Folklore Fatalities

I just finished reading, "Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us," and not only did I find this article extremely interesting, but I found myself able to easily relate to it.  Growing up I can remember having at least three Disney princess parties and as I watch my younger sister, cousins, and students grow up, I see them following in those same footsteps.  This caused me to wonder how so many little girls from so many different generations and family backgrounds all end up interested in the same thing as children.  As I thought back to my childhood, I realized the problem lies in literature.  Whether it was a bedtime story, free read in school, or a cartoon on TV, I was surrounding myself with stories like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, much like little girls now continue to do.  I can remember my parents telling me to turn off the pg-13 movie I tried to sneak, or that swear words are bad words, but I can't ever remember my parents yelling at me to put down the Disney Princess book I had glued to my fingers.  If a book is filled with princesses, castles, and magic it can't be that bad, right?  I guess that is where my parents were a little naive because little did any of us know at the time, those books were actually molding the way I perceived the world.  

Now that I am studying to be a teacher, I am starting to wonder if folklore stories are something I even want in my classroom.  Sure they are fun, magical, happy stories, but is there a trap we need to be aware of?  Linda Christensen really made me think hard about this question.  Although introducing folklores are a good way to address stereotypes I can't help but think that some kids may miss the point of the lesson and instead use the folklore story as a way to point out and even reinforce stereotypes instead. I can't recall ever having a discussion about many of the common folklore stories I read as a kid, so without even realizing it I was being brainwashed to believe women must be beautiful to fall in love and men must be strong to win the affection of women. In the Folklore powerpoint on angel the last slide had the quote, "We shortchange children if we deny them the background information necessary for understanding the countless references to folklore in contemporary books and society."  This quote really stuck out to me because it puts the purpose of reading folklores in perspective.  While it is possible that children will take the story and characters in folklore to be the truth, it is still important that children learn these simple, universal stories so that they have a reference point to other stories as they start to become even more involved in literature.  When it comes to folklores I think one of the most important things to include is a thorough and critical discussion about the book after it is read.  Instead of allowing children to use the book strictly as a fairytale read, try having the children write their own versions, reviews, or critiques of the text instead.

 

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).