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Gender Stereotyping and Under-Representation of Female Characters in 200 Popular Children’s Picture Books: a Twenty-First Century Update
Sex Roles
Abstract
Gender stereotyping and under-representation of girls and women have been documented in children’s picture books in the past,
in the hope that improvements would follow. Most researchers have analyzed award-winning books. We explored sexism in top
selling books from 2001 and a 7-year sample of Caldecott award-winning books, for a total of 200 books. There were nearly
twice as many male as female title and main characters. Male characters appeared 53% more times in illustrations. Female main
characters nurtured more than male main characters did, and they were seen in more indoor than outdoor scenes. Occupations
were gender stereotyped, and more women than men appeared to have no paid occupation. Few differences were found between Caldecott
award books and other books. A comparison of our book sample to 1980s and 1990s books did not reveal reduced sexism. The persistence
of sexism in picture books and implications for children and parents are discussed.
... This excerpt does not characterise Snow White in a stereotypically feminine way. She is portrayed as thinking about a new knitting project that will bring her joy (and not necessarily others), with her past experiences depicted as an "adventure," a word traditionally associated more with male than female characters (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, & Young, 2006;Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, & Ross, 1972). Additionally, the accompanying illustration shows that her new knitting project will probably lead to further adventures. ...
The belief that women are more emotional than men and less able to control the influence of their emotions on their thoughts and behaviours is one of the strongest gender stereotypes in Western cultures. While gender representation in children’s books has been studied since the 1970s and has led to numerous books that challenge gender stereotypes, the notion of women as emotionally irrational persists – even in picturebooks that rewrite or circumvent other gender-stereotypical elements. Drawing on feminist (fairy-tale) studies, translation studies, cognitive theory, and picturebook studies, the author of this article seeks to examine how verbal and visual choices in the Dutch picturebook Sneeuwwitje breit een monster [Snow White Knits a Monster] by Annemarie van Haeringen (2014) and its American translation, How to Knit a Monster (2018), can reinforce or challenge the Western stereotype of women as emotionally unstable and lacking control. The author’s comparative multimodal analysis reveals that visual split depictions and dramatic irony in the selected case studies uphold the harmful association of women with emotional irrationality and ignorance. In contrast, word-image interactions that allow for ambiguity and that suggest the main character’s use of embodied knowledge offer a potential challenge to these connotations.
... Para el proceso de extracción de las categorías de análisis se codificaron manualmente 10 de los primeros informes de análisis iconográfico. Tras la codificación se concretó una categoría general; Roles y estereotipos en las imágenes; y cuatro parámetros que se han definido para una mejor comprensión y análisis, los cuales se presentan en la Tabla 1. Tabla 1. Categoría general de análisis de las imágenes y parámetros Roles y estereotipos en las imágenes Representación masculina y femenina Caracterización y atuendos Acciones y artefactos utilizados Localizaciones con valor simbólico Esta categoría general y parámetros tienen una estrecha vinculación con las investigaciones relacionadas con las representaciones estereotipadas de hombres y mujeres de los autores Hamilton et al., (2006), Salido y Salido (2021) y Turin (1995). ...
Resumen La educación supone una herramienta capaz de transformar los modelos culturales de género desde los contenidos educativos que se imparten. Esto es una realidad cada vez más visible que coexiste con el reflejo de nuestra sociedad patriarcal en la que se aprecia la figura femenina en un lugar insustancial en los materiales escolares. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la representación de la mujer y la niña en el lenguaje iconográfico de los libros de texto. Para ello, se ha utilizado una metodología cualitativa y se ha empleado el análisis de contenido a partir de 52 imágenes extraídas de 18 libros de texto de 5 editoriales diferentes. Este recopilatorio y análisis ha sido elaborado por el alumnado del Grado de Maestro/a en Educación Primaria de la Universidad de Zaragoza. Los resultados han mostrado que las niñas y mujeres siguen apareciendo en las imágenes bajo un papel secundario y estereotipado. Como conclusión, el proceso de análisis reflexivo experimentado por las y los futuros docentes requiere de un enfoque preventivo y proactivo en su formación inicial, así como una revisión de los contenidos e imágenes que persisten en los materiales escolares y que presentan la figura femenina bajo unos roles patriarcales que se acaban proyectando en las aulas.
Children's understandings of society, and the possibilities of their personal trajectories in it, are heavily influenced by narratives with which they have been raised. Ways of doing gender are learned, and they proliferate, via children's literature. By focusing on three key series by Anh Do, I examine how girlhoods are constructed in Australian children's literature. In Do's series WeirDo, Hotdog, and Wolf Girl, girls take on a diversity of roles from tertiary love interest to protagonist, and forms from anthropomorphic animal to the dubiously human. Deploying post-coding analysis, I explore the imaginative possibilities of doing girlhood by examining the appearances, behaviors, and relationships of female characters in these texts and question if the three series can—or should—be upheld to the same standards.
