #. $%&8B(. !he attitude-labeling rocess outside of the laboratory.Dournal of Personality and ocial Psychology) ;;) 01-&%.

olbe) 7.) 6 LaCoie) D. . $%&0%(. e+-role stereotying in reschool children's icture books. ocialPsychology Muarterly) ) ;B&-;8.

ortenhaus) .


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) >??->?0.

Peterson) . #.) 6 Lach) 8>->01.

3eit*,an) L D.) 4ifler) @.) 5okada) 4.) 6 7oss) . $%&8%(. e+-role sociali*ation in icture books forreschool children. A,erican Dournal of ociology) 88) %%>?-%%&.

3ellhousen) . $%&&B(. Girls can be bull riders) tooN uorting children's understanding of genderroles through children's literature. Ooung hildren) ?%) 8&-0;.Table 1

Titles of Children's Books Included in Sample

Allard, Harry. 1!"1#. The stupids die. Boston$ Hou%hton &ifflin.

Bridell, (orman. 1!)*#. Clifford the bi% red do%. (e +ork$

Scholastic.

Carlstrom, (ancy hite. 1!""#. Better not %et et, -esse Bear. (e

+ork$ &c&illan.

onnelly, /i0a. 1!!#. inosaur 2alentine. (e +ork$ Scholastic.

32ans, 4atie. 1!!5#. Hunky ory ate it. (e +ork$ utton Children's

Books.

6leischman, Sid. 1!71#. &cBroom's %host. (e +ork$ 8rossett 9 unlap.

8raham, Amanda, 9 8ynell, onna. 1!"7#. 3ducatin% Arthur. isconsin$

8areth Ste2ens.

Hayes, Sarah, 9 Crai%, Helen. 1!""#. This is the bear and the picnic

lunch. /ondon$ alker Books.

/uttrell, Ida. 1!!*#. &attie's little possum pet. (e +ork$ Atheneum.

(erlo2e, &iriam. 1!"!#. 3aster. (iles, I/$ Albert hitman 9 Company.

:;enbury, Helen. 1!""#. Tom and


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Thaler, &ike. 1!"!#. The teacher from the Black /a%oon. (e +ork$

Scholastic.

@iorst, -udith. 1!!#. Ale;ander, ho's not %oin% to mo2e. (e +ork$

Simon 9 Schuster.

ells, =osemary. 1!!1#. &a;'s dra%on shirt. (e +ork$ ial Books.

Iamura, 4a0uo. 1!"#. Ton and


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ate .1* .1 .*

G=.sup.5 .*7*PO7=G5! >11% Association for hildhood 4ducation =nternational9o ortion of this article can be reroduced without the e+ress written er,ission fro, the coyright holder.

oyright >11%) Gale Grou. All rights reserved. Gale Grou is a !ho,son ororation o,any.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+roles+in+children's+literature

%3A+A+review+of+non-award-winning...-a!"##"!!

Citations:

• MLA style: "Gender roles in children's literature: A review of non-award-winning 'easy-to-

read' books.." !he ree Library. >11% Association for hildhood 4ducation =nternational1& Aug. >1% htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Genderrolesinchildren'sliterature;aAreviewofnon-award-winning...-a1018??800

• Chicago style: The Free Library . .v. Gender roles in children's literature: A review of

non-award-winning 'easy-to-read' books.." 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Genderrolesinchildren'sliterature

;aAreviewofnon-award-winning...-a1018??800

• APA style: Gender roles in children's literature: A review of non-award-winning 'easy-to-

read' books.. $n.d.( >The Free Library. $>1%(. 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Genderrolesinchildren'sliterature;aAreviewofnon-award-winning...-a1018??800

Gender issues in young children's literature.=n recent decades) e+tensive studies fro, diverse discilines have focused on children's

develo,ental awareness of different gender roles and the relationshis between genders. A,ongthese studies) researchers agree that children's icture books have an increasingly significant lace inchildren's develo,ent because these books are a widely available cultural resource) offering youngchildren a ,ultitude of oortunities to gain infor,ation) beco,e fa,iliar with the rinted ictures) beentertained) and e+erience ersectives other than their own. =n such books) ,ales are habituallydescribed as active and do,ineering) while fe,ales rarely reveal their identities and very freuentlyare reresented as ,eek and ,ild. !his valuable venue for children's gender develo,ent thusunfortunately reflects engrained societal attitudes and biases in the available choices and e+ectationsassigned to different genders. !his discri,inatory ortrayal in ,any children's icture books also runsthe risk of leading children toward a ,isreresented and ,isguided reali*ation of their true otential intheir e+anding world.

QQQQQQQQQQ

Gender bias as ortrayed in children's literature is still as revalent today as in ast decades) andre,ains a roble, in light of the fact that gender stereotyes and se+is, in children's icture booksaffect the develo,ent of gender identity in young children $e.g..) Allen) Allen) 6 igler) %&&;2!reanier-treet 6 7o,atowski) %&&&(. 9u,erous studies $e.g.) o+) %&&;2 ingh) %&&0( of children'sliterature content indicate that ,ale figures do,inate the ,aEority of books. !his condition affectschildren's develo,ent and ercetions. hildren adot certain roles and behaviors as art of theirsociali*ation rocess.


17/45

that are read to the, have sycho-social uses at a ti,e when children are continually constructingideas fro, infor,ation around the, and assi,ilating new knowledge with revious knowledge $4lliker)>11?(. =n general) children's literature is said to rovide characters and events with which children canidentify and through which they can consider their own actions) beliefs) and e,otions $11%(. !he characters and situations in books introduce children to what the world ,ay looklike through others' eyes) and offer oortunities for children to further construct their own views of self

and the world.

trictly seaking) everything that children read contributes to the for,ation of self-i,ages that hel toconstruct children's self-identity. or e+a,le) girls can i,agine the,selves as wo,en and boys cani,agine the,selves as ,en $ingh) %&&0(. =,ages and secific language used in icture books havethe otential to affect children's develo,ental rocesses in various ways as a result of reading atcrucial stages of develo,ent $ra,er) >11%(.

