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cutting through gender expectations
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From: Tattercoat_at_aol.com <Tattercoat>
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 16:38:35 EDT
Laban Hill wrote: "It is important for us to make available messages and models that don't fit into stereotypes--whether children gravitate toward them or not."
My favorite anti-stereotyping characters are ones who are so true to themselves that they defy both the traditional roles and the counter roles. They have to be who they are, and take whatever fits from both genders' toolboxes. I'm thinking of characters like Lilly in Kevin Henkes LILLY'S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE, with her sparkly sunglasses and crown and bright red cowboy boots, and Chester in CHESTER'S WAY. Come to think of it, in both novels and picture books, Henkes characters have a way of cutting through gender expectations because of who they are, not because of what they have to prove.
A belated thank you to Jane Hertenstein for the heads up on Chris Lynch???s forthcoming book, INEXCUSABLE. I am very interested in how we depict sexual assault and abuse in YA literature and anticipate, from Jane's comments, that Chris has taken a layered look at how we deceive ourselves about our behavior. Can't wait to see what he's done with it.
Carolyn Carolyn Lehman STRONG AT THE HEART How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse (FSG, 11/05)
Received on Sat 23 Jul 2005 03:38:35 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 16:38:35 EDT
Laban Hill wrote: "It is important for us to make available messages and models that don't fit into stereotypes--whether children gravitate toward them or not."
My favorite anti-stereotyping characters are ones who are so true to themselves that they defy both the traditional roles and the counter roles. They have to be who they are, and take whatever fits from both genders' toolboxes. I'm thinking of characters like Lilly in Kevin Henkes LILLY'S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE, with her sparkly sunglasses and crown and bright red cowboy boots, and Chester in CHESTER'S WAY. Come to think of it, in both novels and picture books, Henkes characters have a way of cutting through gender expectations because of who they are, not because of what they have to prove.
A belated thank you to Jane Hertenstein for the heads up on Chris Lynch???s forthcoming book, INEXCUSABLE. I am very interested in how we depict sexual assault and abuse in YA literature and anticipate, from Jane's comments, that Chris has taken a layered look at how we deceive ourselves about our behavior. Can't wait to see what he's done with it.
Carolyn Carolyn Lehman STRONG AT THE HEART How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse (FSG, 11/05)
Received on Sat 23 Jul 2005 03:38:35 PM CDT