Traditional representations of binary gender are often found in early linguistic studies of children’s fiction, typically surveys of prize-winning books over several decades. These studies tend to focus on the frequency and relative prominence of female and male characters, as well as the occupations attributed to them. In this chapter I use corpus linguistic methods to investigate these same aspects, which arguably form the foundation of gender representation in children’s literature. Despite this corpus of best-selling children’s fiction series extending up to 2011, there has been little change in terms of the balance in gendered reference to characters or the distribution of their roles between the older and the more recent series. Male characters dominate numerically, as well as having the greatest range of occupations, especially those with higher status, while female roles also tend to follow traditional lines with domestic roles dominating.
Children’s literature has much to tell us about how gender is constructed via the linguistic choices made by authors, in the cultural context within which they write. It also has the potential to act as a major socialising agent, providing young readers with the building blocks of their developing identities. Fiction for children both reflects and perpetuates ideas about how to be a girl, or how to be a boy. In this chapter, I outline the major theoretical concepts underlying this study of best-selling children’s series in English and explain my interpretation of each, focussing on the role of language in supporting existing ideologies of gender and their impact on children. The aim of this book is to use a corpus-assisted discourse analysis approach to draw out patterns in indirect sexism, in social gender, and this chapter forms the theoretical backdrop.
Children's literature can potentially influence and shape the growing sensibilities of young minds. Hence, it must adapt to the evolving social and cultural conditions to teach young readers responsibility, sensitivity, and inclusivity. In this context, children's literature in India concerns the prevailing conversation about raising awareness of gender biases and promoting inclusive mindsets. Contemporary children's books, especially picturebooks, attempt to bring about change through positive and powerful narratives that break gender barriers. For this purpose, three picturebooks, namely Kamla Bhasin's Girls Want Azadi, Sowmya Rajendran's Wings to Fly, and The Weightlifting Princess, have been consciously chosen owing to their contemporariness and thematic semblance. The article reviews the female protagonists and their multiple identities constructed amid injustice and discrimination in the narratives. It uses textual analysis as the research method for unearthing the connotations and denotations present in the chosen picturebooks. By highlighting the Indian depictions of gender-based discrimination, these picturebooks create a space for dialogue among child readers that traverse beyond the boundaries of social and cultural taboos.
Toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri, yaşlı kadınların yaşamlarını belirgin şekilde şekillendirmekte ve yaşlanma süreciyle birlikte bu rollerde değişimler gözlenmektedir. Gençlik döneminde kadınlara dayatılan güzellik, üretkenlik ve cinsellik gibi roller, yaşlılıkla birlikte toplum nezdinde önemini yitirmekte ve bunun yerini bakım verme, bilgelik ve deneyim sahibi olma gibi nitelikler almaktadır. Ancak, bu geçiş sürecinde bile yaşlı kadınlar sıklıkla görünmez hale getirilmekte, toplum tarafından değersizleştirilmekte ve ayrımcılıkla karşılaşmaktadır. Çocukların dünyayı algılamasında önemli bir yere sahip olan resimli çocuk kitapları, toplumsal cinsiyet rollerini yansıtarak çocukların yaşlı kadınlara yönelik algılarını etkilemektedir. Çocuklar, bu kitaplarda gördükleri yaşlı kadın karakterlerini zihinlerinde somutlaştırarak onları gerçek hayattaki yaşlı kadın figürleriyle özdeşleştirebilmekte ve toplumsal rolleri bu temsiller aracılığıyla içselleştirmektedir. Özellikle, hikayelerde güçlü ve bağımsız yaşlı kadın karakterlerin yer alması, çocuklara yaşlı kadınların liderlik yapabileceği veya güçlü olabileceği mesajını iletebilirken, geleneksel temsiller toplumsal cinsiyet normlarının pekişmesine neden olabilmektedir. Bu nedenle erken çocukluk dönemindeki çocuklara yönelik hazırlanmış resimli çocuk kitaplarının içeriklerindeki yaşlı kadın figürlerinin içerik ve görsel unsurlar bağlamında incelenmesi bu araştırmanın amacını oluşturmaktadır. Bu araştırmada, farklı yayınevlerinden çıkmış ve farklı yıllarda basılmış, yaşlı kadınların ana karakter olarak temsil edildiği 17 resimli çocuk kitabı belirlenmiş ve incelenmiştir. Nitel araştırma yöntemi kullanılarak yürütülen çalışma fenomenolojik araştırma desenindedir. Veriler doküman incelemesi yoluyla ve içerik analizi ile değerlendirilmiştir. İki araştırmacının birlikte yürüttüğü analizde kodlayıcı güvenirlik katsayısı %91,7 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, resimli çocuk kitaplarında yaşlı kadınlar çoğunlukla güvenilir bir bakıcı, kültür ve bilgiyi aktaran, aile içinde yalnız, huysuz veya bakıma muhtaç bireyler olarak sunulmaktadır. Yaşlı kadınların çocuk bakımında rol almasının ve ev içi işlerde gösterilmesinin toplumsal cinsiyet rolleriyle ilişkili olduğu düşünülmüştür. Aynı zamanda, yaş aldıkça elde edilen bilginin çocuklarla paylaşılması, kadınların geleneksel eğitici rolünün sürdüğünün bir göstergesidir. Bu temsiller, çocuklara yaşlı kadınların toplumda nasıl görüldüğü konusunda ipuçları vererek, cinsiyet rolleri algısını etkilemektedir. Çalışma, toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği ve yaşlılık konularında daha kapsamlı araştırmalar yapılmasına katkı sunmayı amaçlamaktadır