#esides being an i,ortant resource for develoing children's language skills) children's books lay asignificant art in trans,itting a society's culture. 3ithout uestion) children develo gender-roleidentities during their early years) and one factor that influences this identity is the literature thatchildren read or is read to the, $Allen et al.) %&&;(. Picture books also have a articular influence ongender identities because they are viewed at a ti,e when children are in the rocess of develoing

their individual identities. 11;(. !he bias influencinggender stereotyical thinking ,ay li,it children's choices) interests) and abilities. =n ,ost children'sicture books) ,ales characteristically do,inate titles) ictures) and te+ts. e,ale characters) on theother hand) are not only under-reresented in titles and central roles) but also aear uni,ortant. According to researchers' findings $i.e.) o+) %&&;2 olbe 6 Coie) %&0%() 0? of the ,ain characters instories for children are ,ale) and fe,ale characters rarely do anything. 4+a,les of se+is, are clearly

abundant) even fro, a uick glance at a do*en rando,ly selected books.

Gender stereotyes in literature revent fe,ale hu,an otential fro, being reali*ed by deriving girlsof a range of strong) alternative role ,odels.


18/45

According to 7ud,an $as cited in ra,er) >11%) . %&(:Books for children ha2e reflected

societal attitudes in limitin% choices

and maintainin% discrimination.

&ost traditional books sho females

dressed in skirts or dresses e2en hen they are en%a%ed in acti2ities

inappropriate for this sort of costume.

Illustrations also ha2e

con2entionally placed females in

passi2e obser2er roles, hile males

ha2e been pictured as acti2e. Studies

ha2e demonstrated time and time

a%ain that illustrations confirm the

subordinate, less 2alued role for the

female, hile stressin% the acti2e,

ad2enturesome, admirable role for

male.

In addition, most themes represented

in children's book reflect the

e;pectation that male characters ill

use their brains to effecti2ely and

creati2ely sol2e problems, hile

female characters are portrayed as

more concerned ith appearance.

6emales are depicted as dependent,

emotional, silly, clumsy, and lackin%

intelli%ence. They are passi2e, %entle,

domestic, motherly, and

unasserti2e 4ramer, 51#. &ales

typically are portrayed as competent

and achie2ementoriented,

hile the ima%e of females is that

they are limited in hat they can do,

and are less competent in their ability

to accomplish thin%s 4ortenhaus

9 emarest, 1!!*#. That is to say,

female characters are in2ol2ed in

fe of the acti2ities and assi%ned

fe of the characteristics or %oals

that are accorded presti%e and

esteem in today's society. In reality,

omen do pursue and achie2e

%oals, as ell as en%a%e in daily

businessFprofessional acti2ities.


19/45

Illustrations also ha2e an e>ual

responsibility to tell the story

because characters' pictures e2oke

feelin%s, emotions, and reactions as

youn% readers obser2e illustrated

facial e;pressions. Based on this

affirmation of importance, children's picture books perform faithfully the

role of furtherin% the de2elopment

of children's %ender identities.

elected 7esearch tudies @e,onstrating Genders =neualities


20/45

9onse+ist books) on the other hand) roduce ositive changes in self-concet) attitudes) and behavior$9arahara) %&&0(.

=n other words) children's gender attitudes ,ay be ositively changed through the reading ofaroriate children's literature and other book-related activities $!reanier-treet 6 7o,atowski)%&&&(.


21/45

education rovides ,any e+a,les of the ways that rogra,s can rovide owerful ,essages aboutgender roles $@ell,ann-Denkins et al.) %&&;(. !he use of icture books that ortray non-traditionalgender roles) including boys and ,en in nurturing or care-giving roles) as well as girls and wo,en inactive) leadershi roles) rovides an i,ortant contrast to the co,,only oular cultural ,essagesoften seen and heard by very young children. 5ence) the use of aroriate children's literature ,ustbe well-ti,ed as children construct their views of hu,an diversity.

7eferences

Allen) A.) Allen) @.) 6 igler) G. $%&&;(. hanges in se+ role stereotying in aldecott 111. Jnublished ,aster's thesis) Pennsylvania tate Jniversity) Jniversity Park)PA.

olbe) 7.) 6 Coie) D. . L. $%&0% (. e+-role stereotying in reschool children's icture books. ocialPsychology Muarterly) $() ;B&-;8.

ortenhaus) . ) >118) fro,

tt:t/www.kidsource.co,/education/gender.issues.L.A.ht,l

!aylor) . $>11;(. ontent analysis and gender stereotyes in children's books. !eaching ociology);%$;() ;11-;%%.

!reanier-treet) 110 ProEect =nnovation $Alaba,a(9o ortion of this article can be reroduced without the e+ress written er,ission fro, the coyright holder.

oyright >110 Gale) engage Learning. All rights reserved.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a$!&333

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333


22/45

Citations:

• MLA style: "Gender issues in young children's literature.." !he ree Library. >110

ProEect =nnovation $Alaba,a( 1& Aug. >1%htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Genderissuesinyoungchildren'sliterature.-a1%0B&&;;;

• Chicago style: The Free Library . .v. Gender issues in young children's literature.."

7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Genderissuesinyoungchildren'sliterature.-a1%0B&&;;;

• APA style: Gender issues in young children's literature.. $n.d.( >The Free Library. $>1%(.

7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Genderissuesinyoungchildren'sliterature.-a1%0B&&;;;

7eresentations of ,aterial culture and gender inaward-winning children's books: a >1-year follow-u.

