Windows And Mirrors: Encouraging The Disruption Of Single Stories

It is agreed that if an author is stating his assertion to a topic, then he should incorporate what the opposing view has to say; therefore, without the other view he writes nothing but fallacies. However, in Gurdon’s case she offers support from the other side allowing them to state their claim. She recognizes the use of first person in these particular YA books, permitting the reader to take on the “persona of the narrator” (Gurdon 2). Then, she detects the claim of the book industry writing that “kids have a right to read whatever they want” and that “the world is a tough place; and that there’s no point shielding children from reality” (Gurdon 3). Refuting this assertion she calls out the incorrect logic of the claim stating that in other words the authority adults have over the content children absorb should “somehow vaporize when it comes in contact with the printed word” (Gurdon 3). The things children read teach them what to presume about the world around them, and that “books don’t just cater to tastes. They form tastes” (Gurdon 4). Subsequently, she offers her proposal that people associated with the publication of books would “exercise better taste” (Gurdon 2) than that of every teen experience. The comprehension of Gurdon’s claim becomes clearer after integrating the opposing view and using it to support her

Many children find writing, especially for school, very difficult. So for a 15 year old girl to write an entire novel from a male point of view is astounding. In the 1960’s, females were seen as lesser and had much less opportunities than males. Women could not get an Ivy League education, speak of sexual deviancy, or serve

The text I know why the caged bird cannot read Francine Prose describes the reasons why high school students seem to dislike reading. She supports her idea with saying the problem starts with teaching moral values through literature, instead of teaching the value of literature itself. She also blames the education system that enforces these books to be placed in the curriculum. These books only focus on a reoccurring problem like racism religion or gender identity. And the curriculum works around that to teach the student right from wrong and moral values. Which puts the student on a path of hatred to literature.

Regardless of a students’ gender by the end of the story, this book does all the right things in teaching children about stereotypes, and finding one’s self esteem, learning to accept themselves for who they are, and to recognize their strengths. It also teaches them that in life many things may not turn out the way you want it to, but that it is ok and dealing with it will only make you stronger. Robert Munsch’s, “The Paper Bag Princess” is an empowering and uplifting story about a strong princess and an unworthy prince, and highly recommended to help introduce students to issues about stereotypes, equality, appreciation for oneself and others, and to

In an article called “Where's the Color in Kids' Lit? Ask the Girl With 1,000 Books (And Counting”, by Meg Anderson, she talks about and to an eleven-year-old girl named Marley Dias. Marley Dias loves to read book, but realize there was hardly any book that had main characters that she could relate to. There were no black girls as the main characters in the books she was reading. Marley started noticed that a lot of the books that her school don’t have much representation in them. Majority, if not all the books, consisted of white boys as the main character. This little eleven-year-old girl decided to start collecting books that had girls like her as main characters and she hope to start a black girl book club. She is also taking this problem to her school district in hopes that they will add more books containing more diversified main characters. She even shares her top five books with black girls as the main character in the article.

“Books tell children what to expect, what life is, what culture is, how we are expected to behave--what the spectrum is. Books don’t just cater to tastes. They form tastes. They create norms…” P. 4. Books nowadays have taken teenagers to a different level entirely. Books like the Hunger Games, Divergent, or The Maze Runner have a dystopian theme to them where kids are thrown into a different world from their childhood. They create norms for the real world for the teenagers because we have been sucked into this new world. For us, this gives us a different intellect on what we think is right. As readers we look for a character that we can relate to. If we can do that, but it gives us a different perspective we may not want, then the books are giving us a norm that may not be healthy for

Fairy tales have a critical role in a child's life, however, many scholars have come to debate whether fairy tales are negatively affecting the children's mind through the gender roles the tales portray. In Ella Westland article "Cinderella in the Classroom. Children's Response to Gender Roles in Fairy-tales" Westland contradicts the indication she strongly beliefs about girls being resistant readers. Accordingly, she demonstrates concrete and valid evidence throughout the study despite it being an intelligent source of evidence she does not fully view what she has gathered to create a strong conclusion. In addition, her conclusion lacks a clear verdict due to the fact in which her choice in diction was not of assistance in making the reader

Fairy tales are disguised as innocent children’s stories that are magical and include mystic beings, but the authors either intentionally or unintentionally set up gender specific roles within these tales. Parsons argues, “Fairy tales constitute a kind of ‘script’ for acceptable forms of feminine and masculine behavior, and they facilitate the production of such behavior by ‘creating positions” (136). Fairy tales tell their readers what is standard behavior for how we should act based on the gender we have been assigned. Cinderella and Snow White, arguably two of the most famous fairy tales, set up these roles by portraying woman as docile humans who need men to change their social and economic circumstances. In these fairy tales women are

