DISCUSSION

Gender Stereotypes were discussed on CCBC-Net on August 2013 and I reviewed the posts through the archives, located here. To access the archives, go to http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net and enter the following when prompted: username: ccbc-net password: Look4Posts.

Megan Schliesman, Librarian at the Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began the discussion by posting an article (abstract here) from July 2013 that concluded that the stereotype of nurturing mothers and breadwinning fathers persisted in 20th century picture books. "Not surprising, perhaps, for a study that looked at books from 1902 -- 2000," Megan said. However, the authors found, to their surprise, that the stereotypes persisted right up to the end of the century. Megan then posted the following questions:

Do you see progress and change or more of the same thirteen years into the 21st century?
During the first half of August, we invite you to talk about gender roles in children's picture books, including books that defy stereotypes and meet your expectations for reflecting the reality of women's and men's---and boys and girls---lives, regardless of where they were published.

The majority of the posts were from people naming off books they had felt broke gender stereotypes and portrayed male and female characters in an honest and accurate light. For example, children's author Lee Bennett Hopkins says she remembers her book Mama, published in 1977, about a working class single-parent mother who steals to support her family. Mama reappeared in her sequel, Mama & her Boys in 1981. Publishers Weekly hailed the book stating in part the "...story of a too-resourceful mother and her two inner-city sons rockets along inducing tears and laughter with every scene." According to Hopkins, at that time, the books were also criticized for depicting such a 'woman.'

Allie Jane Bruce, Children's Librarian at Bank Street College of Education was excited to see this as a discussion post and mentioned the book Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas for the stereotypical portrayal of Henry's mother as she stays behind to cook dinner while Henry, Henry's dad, and the Grandpas go out for fun. Allie also says the picture book Because I'm Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa is full of gender stereotypes too; "Because I'm your dad, you'll grow up knowing robots are cool, but monsters are even cooler." She says this book also plays into the stereotype that Dad is the "fun" parent; "Because I'm your dad, you can have spaghetti for breakfast... Because I'm your dad, you can sometimes stay up late with me to watch TV..." Allie also makes an excellent point with the following quote:

"We need more books that subvert gender roles. I want working moms, stay-at-home dads, single parent families, families in which both parents work, both cook, and both do the dishes. Stories where Dad doesn't just romp with kids, but provides emotional support - and stories where mom makes mudpies. I caution against "my mom works and my dad stays home" as a plot by itself, since that de-normalizes what is, for many kids, a reality of everyday life."

In short, she says we need good stories that reflect the experiences of a wide variety of children. I totally agree with Allie Jane Bruce and if this weren't an archived discussion, I would have replied to her telling her so. From reading through the discussion posts it seems that her comment on Because I'm Your Dad by Ahmed Zappa sparked a lot of discussion because multiple people came forward to give their own opinions including Todd Krueger from Baltimore County Public Library. Krueger said while he didn't disagree that there were far too many examples of insidious gender stereotyping in children's books, he didn't feel that Because I'm Your Dad was a good example of one. Another male librarian, Rich Gawel, also agreed with Todd Krueger in that he felt the book was fine the way it was. People seem to get very fired-up about gender roles, especially if it involves children, and this disucssion board is not exempt from a heated debate!

Numerous books were also mentioned for minor ways in which the characters defied gender stereotypes such as the male character in April and Esme, Tooth Fairies who rocks a pony tail, which the poster's niece had commented on. Megan also commented again to mention the book Me and Momma and Big John by Mara Rockliff, a picture book about the work a boy's mother is doing as a stonecarver. She mentions that the book is successful because it does not mention how unusual it is for a woman to be a stonecarver at all throughout the pages. Lynn Rutan from Bookends - Booklist Online echoed the sentiments of Megan saying,

"As is always the case with wonderful books whether illustrated or not, any “lesson” delivered is better shown in the context of the story rather than delivered with pile driver intent."

Jessalynn, a Children's Librarian from Milwaukee also chimes in with her thoughts on another book, Good Night, Sleep Tight by Mem Fox, and says "the fact that the babysitter is a boy was a great addition".

The overriding theme of this discussion for August 2013 was the agreement that rigid gender roles within children’s picture books need to be broken down to include nontraditional and less stereotypical portrayals of characters. When parental figures are illustrated in nontraditional roles within children's books and it's a natural part of the story, many librarians believe children are more likely to see the roles as the normal part of everyday family life.

References Mentioned in Discussion Thread on CCBC-NET:

Graham, B. (2010). April and Esme, Tooth Fairies. Somerville, MA.: Candlewick Press.

Hopkins, L. B. (1977). Mama. New York: Boyds Mills Press.

Hopkins, L. B. (1981). Mama & Her Boys. New York: Boyds Mills Press.

Rockliff, M., & Low, W. (2012). Me and Momma and Big John. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick.

Rylant, C. (2005). Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Zappa, A., & Santat, D. (2013). Because I'm Your Dad. New York: Disney Hyperion Books.