Citations:

• MLA style: "7eresentations of ,aterial culture and gender in award-winning children's

books: a >1-year follow-u.." !he ree Library. >1%% Association for hildhood 4ducation=nternational 1& Aug. >1%htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/7eresentationsof,aterialcultureandgenderinaward-winning...-a1>8%00>;%

•Chicago style: The Free Library . .v. 7eresentations of ,aterial culture and gender inaward-winning children's books: a >1-year follow-u.." 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/7eresentationsof,aterialcultureandgenderinaward-winning...-a1>8%00>;%

• APA style: 7eresentations of ,aterial culture and gender in award-winning children's

books: a >1-year follow-u.. $n.d.( >The Free Library. $>1%(. 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/7eresentationsof,aterialcultureandgenderinaward-winning...-a1>8%00>;%

!his study tested the hyothesis that children's books accurately reflect the gender-based division oflabor in the culture and historical eriod in which they were ublished. A content analysis was

erfor,ed on illustrations in books that won the aldecott 11&.!he final sa,le included &1 illustrations in B0 of the 0? books. haracter gender and tye of,aterial cultural artifact used $household) roduction( were coded. Larger roortions of fe,alecharacters in the books used household artifacts) whereas larger roortions of ,ale characters usedroduction artifacts outside the ho,e. !he authors discuss the relationshi of these reresentations tothe real world of gender) tools) and work) as well as i,lications for the sociali*ation of children.

eywords: children's books) gender sche,as) ,aterial culture) technology) tool use) aldecott #ooks)social reresentations

QQQQQQQQQQ

ne channel by which children are e+osed to ideas about the aroriate gender of users of ,aterial

culture is illustrated children's books. =n the current study) we reort on a content analysis ofillustrations in award-winning children's books ublished in the Jnited tates during the %&&1s and>111s. ur e+ectation was that reresentations in the children's books of those decades should

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gender+issues+in+young+children's+literature.-a0184699333http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Representations+of+material+culture+and+gender+in+award-winning...-a0271882341


23/45

,irror concurrent develo,ents in J.. society. ecifically) we hyothesi*ed that because wo,encontinued during that eriod to do the bulk of housework) ,ost fe,ale characters in children's bookswould reflect that gendered division of labor. 5owever) because an increasing nu,ber of wo,enworked outside the ho,e during those decades) we also e+ected that children's books would reflectthat change in the division of labor) as well. A broader assu,tion of the study was that in any culturein which children's books or other ,edia are significant sociali*ation channels for children) the way

that ,aterial culture and gender are ortrayed ,ay lay a significant role in children's develo,ent ofbeliefs about) references for) and e+ertise in using the array of artifacts that are available. 3hen asociety sends the tacit ,essage that secific artifacts are gender ,arked as e+clusively for use byeither fe,ales or ,ales) those artifacts) and the activities they are used for) ,ay be incororated intonor,ative gender roles $#andura) %&0B(.

112 3aEc,an) %&&%)>11(. ne ,echanis, for this structuration is the construction and trans,ission of socialreresentations that rescribe the aroriate gender of users of secific tyes of ,aterial culturalartifacts. ocial reresentations are classification syste,s used by ,e,bers of societies to define and,ake salient the things that are i,ortant) as well as the e+ected resonses to those things

$


24/45


25/45

74JL!

#ased on evidence that the roortions of fe,ale and ,ale ,odels to which children are e+osed caninfluence learning about gender ,ore than the raw freuencies of ,odels $#ussey 6 Perry) %&0>24agly) %&08() relative roortions of illustrations of characters using artifacts were co,uted and used

in the analyses. !ests were conducted using * tests on indeendent roortions of illustrations $leiss)Levin) 6 Paik) >11;(.

5yothesis % was that the roortion of illustrations showing fe,ale characters using householdartifacts would be larger than the corresonding roortion of illustrations of ,ale characters.earate focused tests $7osenthal 6 7osnow) >110( were conducted for each award decade. or the%&&1s) ?& of illustrations showed fe,ales using household artifacts) whereas %> showed ,alesusing household artifacts) * K 8.0B) R .11%) one-tailed) HhiI K .&8 $igure %(. or the >111s) ?B of illustrations showed fe,ales using household artifacts and %B of illustrations showed ,ales usinghousehold artifacts) * K ?.?8) R .11%) one-tailed) HhiI K .8B $igure %(. onsistent with thehyothesis) fe,ale characters were ,ore likely to be shown using household artifacts $e.g.) bowls)forks) knives) soons) or sewing ,achines( than ,ale characters were.

5yothesis > was that the roortion of fe,ale characters using household artifacts would not changebetween the %&&1s and >111s. onsistent with the rediction) no significant difference was detectedbetween the %&&1s $?&( and the >111s $?B() * K .>?) two-tailed) S .01) HhiI K .1; $see igure %(.

5yothesis ; was that the roortion of illustrations of ,ale characters using roduction artifactswould be larger than the roortion of illustrations of fe,ale characters using roduction artifacts. orthe %&&1s) 00 of illustrations showed ,ales using roduction artifacts) while % showed fe,alesusing roduction artifacts) * K 8.&>) R .11%) one-tailed) HhiI K .? $igure >(. or the >111s) 0 of illustrations showed ,ales using roduction artifacts and of illustrations showed fe,ales usingroduction artifacts) * K ?.?8) R .11%) one-tailed) HhiI K . $igure >(. onsistent with thehyothesis) ,ales were ,ore likely than fe,ales to be shown using roduction artifacts $e.g.) cars andtrucks) fishing nets) tools(.

5yothesis was that the roortion of illustrations of fe,ale characters using roduction artifactswould increase between the %&&1s and >111s. ontrary to this e+ectation) illustrations of fe,alecharacters using roduction artifacts did not change significantly over the two decades $* K .>?) S .1) one-tailed) HhiI K .1( $see igure >(.

