In The Family Of Readers and The Joy Of Children's Literature, I read about gender roles and stereotypes when it comes to literature and reading. The world has classified some books to be "girly" and others to be "boyish." This restricts children from exposure to all different kinds of literature just because the book is not "girly or boyish enough." Not only do these gender stereotypes coincide with reading, but also just in real life. Girls are not supposed to play boyish games and boys are certainly not supposed to play with girly things. I am happy to say that I did not really realize that there were a difference between "boy" and "girl" books, or boy and girl activities is general, as a young child.
I luckily grew up with a twin brother, Tyler, and we did literally everything together. Since we grew up side by side with another person of the opposite sex and we did not acquire as many gender roles or stereotypes as most do as young children. I played cops and robbers with Tyler and he played house with me. I played in the mud with him and he played Barbies with me. I played guns with him and he played dress up with me. We both were in love with the magic tree house books, Disney books, and Beverly Cleary’s books. We did things together no matter the gender stereotype that typically coincided with it. So not only did growing up with a twin brother affect the books I read in a positive way, it also affected me as a person in a positive way. I grew up being completely comfortable with both girls and boys and it helped me as I got older because I never went through the awkward stage of being “afraid” of the opposite sex, because no matter what, my best friend would forever and always be a boy named Tyler.
I really liked this post because having a brother a little less than two years older than me I feel the same way. Compared to some of my friends who grew up with all sisters, I was exposed to both girl and boy books and activities. As a kid, I always wanted to do whatever my brother did and my parents never stopped me. I played with his toys and read his books freely and the thought of boy and girl stereotypes never crossed my mind. I was fortunate to grow up being able to make my own choices and form my own opinions.
ReplyDelete