2.+Children's+lit

 =Children's Literature:  an excuse for gender discrimination? =

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Children story books could come as fictional or non-fictional, but a quick inventory of the picture books at a public library shows that most of the books are fictional. The books were also mostly myths, fairytales, fables, legends etc, this choice of literature translates to several gender stereotypes. Stories of Cinderella, Beauty and the beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid are all stories where the girl is being rescued in some way by a man. In recent history we have had less gender stereotypes in children oriented media both in print and on TV. A good example is the book Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine which was later made into a movie , the story line is somewhat along the lines of Cinderella but the twist is that the girl didn’t need to be saved by a dashing prince. Nice twist because it is actually about female empowerment, something we don’t see much of in literature. Just look at the different depictions of the heroines, Cinderella is more of a girly girl with makeup, while Ella might be dull looking but she exudes confidence.



The story of Cinderella is one that has been told for generations, we are all probably familiar with the story of a young damsel (Cinderella) who lost her mom at a young age. Her father went on to remarry a woman with two kids; Cinderella’s father is either absent or too busy based on which book you read. Her step-step-mother along with step-sisters goes on to treat her shabbily; this treatment became even worse after Cinderella’s dad dies. She was forced to work as a slave in her own father’s house. The prince of the town in which they live in needs to marry and the king throws a ball for him to find a wife. All the spinsters were invited to attend this ball including Cinderella, but out of spite her step-mother gives her too many chores knowing that Cinderella wouldn’t be able to finish the chores on time. While working on the assigned chores, Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears and through magic dresses Cinderella for the ball, the only stipulation is that Cinderella has to be home by midnight. Cinderella goes to the ball and the prince falls in love with her, time went by quickly as they were trying to get to know each other and Cinderella has to leave in a hurry. In the haste, she lost one of her glass slippers. Using the lost slipper, the prince finds her, rescues her from her mean step-mother, and they live happily ever after.

The plot of the book and movie “Ella Enchanted” revolves around a young girl called Ella of Frell. Ella at birth was given a gift by her fairy godmother; she was given the gift of obedience. The gift turned out to be a curse because Ella has to obey every direct command even if it was against her wish. After losing her mother at a young age her father remarries, and similar to Cinderella her step-mother had two daughters and they were very spoiled and mean to Ella. Ella’s embarks on a quest to find her fairy godmother to ask her to take back the gift. Though the book and movie differed on how Ella went about finding her fairy godmother, the curse eventually got broken but only because Ella’s inner strength. Ella eventually married the prince and lived happily ever after.

From reading the story of Cinderella a couple of gender stereotypes are very evident. Women are portrayed as needy, feeble, and in need of rescue by a man, step-mothers are portrayed as mean and evil, men are portrayed as strong, superheroes, can do no wrong charmers. These stereotypes could be very harmful especially for kids because kids are very impressionable. The message that young girls get from Cinderella is that they need a man to be somebody and they also have to look and dress rich to attract a man. Young boys from the story might conclude the only standard to judge a woman by is her looks, women are weak and need rescuing, and men are nothing short of perfect.

In a research conducted by the [|Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media]  it was reported that women are often portrayed as either traditional or hyper-sexualized in films. Women are also more than five times as likely as males to be shown in sexually revealing clothing and three times (10.6% vs. 3.4%) more likely to be shown with a thin figure. Animated females in TV for kids are also more likely to be shown in sexually revealing attire than are live action females (24.5% vs. 17.4%). The finding is also present in animated TV males who are (15.4% vs. 4.9%), more likely than live action males to have a large chest, small waist (18.4% vs. 4.3%), and an unrealistically muscular physique (12.5% vs. .5%). 



The report went on to quote psychologist Sarah Murnen who made a very interesting point that, ‘The promotion of the thin, sexy ideal in our culture has created a situation where the majority of girls and women don’t like their bodies.” The question to be asked is how do we expect to expose easily impressionable children to these stereotypes and not expect them to want to conform? Isn’t exposure to these stereotypes the reason why we have an increase in anorexia amongst teens? Children need to learn to be self-confident and seeing TV animations of what “perfect” should look like could cause kids to hate their bodies leading to drastic measures to attain the “perfect” body. Also the powerful message of what being feminine is about may also compel young girls to pursue being beautiful at the expense of important things such as education.

In an article “the pervasiveness and persistence of the feminine beauty ideal in children's fairy tales ” that analyzed how gender was portrayed in 168 Brothers Grimm fairy tales, they found a theme similar to other studies. The stories give the message that women are able to get by based on their beauty only, women need a prince charming but a prince doesn’t need a princess charming to come save them, and that being unattractive equals being evil. For example in 17 percent of the stories, being evil was associated with being ugly. They found that “Shrek” was the only tale that the “ugly” girl got a guy.