5yothesis ? was that the roortion of illustrations showing ,ale characters using roduction artifactswould decrease between the %&&1s and >111s. Although a slight decrease was observed) it failed toreach the .1? level of significance $* K %.>;) S . %%) one-tailed) HhiI K .18( $see igure >(.

@=J=9

hildren's books that won the aldecott 11& accurately andinaccurately reflect the gender-based division of labor in J.. society during those decades. As was

the case with the real division of labor) fe,ale characters tended to be shown erfor,ing work withhousehold artifacts in the ho,e) whereas ,ale characters were shown working outside the ho,eusing roduction artifacts. ontrary to the trends in the division of labor) an unchanging roortion offe,ale characters was shown using roduction artifacts outside the ho,e) whereas in the real world)the rate of wo,en working outside the ho,e increased during those decades. Another inaccuracy wasthe stable reresentation of ,ale characters using roduction artifacts desite a declining rate of ,enworking outside the ho,e during that eriod. 3hen these findings are co,bined with rabb and#ielawski's $%&&( earlier work) the icture that e,erges is that the reresentation of such activities inthese children's books re,ained stable for ,ore than 81 years.

7egarding their earlier data) rabb and #ielawski $%&&( suggested that the disconnect betweenunchanging reresentations in children's books and changing labor atterns ,ay have beensy,to,atic of a cultural lag $gburn) %&B(. !hey seculated that as J.. society gained ,ore

e+erience with wo,en working outside the ho,e) the e+clusive ,ale ,arking of roduction artifactswould di,inish. !he current data cannot definitively rule out a cultural lag e+lanation) but the fact that


26/45

the clearly gendered reresentation ersisted for >1 years after rabb and #ielawski's sa,le doescall it into uestion.

7esearch e+a,ining children's books generally ai,s to describe the ,odeling sti,uli to which youngreaders are e+osed. !he current study si,ilarly assu,ed that ,odeled use of ,aterial culturalartifacts by fe,ales and ,ales can lay an i,ortant role in children's constructions of sche,as about

tools and gender roles. Although neuroi,aging studies have identified neural networks involved inconcetual $knowing about( and roduction $knowing how to use( oerations regarding tools$Dohnson-rey) >11() it is not yet clear where associations between tools and gender categories are,ade in the brain. Oet once sche,as of ,aterial culture and gender are for,ed in early childhood)continued e+osure to sources of sche,a-consistent infor,ation $e.g.) children's books) television)fil,s) advertising) the =nternet) and arents' behavior( would reinforce the, $ignorella) #igler) 6Liben) %&&8(. Gender-inconsistent infor,ation would tend to be ignored $rawley) >110( or have onlyshort-ter, effects $ler+) idler) 6 7ogers) %&8B2 cott 6 eld,an-u,,ers) t&8&(. As sche,as of,aterial culture and gender strengthen throughout childhood) they resu,ably influence interests)efficacy e+ectations) skill acuisition) and educational and career choices. !hus) girls would tend toshow interest in household technologies to the e+clusion of interest in roduction technologies)whereas boys would show the reverse attern of interests. !hose atterns of interests wouldcontribute to the construction of nor,ative gender roles.

=t is i,ortant to note one li,itation of our assu,tion that children's books should reflect socialconditions at the ti,e that they are ublished. 118(.

3e do not want to i,ly that using household tools reuires less co,etence or is less useful thanusing roduction tools outside the ho,e. erating a ho,e sewing ,achine de,ands Eust as ,uchtechnical skill as oerating a drill ress in a factory. 3e are suggesting that sources of sociali*ation)such as children's books that oint girls in one direction and boys in another) can constrain children's$and later) adults'( develo,ent of interests and oortunities with resect to ,aterial culture. 7efor,of children's books by) for e+a,le) adEusting roortions of fe,ale and ,ale characters usingdifferent tyes of tools) would not be likely in and of itself to change sche,as and behavior. hangesin the broader culture ,ay be reuired $#igler 6 Liben) >1182 ouncil on =nterracial #ooks for hildren)%&8B(.

9evertheless) it would be constructive for children's book illustrators) authors) editors) and ublishersto beco,e fa,iliar with the large body of research about their roducts and the gender stereotyesthey ,ay be ro,oting to young readers. ne goal would be to foster ,ore gender-neutral ortrayalsof tool use in future children's books. =n addition) arents) teachers) and librarians who share icturebooks with children can encourage critical thinking about gendered reresentations in books $hick)>11>2 rawley) >110(. Pointing out that ,en also cook ,eals at ho,e and that wo,en also useco,uters at work would challenge gender stereotyes in e+isting books. uch interventions couldhave a desirable effect on the i,ortant develo,ental task of learning about how ,aterial culture caninfluence oneself) other eole) and society.

7447494

Association for Library ervice to hildren. $>11&(. aldecott ,edal and honor books) %&;0-resent.7etrieved fro, www.ala.org/ala/,grs/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/book,edia/caldecott,edal/


27/45

caldecott,edal/caldecott,edal.cf, #andura) A. $%&0B(. ocial foundations of thought and action: Asocial cognitive theory. 4nglewood liffs) 9 D: Prentice 5all.

#igler) 7. .) 6 Liben) L. . $>118(. @evelo,ental intergrou theory: 4+laining and reducingchildren's social stereotying and reEudice. urrent @irections in Psychological cience) %B) %B>-%BB.

#itt,an) ;.

#ureau of Labor tatistics. $>11&(. Labor force statistics fro, the current J.. oulation survey.7etrieved fro, htt:// data/bls.gov/P@M/servlet/urveyututurvlet/

#us) A.) #elsky) D.) van =D*endoorn) ) 0%-&0.

