The Influence of Gender Stereotypes in Children's Books on Children

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate what influence gender stereotypes in children's books have on children, using works of fictions namely Fine Feathers and Settling the Scores by Ezekiel Alembi, 1995. The study aims at finding out the effects gender stereotypes in the selected books have on its young readers. The two assumptions of this study are that children's books have gender stereotypes and that these stereotypes affect the child readers' worldview through the internalization of the images that are presented in the books they read. Secondary sources used in the study consisted of library research on critical works on children's literature. The secondary sources show that stereotypes exist in children's books and these have negative effects on the child reader. The findings revealed that the manner in which genders are represented in children's literature impacts children's attitudes and perception of gender appropriate behavior in society. It also revealed that gender stereotypical roles are constraining to both genders. Just as girls are trapped in passive and whiny roles, boys and men are rarely described as people demonstrating emotions of sadness and fear, having hobbies/occupation that are not stereotypically male and in roles where they aren't competing or meeting high expectations. These findings are significant in understanding the influence of gender stereotypes on children. It was therefore recommended that books written for children should be gender neutral so that children can identify with whomever they wish. It was also recommended that since gender stereotypes are traditional and are entrenched in the society, and that the society should change its attitudes on gender roles so as not to make children behave in gender appropriate ways that are more constraining to them.