Sunday Afternoon

I recently went to the East Lansing Public Library to pick up some children's books. I was so encouraged to see so many families there on a Sunday afternoon! I wandered through the picture book section, and looked at every shelf, scoping out appealing titles. Along side me were so many other kids, grabbing books and running excitedly towards their parents with their new found treasure. I'm so glad that parents agree that it is important to enrich their child's life through literature. Some children are reluctant to read, and this could be because the parents do not encourage them. By taking them to the library, and showing them how many books there are to choose from and all the other children who are reading, could spark an interest! My favorite moment was a dad telling his son that his mother found him a Spiderman book. He yelled "Awesome mom you're the best!" and ran across the library to grab his book to read. Moments like these remind me of why I want to be a teacher. I hope that I can encourage kids to be excited to read and appreciate the literature. For there are no greater adventures one can take than through reading a book.

Eliminating stereotypical literature = Eliminating Stereotypes?

In class we discussed and seemed to agree that often, books (and other media, for that matter) often perpetuate stereotypes and have the potential to send messages that may easily be interpreted in certain ways that may cause children to make generalizations or develop stereotypical understandings about the world.

However, as Sarah noted in her post, parents, teachers, siblings, and other role models can have a large impact and can ultimately affect how children view the world and develop their understandings of how society works.

As future teachers or parents, I feel that it is not our responsibility or even in our best interest to completely eliminate books such as Cinderella or the other stereotypical books we have discussed in class. These books seem to perpetuate the stereotypical roles of girls and boys, typically projecting females as nice, pretty, polite, well-mannered, etc.; while males were viewed as rough, masculine, heroes, etc. To me, rather than stripping children of these ideas and secluding these types of books from their literature, it would be more beneficial to introduce these books and integrate them with other books that confront and challenge these stereotypes. This would provide a true view of the world as the way it is and help the children understand that there are various types of roles for each gender.

For example, one could read the original Cinderella, then read the alternative book that we talked about in class where the opposite sort of event happens (the princess saves the prince and then rejects his offer for a date, etc). I think it's important to select literature that shows representations of both genders performing all types of roles and jobs. If children are introduced to a male playing a role such as a teacher, dancer, or nurse, or a female as a professional athlete, doctor, or CEO, and these are portrayed as normal, they will likely accept this with no problem.

I think that children growing up today actually will be better suited to reject stereotypes and accept individuals who may play different or rare roles because of the way society as a whole is becoming more accepting. For example, while it is still not the most common situation, it is becoming much more acceptable and "normal" for a dad to be a stay-at-home dad and a woman to be a CEO or manager of a business. If we can point these instances out to children, through books and in the real world, I think we can help dispel gender stereotypes and let children develop broad and accepting understandings of gender. As we have said, literature can have a huge impact on the way children understand themselves and their world. If we were to completely eliminate certain types of literature due to the fact that we believe they are perpetrating stereotypes, we would strip children of this important piece of knowledge. As long as parents, teachers, or other individuals can facilitate a discussion to help children understand that gender stereotypes are limiting and meaningless, I see no harm in exposing children to all types of literature (within good reason and judgment).