#ussey) .) 6 Perry) @. G. $%&0>(. a,e-se+ i,itation: !he avoidance of cross-se+ ,odels or theaccetance of sa,e-se+ ,odels e+ 7oles) 0) 88;-80.

hick) . A. $>11>(. hallenging gender stereotyes through literature: Picture books with strongfe,ale characters. Dournal of hildren's Literature) >0) %&->.

ockburn) .) 6 ,rod) . $%&&;(. Gender and technology in the ,aking. London) 4ngland: age.

ouncil on =nterracial #ooks for hildren. $%&8B(. 5u,an--and anti-hu,an--values in children's books.9ew Oork) 9O: Author.

rabb) P. #.) 6 #ielawski) @. $%&&(. !he social reresentation of ,aterial culture and gender inchildren's books. e+ 7oles) ;1) B&-8&.

4agly) A. 5. $%&08(. e+ differences in social behavior: A social-role interretation. 5illsdale) 9 D:4rlbau, Associates.

4agly) A. 5.) 3ood) 3.) 6 Dohannesen-ch,idt) 11(. ocial role theory of se+ differences andsi,ilarities. =n A. 5. 4agly) A. 4. #eall) 6 7. D. ternberg $4ds.() !he sychology of gender $>nd ed.). >B&->&?(. 9ew Oork) 9O: Guilford.

4vans) 11?(. 3hat children are looking at during shared storybook reading.Psychological cience) %B) &%;-&>1.

leiss) D. L.) Levin) #.) 6 Paik) 11;(. tatistical ,ethods for rates and roortions $;rd ed.(.9ew Oork) 9O: Dohn 3iley.

ler+) C. .) idler) @. .) 6 7ogers) 7. 3. $%&8B(. e+ role stereotyes: @evelo,ental asects andearly intervention. hild @evelo,ent) 8) &&0-%118.

rawley) !. D. $>110(. Gender sche,a and reEudicial recall: 5ow children ,isre,e,ber) fabricate) anddistort gendered icture book infor,ation. Dournal of 7esearch in hildhood 4ducation) >>) >&%-;1;.

ullerton) 5. 9. $%&&&) @ece,ber(. Labor force articiation: 8? years of change) %&?1-&0 and %&&0->1>?. .

Dohnson-rey) . 5. $>11(. !he neural bases of co,le+ tool use in hu,ans. !rends in ognitiveciences) 0) 8%-80.

Liss) 8-B(. a,bridge) 4ngland: a,bridge Jniversity Press.


28/45

11%(. =nterretations of schooling in conte,orary children's icture books.@issertation Abstracts =nternational) B>$1?A() AA=;1%BB>.

11(. .

hairo) D.) Anderson) D.) 6 Anderson) A. $%&&8(. @iversity in arental storybook reading. 4arly hild@evelo,ent and are) %>8-%>0) 8-?&.

ignorella) ) %00->%.

Oaden) @. #.) ,olkin) L. #.) 6


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@eart,ent of 4arly hildhood and ecial 4ducation) Caldosta tate Jniversity) Caldosta) Georgia

ub,itted 9ove,ber %0) >1%12 acceted Danuary &) >1%%.

Address corresondence to Peter #. rabb) @eart,ent of Psychology) Pennsylvania tate

Jniversity-5a*leton) 8B Jniversity @rive) 5a*leton) PA %0>1>. 4-,ail: bc%Tsu.edu

@=: %1.%101/1>?B0?;.>1%%.B1?>1&6I8=3 1


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• APA style: !he i,act of gender-fair versus gender-stereotyed basal readers on %st-

grade children's gender stereotyes: a natural e+eri,ent.. $n.d.( >The Free Library. $>1%(. 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/!hei,actofgender-fairversusgender-stereotyedbasalreaderson...-a1>1B0%0%

Abstract. =sraeli %st-grade children in two different schools in the sa,e neighborhood who were usingeither a gender-stereotyed or a gender-fair basal reader were asked to Eudge for a series of fe,ale-stereotyed) ,ale-stereotyed) and gender-neutral activities whether they were characteristic offe,ales) of ,ales) or of both. hildren using the gender-fair basal reader indicated that ,ore activitieswere aroriate for both ,ales and fe,ales than did children using the gender-stereotyed reader. As well) those using the gender-fair basal reader Eudged stereotyically fe,ale activities as ,orearoriate for both ,ales and fe,ales than did children using the gender-stereotyed reader. !ye of basal reader did not i,act Eudg,ents of the gender-aroriateness of either ,ale-stereotyed orgender-neutral activities. !here were no ,ain effects or interactions with children's own se+ or of,others' work status. !he i,ortance of gender-fair ortrayals in basal readers was discussed.

QQQQQQQQQQ

#asal readers do not only teach children how to read2 their content and their ictorial deictions alsoi,licitly teach children about asects of the social world and the eole that inhabit that world. Assuch) they can be used to ro,ulgate and reinforce revailing social nor,s and stereotyes or theycan be used to challenge and foster otential change $cf.) Dordan) Green) 6 !uyay) >11?(. =n articular)unlike children's books that are selected for children by their arents) basal readers are selected byteachers) schools) and school boards2 conseuently) they can be used strategically as vehicles forro,oting social change. !his is esecially the case in the do,ain of gender stereotyes) which is thefocus of the current article. ecifically) basal readers contain both te+tual ,aterial and ictures ordrawings that can reflect differences between ,ales and fe,ales) in their resence) the roles theyfulfill) their actions) and their reactions $@avis) %&02 Dacklin 6 111(--gender ,ay be the ,ost i,ortant sychologically) because itbifurcates the world. Gender-segregated lay in children is evident before age ; $e.g.) 11%(. 4ven younger toddlers show less involve,ent with toys stereotyically associated with theoosite se+) and they reEect such toys ,ore than ones stereotyically associated with their own se+or neutral ones $aldera) 5uston) 6 '#rien) %&0&2 !urner 6 Gervai) %&&?(. As well) reschool childrenindicate less liking of toys stereotyically associated with the oosite se+ $4isenberg) 2


