#VintageMagTweets come today from this fascinating New jersey analysis of reading books for children.
The original experiment took place in 1972, but there& #39;s an update in this 1975 edition.
The fact that the authors chose reading schemes to look at rather than general fiction for children is important, because kids couldn& #39;t *choose* these books. They were fed them regardless.
The fact that the authors chose reading schemes to look at rather than general fiction for children is important, because kids couldn& #39;t *choose* these books. They were fed them regardless.
In every scheme the same pattern was there: stories were mainly about boys and men. Girl readers were just expected to accept that male lives were more interesting and deserving of centre stage.
And of course it tells boys the same message.
And this is a good point. You& #39;d think there& #39;d be more learning from reading about a woman who& #39;s had to fight to get where she is because of her sex, than reading about a man who& #39;s faced no such issues.
Although, even while the girl is sitting there bored, she& #39;s still presented as nurturing.
In children& #39;s reading books, boy characters are consistently presented as cleverer and more ingenious.
Boys are four times better at persevering than girls.
Then again, boys don& #39;t have the distraction of keeping their dresses nice.
Then again, boys don& #39;t have the distraction of keeping their dresses nice.
I& #39;ll add some more to this thread on Sunday.
Here& #39;s a bit more of the thread about children& #39;s reading schemes and the messages they gave to boys and girls.
The signalling of adulthood: when a boy becomes a man, he kills a grizzly bear. When a girl becomes a woman, she makes a nice scarf for her brother.
In their role as apprentices, boys get a reward at the end. Girls do their apprenticeships for nothing.
Girls& #39; only real option is to marry into wealth.
When girls do win, it& #39;s either a fluke or because a boy has taught her.
Boy characters fantasize about limitless possibilities out in the world; girl characters fantasize about keeping house.
Eew, a boy being creative. That& #39;s not right.
OK, I& #39;ll break there and add some more next week. x
Here& #39;s some more of the #VintageMagTweets thread about school reading books in America.
Girl characters play endlessly with dolls; mothers drift about "like ectoplasm".
Girl characters play endlessly with dolls; mothers drift about "like ectoplasm".
We see this Be Docile message still being rammed down girls& #39; throats, most obviously in the exhortations to DREAM that are written on their clothes, on adverts, on stationery.
The girl character& #39;s role is to look on and admire the active boy.
The clear message being sent to children of both sexes was that girls were feeble and needed a boy to sort things out for them.
& #39;One insists on serving the supper even though she& #39;s just saved a drowning man.& #39;
It& #39;s our ladybrains. We& #39;re all programmed to do housework; we can& #39;t help it.
It& #39;s our ladybrains. We& #39;re all programmed to do housework; we can& #39;t help it.
Girl characters are consistently foolish and gullible, and if they suddenly aren& #39;t, the author must change their sex!
So these reading books - books which children were made to read - actually condoned the model of boys being mean to girls.
I& #39;ll add some more on Sunday.
I& #39;ll finish off this thread about children& #39;s reading schemes now.
More lines from these books showing how boys have contempt for girls, even when those girls are trying to help.
More lines from these books showing how boys have contempt for girls, even when those girls are trying to help.
These books really made sure boys (and girls) were programmed to view girls as useless and inferior.
And while girls are encouraged to be scared of everything, boys need to work on overcoming that emotion.
I& #39;m really sorry, I& #39;ve run out of time because of a lovely phone call in the middle of this thread. I will definitely finish it next time!
Right, let& #39;s finish this thread about US reading schemes and harmful stereotyping.
Here are some of the sentences children were made to read.
Here are some of the sentences children were made to read.
"My girls are so stupid.""...boys are much braver than girls." As you can see, the bias crosses many different reading schemes