Mahasweta Devi and Kanyika Kini's debut picturebook The Why-Why Girl (2003) introduces a dynamic representation of Adivasi (collective term for indigenous communities in India) livelihood in the arena of Indian children's literature. Through the portrayal of Moyna, Devi and Kini not only offer readers insight into the veiled lives of the Adivasi but also sensitize them to issues of social justice and equity by unmasking systematic oppression. With a multimodal approach, this article analyzes the glorified status quo of the Adivasi lives and their indigenous connection with their land and culture vis-à-vis the tropes of rapid globalization, the rampant practice of feudalism, and the systematic marginalization of Adivasi from the mainstream society. Juxtaposing the multitudinous modes of oppression, Devi and Kini's picturebook negotiates the process of formulating subaltern girlhood and elucidates sociocultural implications for the depiction of Adivasi lives—specifically, romanticized ideologies and contradictory social ostracism—attempting to call for inclusivity, respect, and empathy.
Children's preschool books are important sources of gender role socialization, teaching children traditional gender-stereotyped expectations and behavior. Past studies on award-winning preschool books have noted much gender stereotyping but gradually increasing visibility of female characters. This research updated the past studies and expected to find decreasing gender stereotyping. Results showed that human female characters have become increasingly visible, with close to equal numerical representation, and a wider variety of attributes and activities. Though significant male-female differences in depiction of gender-stereotypic traits have diminished, subtle traditional expectations are still present in many of these books.
An examination of prize-winning picture books reveals that women are greatly underrepresented in the titles, central roles, and illustrations. Where women do appear their characterization reinforces traditional sex-role stereotypes: boys are active while girls are passive; boys lead and rescue others while girlsfollow and serve others. Adult men and women are equally sex stereotyped: men engage in a wide variety of occupations while women are presented only as wives and mothers. The effects of these rigid sex-role portraits on the self image and aspirations of the developing child are discussed.
Changes in female sex-role stereotyping since the Weitzman et al. (1972) review of the Caldecott children's book selections are assessed in this study. The 19 Caldecott medal and honor book selections from 1972 to 1979 are examined for the presence of sexism in terms of ratio of female to male pictures and characters in the book, sex of the main character, inclusion of females in the book, and sex-role portrayal and characterization. The analyses show that while the ratio of female pictures and characters had improved considerably since 1972, role portrayal and characterization had not changed. These results are discussed in terms of the impact of symbolic modeling and the resistance of cultural values to the introduction of egalitarian sex roles.
The Animal = Male Hypothesis, a variation of Silveira's People = Male Hypothesis (Silveira, 1980), was examined. In Study 1, children ages 3–10 years and adults told stories about a gender-neutral stuffed animal, in Study 2 children ages 5–6 years told stories about 3 neutral and 3 feminine animals, and in Study 3 children ages 5–7 years told stories about 2 neutral animals, observed an adult model use feminine pronouns to refer to an animal, then told stories about 2 more animals. Dependent variables were the pronouns participants used to refer to the animals and what sex they believed the animals were. Results showed strong evidence for an animal = male bias in all 3 studies among children and adults of both sexes on both dependent measures. There were few sex-related differences. The modeling intervention was not successful in reducing the bias.
Images of males and females at home and at work in interior and exterior settings were studied in two samples of children's picture books: those published prior to and after 1980. The pre-1980 data showed adult male characters outside the home more than inside, with the reverse being true for adult female characters. Boy characters were also found outside more than inside, but with little difference shown for girls. When the two time samples were compared, male child characters were depicted in significantly fewer outdoor settings in the post-compared with the pre-1980 samples. But, the number and variety of occupations for males in the post-1980 sample exceeded those for females by a considerable amount. Results are discussed with implications for children's development of career aspirations, self-esteem, and the interactive aspects of gender, power, and environment as parameters defining different interpretive communities of readers.
Through content analysis, significant differences were found in the representation of male and female characters in a sample of children's picture books published in the years 1976 through 1987. Male characters outnumbered female characters, were given the majority of central character roles, and were more likely to be the recipients of help. In addition, male characters helped other male characters more than they helped female characters, and male helping behavior tended to be instrumental rather than expressive. Furthermore, female characters were frequently presented in a limited number of stereotyped roles, whereas male characters were presented in a wide variety of roles. The authors of children's picture books may need to become more responsible in their representation of the sexes.