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as laying with "oosite-se+" toys rather than with a child of their own se+ who is resented aslaying with "oosite-se+" toys $Ale+ander 6 5ines) %&&(. =n fact) a child laying with toysstereotyically associated with the oosite se+ is rated as relatively bad) esecially when this child is,ale rather than fe,ale $,etana) %&0B(. Also in this conte+t) when writing stories of their own)children are likely to write about ,ale characters with a wide range of occuations and adventures)whereas fe,ale characters are described as ,uch ,ore li,ited in their occuations and behaviors

$7o,antowski 6 !reanier-treet) %&08(.

ince cultures use storytelling to trans,it values and attitudes to children $e.g.) #ettelhei,) %&8?()educators should have an interest in e+osing children to books and basal readers that serve toreduce gender-stereotying. J94 $>1112 see also #lu,berg) >118( has advocated the ositionthat educational ,aterials should be used as vehicles of social change in the gender do,ain. =n fact)though) ,ost children's books and basal readers do not convey ,essages that foster the reduction ofgender stereotying. hildren's books in 4nglish include ,ore ,ale than fe,ale characters) whetherchild) adult) or ani,al) and include significantly ,ore ictures of boys than girls $3eiss) %&&%23eit*,an) 4ifler) 5okada) 6 7oss) %&8>(. =n a content analysis of children's books ublished between%&11 and %&0) ,ale characters far outnu,bered fe,ale characters $Grauerhol* 6 Pescosolido)%&0&(. $Publishers often state that girls will read anything) while boys avoid stories that have girls as,ain characters Houncil on =nterracial #ooks for hildren) %&8B2 7ud,an) %&0I.( =n recent analyses

of notable children's books $Gooden 6 Gooden) >11%() aldecott-winning children's books $@avis 611

books for children ages ;-B years found that ,ales were resented as having redo,inantlyinstru,ental $i.e.) traditionally ,asculine( characteristics or engaged in instru,ental activities &% ofthe ti,e and rarely as e+hibiting characteristics or activities traditionally associated with fe,ales. =ncontrast) fe,ales were resented in e+ressive situations or e+hibiting e+ressive $i.e.) traditionallyfe,ale( traits 8& of the ti,e and in instru,ental situations or e+hibiting instru,ental traits only >%of the ti,e $t. Peter) %&8&(. =n fact) deendency the,es) which e,hasi*e helless behavior byfe,ales) have been found to be co,,on in a content analysis of %%; books for children $3hite) %&0B(.

!his stereotye-eretuating attern is also evident in basal readers. =n an early study in which acontent analysis of % basal readers was conducted $3o,en on 3ords and =,ages) %&8>() ,aleswere found to be ortrayed ,ore often) with a ratio of ;:% for adult ,ain characters and ?:> for child,ain characters. =n both that study and in later studies of basal readers $e.g.) 5itchcock 6 !o,kins)

%&08() ,en were deicted in ,ore varied roles and were resented as ,ore active than fe,ales. A,ore recent study $3itt) %&&B( of %B basal readers si,ilarly found that illustrations of ,ale charactersoutnu,bered those of fe,ale characters) and that ,ale characters outnu,bered fe,ale characters inall of the books) with so,e of the books having ,ore than a >:% ratio of ,ale to fe,ale characters. =n asurvey of ?1 years of the illustrations acco,anying basal readers in Australia $Dackson 6 Gee) >11?(),ales were si,ilarly ,ore revalent than fe,ales in such illustrations. Although the ,aEority of studieson basal readers have been conducted on 4nglish language readers) #lu,berg's $>118( reviewconcludes that with the e+cetion of candinavian countries) this is the general attern in the ,aEorityof non-4nglish seaking countries as well.

#asal readers) erhas unwittingly) tend to foster gender stereotyes in other ways as well. 11?(. #oys are ,ore often ortrayed as co,etitive and as facing ,oral dile,,asthat reuire decision-,aking $!etenbau, 6 Pearson) %&0&(. Girls) on the other hand) tend to be shown


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!he current natural e+eri,ent was occasioned by the fact that two =sraeli schools in the sa,eneighborhood) and serving the sa,e oulation) used different basal readers that varied in theirortrayals of ,ales and fe,ales. =n one of the schools) a ,ore gender-fair basal reader was used2 inthe other school) a ,ore gender-stereotyed basal reader was used. A natural e+eri,ent is referredto when intact classroo,s or schools are used as the grouing variable and the e+eri,enter does not

have control over who is assigned to these intact grous $i.e.) there is no rando, assign,ent ofarticiants to the grous in uestion( $a,bell 6 tanley) %&B;(. As long as it can be assu,ed thatchildren did not choose their schools on the basis of the do,ain in uestion $i.e.) the basal readersused() the two grous can be validly co,ared. =n fact) the children who articiated in this study wereassigned to one of the two schools by the ,uniciality) and arents were not able to choose betweenthe schools) creating the conditions for a natural e+eri,ent.

children in two %st-grade classes in two different schools in an urban center in=srael. !he two schools are along the sa,e street in the sa,e city and serve the sa,e ,i+ed) ,iddle-

and lower-class oulation. #ecause eight of the uestionnaires were returned inco,lete orincorrectly filled out) the final sa,le of B children included >0 children $%% ,ale and %8 fe,ale( whoused the gender-fair basal reader and ;B children $>> ,ale and % fe,ale( who used the ,oregender-stereotyed basal reader. !esting was conducted during the final ,onth of the %st grade.