“Oh, fairytales, where desperate, naïve girls sacrifice everything for their so-called prince charming”. The realities of these childhood classics are controversial, sexist, and dark, yet, it’s also adored by millions of young girls around the world. Cinderella, an often sugar-coated story, is a great example on how sexism and gender stereotypes prevail in literature. The Grimm Brothers touch on a variety of devices, from characterization to symbolism, all revealing the inequality in not only fictional literature but our real-life society as well. A feminist literary critic will interpret these controversial themes and apply their beliefs of equal rights into the study of the Grimm Brother’s Cinderella.

Gender stereotypes are often prevalent in children’s literature. Children’s exposure to what is considered typical gender roles at such a young age can often have detrimental effects on children’s perception of gender roles as they grow up. Recent studies have shown that sexism in children’s literature “contributes negatively to children’s development, limits career aspirations, frames their attitudes about their future roles as parents, and influences their personality characteristics” (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, & Young, 2006, 757). We can see examples of sexism throughout history if we take a look at some children’s picture books – Winnie the Pooh, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Cat in the Hat, and Fantastic Mr. Fox all feature a predominately male cast of characters. While the prevalence of female characters has increased throughout history, it doesn’t seem like female characters are anywhere close to catching up with the amount of male characters portrayed in the typical children’s book.

Every day young children are read beautiful fairy tales that showcase the man saving the damsel in distress. These stories can warp children’s minds to believe based on their specific gender they have to act a certain way or do certain things. Girls begin to believe that they have to know their place but they are known as emotional and not ready for the outside world. Boys are taught that they have to be the savior, they can’t cry, and they have to be the one to all the working. This image perverts the minds of young men and women altering their self-confidence and causing people are different to be ostracized and castaway. Some stories that showcase the idea of gender roles are, “Snowdrop and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and

Reading fairy tales or seeing them represented has become part of an everyday routine for children. As Baker-Sperry states, “Through interaction that occurs within everyday routines (Corsaro 1997), children are able to learn the rules of the social group in which they are a part” (Baker-Sperry 717-718). For example, through Red Riding Hood, children learn to listen to their parents and to be wary of strangers. Some of these messages are harmful though; not all girls have to be naive and weak while boys are predacious wolves. Not everyone has to play the role that society assigns them.

It is important to teach children about gender roles since it is something that society holds in regards, but most of the time in literature it is done unequally. The portrayal of gender in literature is based off of the expectations of society and places bias on gender. Boys are portrayed as strong, adventurous, independent and capable and often play the roles of fighters, adventurers and rescuers. Girls are portrayed as sweet, naïve, dependent, sensitive and emotional and play roles such as caretakers, princesses and mothers. The roles of gender portrayed in literature are often a reflection of the views of society and do not offer objective insight. Even though it is important to teach children about gender roles, the fashion in which it is done in does not allow children to see beyond those expectations. If a young girl is constantly read stories about a woman’s role as a housewife, homemaker and mother, she will assume that’s what is expected of her and will not know society will allow her to be anything she wants to be.

When you send your children off in the morning to go to school, no matter what grade they are in whither it be elementary, junior high, or senior high, you expect that they will receive the best education that they can get. They should be asked challenging questions, encouraged and called upon to participate in class, they should also be given as much help as they need to secede by the teacher. However, this is most commonly not the case. Parents and the children themselves are unaware of what is going on because gender bias is not a noisy problem. Most people are unaware of the secret sexist lessons that occur every day in classrooms across the country. In this essay I will use two essay's from the reader:

For example, Jahren states” she was a child probably around that same age, hanging around in her father’s lab (Lab Girl).” The kind of person she became, a scientist, clearly she learned a lot from those younger days. Gender bias should be brought to the classrooms as visual content. Visual content such as drawing, pictures, videos, etc. The reason being, Jahren dad was a professor, she was always hanging around where she discovered new scientific inquiry. At that young age, as for me I want to see everything as to how the particular object was made. Why or why not my dad chose this profession and also for him to teach me what he knows. According to the article, textbooks were there for visual learners. It contained graphics and learning utensils. The more you read the more intelligence you gain. Jahren reads, develops and generate her own new knowledge. In addition, nowadays everything changed from the old fashioned textbooks in class rooms to being online. Online resources are more engaged by the youths because everyone including three year olds can operate an electronic device without the need of help. The way men and women are represented is an important factor when influencing children views of gender roles. It is relevant to be aware of the representation of men and women in education resources because that’s the main source from where children get their ideas of science