In some countries she is called Aschenbrödel. In others she is called Aschenputtel, Cendrillon, Cenerentola, or Cenicienta. In America, we know her as Cinderella. Not only does almost every culture have a book version of “Cinderella”, there are more than 1,500 recorded versions of “Cinderella” from almost every country in the world. This being said, the fairytale is widely known by children all across the globe and has the ability to alter their perception of gender stereotypes. Of course we think of a classic such as “Cinderella” to be a rags to riches romantic fairytale, but can the characters in the story communicate more than this to children?

Kids can easily get the wrong message in “Cinderella” as mentioned earlier; something along the lines of: No intelligence necessary, just look pretty and dress fancy and you will land Prince Charming. As one might know, the fairytale exemplifies stereotypes of a patriarchal society, as well as glorifying material wealth. In the story, wealth is equated with happiness and the suppression of racial and ethnic minorities. When Walt Disney came out with the cartoon version of Cinderella in the 1950’s these gender stereotypes were still prominent. In Ellen Pandolofo’s // [|Feminist Critique of Walt Disney’s Cinderella] // on associatedcontent.com she writes, “Walt Disney co-opted Cinderella in the mid-twentieth century. Since then, the story has become cemented in the American consciousness as a mythical tale of absolute truth and righteousness, particularly one in line with oppressive gender mandates and their many patriarchal and racial/ethnic implications, heterosexism, and an ever-divisive capitalist economy.”

Gender stereotypes exist in every culture. From school playgrounds and the workplace, to children’s picture books, gender stereotypes and discrimination are seen practically everywhere. Children’s literature seems to be the most toxic place to display gender stereotypes because they are absorbing messages that their parents, teachers and society are handing them in order to understand the world in which they are a part of. Children are constantly interpreting these messages, and trying to fit into what they believe is the norm. Children’s literature, such as “Cinderella” gives children ideas of what their gender roles are and also sets limitations to their gender’s capabilities. It is important that parents and teachers understand that fairy tales can manipulate a child to play a specific gender role.

 "When an adult writes for children, she's spanning a gap of experience and perception. A children's book is really a bridge between a child and a wider world, not only between child and author, but between other places, other times. Also a bridge from childhood to adolescence ...I find when I talk to children of this age they are thinking deeply about many things..." (Lehr 25).

The emphasis of ‘traditional’ roles of men and women are among the most common gender stereotypes identified in “Cinderella” among many other children’s books. As mentioned earlier, girls are usually shown as passive while boys are shown as being active; the hero. We are taught in school and by our parents what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior for our gender. As we have learned in class, even before we are able to speak, parents decide what colors, toys, and clothing to get depending on their child’s gender. Therefore, “Cinderella” is one of those fairy tales read to children at a young age which has the ability to affect the way children view gender stereotypes.

If Cinderella was to be re-written, minus the gender stereotypes and discrimination, frankly, it would not be “Cinderella” anymore. To re-write a classic fairy tale with as many gender stereotypes as “Cinderella” would basically be creating an entire new story. Prince Charming would have to fall in love with Cinderella before she was dressed in her beautiful gown and brought to the ball in a horse and carriage. Prince Charming would have to find another way of winning over Cinderella instead of having girls gawking over the idea of fitting their shoe in a glass stiletto. The characters in the story would have to be well rounded male and females whom display gender equality. I think my point is proven that to re-write “Cinderella” would be silly, but I do believe that the fairytale has a way to teach children about gender equality (and how the text does not display this). When reading “Cinderella” to a child I would suggest having them reverse the character’s genders; what if Cinderella was a boy?



References ________________________________________
===Baker-Sperry L, Grauerholz L. “The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children's Fairy Tales .” //Gender & Society, Oct 2003; vol 17: pp. 711 - 726.// ===

Lehr, Susan. //Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Construction of Gender in Children's Literature//. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2001. Print. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Levine, Gail. //Ella Enchanted//. Newbery, 1997. Print.

Smith S, Cook A. "Gender Stereotypes: An Analysis of Popular Films and TV." 2008. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. 18 Jul 2009 <http://www.thegeenadavisinstitute.org/>. <span style="text-align: center; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pandolfo, Ellen. "Feminist Critique of Walt Disney's Cinderella." //Associated Content// 22 March 2007 Web.16 Jul 2009. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/186179/feminist_critique_of_walt_disneys_cinderella_pg5.html?cat=9>.

Parker, Jane. //Original fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm//. Classic. New York: Derrydale Books, 1991. Print.