Procedure

!he first ste rior to conducting this study was to find two basal readers that are in co,,on use andthat differ in their ortrayal of gender and gendered activity) both in ter,s of their verbal descritionsand in ter,s of their visual ortrayals. !he ara,eters used to deter,ine gender ortrayals werebased on rior research and included gender-stereotyed ersonality characteristics $e.g.)assertiveness or deendence() occuations $e.g.) nurse or doctor) teacher as a fe,ale() the locales inwhich activities took lace $e.g.) fe,ales as being in the kitchen) ,ales as being outdoors() and the

tyes of activities engaged in. Jsing these ara,eters) two basal readers were identified: one calledL=!A $an acrony, for what translates as =ndividuali*ed) 7e,edial and Active Learning) Altalef 6oriat) %&&;() which was highly stereotyed in its gender ortrayals) and one called #L= @!$3ithout ecrets) 3eiss 6 Liavsky) %&&8() which was ,uch ,ore gender-fair in its resentation.!hese basal readers each have several volu,es) beco,e rogressively ,ore difficult to read) andserve to teach reading in the %st through th grades in ,any of the schools in =srael.

=n the ,ore gender-stereotyed reader) ,ales were ortrayed as building houses) guarding) layingwith a ball) and working at agricultural endeavors2 fe,ales were ortrayed as engaging in foodrearation) shoing for clothes) buying flowers) and laying with dolls. =n the ,ore gender-fairreader) both ,ales and fe,ales were ortrayed as engaging in ,ost activities) and so,e cross-gender behavior was also shown--a father rearing suer $U0) . ;1() a boy laying with a doll $U>) . ;() agirl getting a ball as a resent $UB) . ?() and a girl winning a bike race $UB) . %1() and a roe ull $UB)

. ;(.

!he study was conducted in the children's classroo,s with the teacher and the e+eri,enter resent. After being told that they would read so,e short sentences and would need to answer uestions aboutthe,) the children were shown the uestionnaire. 7eferring to each activity) they were asked toindicate whether the activity was ,ore aroriate for ,ales) for fe,ales) or was eually aroriatefor both. 4ach activity was followed by a drawing of a ,ale and a fe,ale) and children were asked tocircle either one of the figures or both of the figures if the activity was dee,ed eually alicable toboth. hildren read the uestionnaires indeendently and were heled either by the e+eri,enter orthe teacher if they indicated difficulties reading the uestionnaire.

!he uestionnaire consisted of %? uestions) with %; of these referring to activities) all of which hadbeen ,entioned in their readers. f the activities) ? were stereotyically fe,ale activities $doing the

dishes) rearing suer) getting a flower) laying with a doll) and baking a cake(2 B werestereotyically ,ale activities $going wild) laying in the ,ud) laying with a ball) riding a bike) looking


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after the house) and building a house(2 and > were neutral $fearing an inEection and talking on thehone() as Eudged by ? university students who agreed on all ite,s. !wo additional uestions referredto the child's own gender and to whether the ,other works outside the ho,e. =n 5ebrew) vowels areshown as diacritical signs $called nikkud) or oints() and because %st-graders in 5ebrew read withthese oints) they were added to all the uestions.

7esults

3e derived several different sets of ,easures fro, children's resonses. !he first set of ,easuresreflects whether children Eudged the activities as aroriate for ,ales) aroriate for fe,ales) oraroriate for both. ince the su, of the activities is constant) only two of the ,easures could beanaly*ed at the sa,e ti,e.

or the first analysis) se+ of child) tye of reader) and ,other's work status were between-subEects,easures) and gender aroriateness $for fe,ales or for both ,ales and fe,ales( was a within-subEects ,easure) yielding a ,i+ed + > + > + >. !his analysis showed only an interactionbetween tye of reader and gender aroriateness) $%)?B( K .%>) R .1?. !he ,eans relevant forthis interaction are shown in !able %.

As evident in the table) the interaction ste,,ed fro, the fact that children who used the gender-stereotyed reader Eudged ,ore activities as aroriate for fe,ales than for both ,ales and fe,ales)but children who used the gender-fair reader Eudged fewer activities as only aroriate for fe,alesand ,ore activities as aroriate for both ,ales and fe,ales. 5ence) the gender-fair readerdecreased the nu,ber of activities Eudged as only aroriate for fe,ales and increased Eudg,ents ofthe greater aroriateness of the activities for both genders. =n contrast to the above) there was noeffect of child gender) tye of reader) or ,other's work status on the Eudg,ent of activities asaroriate for ,ales) all 's R >) n.s.

=n order to deter,ine where the gender-fair reader had its i,act) a second set of analyses e+a,inedchildren's Eudg,ents of the gender aroriateness of activities relative to the stereotyicality of theactivities in uestion. or instance) children could Eudge that stereotyically ,ale activities arearoriate for fe,ales) aroriate for ,ales) or aroriate for both) and si,ilarly for stereotyically

fe,ale and gender-neutral activities. Again) since the nu,ber of such Eudg,ents is constant) analyseswere conducted searately for each tye of activity: stereotyically fe,ale) gender-neutral) andstereotyically ,ale activities. =n a ,i+ed A9CA with se+ of child) tye of reader) and ,other's workstatus as between-articiant factors) the analysis on stereotyically fe,ale activities showed asignificant ,ain effect of tye of reader) $%)?B( K ?.B%) R .1?. hildren who were using the gender-fair reader were three ti,es as likely as those using the gender-stereotyed reader to Eudgestereotyically fe,ale activities as aroriate for both ,ales and fe,ales. !he ,eans were .;1 and .%1) resectively) for children using the gender-fair versus the gender-stereotyed reader.

9e+t) analyses were conducted only on those activities that were stereotyically ,ale) again with se+of child) tye of reader) and ,other's work status as between-articiants factors. 9one of the effectswere significant) all 's R >) n.s. inally) the sa,e analyses were conducted only on those activitiesthat were gender-neutral. 9one of the effects were significant) all 's R >) n.s.

@iscussion

!his study e+a,ined the i,act of gender-fair and gender-stereotyed basal readers on %st-gradechildren's gender stereotyes. !he ,ost striking asect of our results is that the gender stereotyes ofthose children who were using the gender-fair basal reader were significantly different than of thosechildren who were using the gender-stereotyed basal reader. irst) children who were using thegender-fair basal reader saw ,ore activities as aroriate for both se+es. econd) children who wereusing the gender-fair basal reader Eudged ,ore activities stereotyically associated with fe,ales asaroriate for both ,ales and fe,ales alike. !hird) the fact that neither the ,ale-stereotyedactivities nor the gender-neutral activities were i,acted by the tye of basal reader that children wereusing i,lies that changing stereotyes of what is aroriate for ,ales is ,uch ,ore difficult thanchanging stereotyes of what is aroriate for fe,ales. !his ,ay well occur because it is generally

wo,en who are shown engaging in activities that are stereotyically associated with ,ales) ratherthan ,en being shown engaging in activities that are stereotyically associated with fe,ales. 5ence) it


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is clear that basal readers can be used to both eretuate and change ercetions of stereotyicgender roles.

As for stereotyes in general) we found no effects of children's own se+) and se+ did not interact withthe tye of reader used or ,other's work status. !his finding is in contrast to other research with %st-grade children showing that boys are ,ore gender-stereotyed than girls in Eudging eers engaged in

cross-gender toy lay $e.g.) arniol 6 Aida) %&&8(. !he finding that the two readers were notassociated with a different attern of Eudg,ents for boys than for girls suggests that boys' stereotyes,ay be as a,enable to change as those of girls. !hat is) in these %st-grade children) e+osure to,ore gender-fair deictions was effective in changing both boys' and girls' gender stereotyes. n theother hand) basal reader deictions of others that feed into e+tant gender stereotyes serve toeretuate and strengthen gender stereotyes.

ne ,ay uestion whether those children who used the gender-fair basal reader were less gender-stereotyed a riori. Although we cannot disrove this ossibility) we would highly doubt thisalternative e+lanation for our data. irst) children in the region are selected to attend one or the otherschool by the ,unicial authorities) rather than by arents. econd) the ele,entary school teachers ineach school decide) together with the coordinator of the ele,entary grades) which of the two basalreaders to assign. !hird) discussion with teachers who use either the gender-fair or gender-

stereotyed basal reader indicates that they were not aarently aware of the different ways in whichgender stereotyes were ortrayed in the two books) and so this was not a consideration in guidingtheir choice of which basal reader to adot. Adotion of the readers was based on the articulartechniue used to teach reading in each of the basal readers and teachers' co,fort with one) versusanother) techniue. 5ence) we would contend that children ,ost likely entered the %st grade withsi,ilar gender stereotyes and that the basal readers contributed to the for,ation and entrench,entor weakening of their gender stereotyes.

!his study) therefore) underlines the i,ortant role that basal readers can lay in children'sresentation of the social world and the variety of roles that ,en and wo,en lay in it. !o the e+tentthat society has an interest in fostering ,ore heterogeneous ercetions and the reduction of genderstereotyes) choice of basal readers and other educational ,aterials should be guided by a deeerunderstanding of the i,act of the i,licit content of such ,aterials on young children and their

e,ergent stereotyes. As this study has shown) basal readers) by virtue of their e+tended resence inchildren's lives) are ri,e vehicles for the ro,otion of change in children's gender stereotyes.

$sub,itted 8/&/102 acceted %%/;/10(

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!el Aviv Jniversity

9ote: orresondence regarding this aer should be sent to 7achel arniol) @eart,ent ofPsychology) !el Aviv Jniversity) 7a,at Aviv) =srael. 4lectronic ,ail can be sent to rkarniolTfreud.tau.ac.il

Table 1-ud%ed Appropriateness of Acti2ities for 6emales or for

Both &ales and 6emales, by Type of =eader

Appropriate Appropriate

for for

Both Se;es 6emales

8enderStereotyped

=eader .5 .

8enderfair

=eader .*! .*5PO7=G5! >11& Association for hildhood 4ducation =nternational9o ortion of this article can be reroduced without the e+ress written er,ission fro, the coyright holder.

oyright >11& Gale) engage Learning. All rights reserved.

Gender) racial) and ethnic ,isreresentation in children'sbooks: a co,arative look.Citations:

• MLA style: "Gender) racial) and ethnic ,isreresentation in children's books: a

co,arative look.." !he ree Library. >11& Association for hildhood 4ducation=nternational 1& Aug. >1% htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Gender>cracial>candethnic,isreresentationinchildren'sbooks;aa...-a1%&8110;>

• Chicago style: The Free Library . .v. Gender) racial) and ethnic ,isreresentation inchildren's books: a co,arative look.." 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Gender>cracial>candethnic,isreresentationinchildren'sbooks;aa...-a1%&8110;>

• APA style: Gender) racial) and ethnic ,isreresentation in children's books: a

co,arative look.. $n.d.( >The Free Library. $>1%(. 7etrieved Aug 1& >1% fro,htt://www.thefreelibrary.co,/Gender>cracial>candethnic,isreresentationinchildren'sbooks;aa...-a1%&8110;>

5ow children's books ortray various grous is very i,ortant for educators to consider. =n ,anyliterate cultures) values and attitudes are trans,itted through storytelling) often involving the use of

children's books $ortenhaus 6 @e,arest) %&&;2 7oberts) @ean) 6 5olland) >11?(. Ooung childrenusually enEoy having a book read to the,.

Jnfortunately) children's literature traditionally has not been authentic in reresenting the e+eriencesof ,any ethnic and racial ,inority grous $9ieto) %&&B(. 7esearch also indicates that children's booksdo not always ortray the fe,ale gender eually to the ,ale $@avis 6 110(.hildren's literature has been used for ,any years to develo ositive attitudes towards eole of

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239507294 gender stereotype and children s lit

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