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Gender Roles and Picture Books: Why Is This So Hard?
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 11:43:15 -0500
When I think of children's fiction (novels) as opposed to picture books, I don't sense the same failure that we are discussing with picture books with regard to gender roles.So what is it about the picture book that makes this an issue?Are we asking too much when we ask for picture books that reflect the fact that the roles of women and men---at home and at
work and in the lives of children and families---are more fluid and less
rigid than they once were?Are we asking too much when we want books that show boys and girls engaged in doing what they love even when what they love is STILL (sadly) considered by some unsual or inappropriate for their gender? Are 32 or 40 pages inadequate space in which to acknowledge this?
I don't think so.At the same time, I don't think any of us are asking for a plethora of books that make it a point---at least obviously---to
show women and men and girls and boys in these shifting and changing roles, because the story needs to be a child's story. (Then again, the world is a much better place for "William's Doll" by Charlotte Zolotow, so in the hands of a skilled writer, a book that is created to make a point is a welcome book indeed.)
Does it have to do with the age of the audience of most picture books?Picture books are most often rooted in the world of young children. But guess what? The ways that the roles of men and women in children and families have changed over time IS part of the world of young children. Children won't necessarily be aware of the change itself, unless they are experiencing it in the moment, but the reality is that there are kids whose dads are the primary caretaker and whose mom is the primary earner; or both parents are sharing these roles---sometimes on a split shift; or they have only one adult at home,
who is doing it all. (I'll stay off my soapbox here regarding women and work, except to say the reality is that there have ALWAYS been women who have worked outside the home in addition to at home---it has been an
economic reality for many women across centuries and cultures.)
What I'd like to see more of are books that remain rooted in the child's experience, and tell a story that might have nothing to do with what mom or dad do at home or away from it, but that nonetheless reflect the varied roles they plan in the child's life (like the books of Bob Graham and Kevin Henkes I mentioned yesterday).
And I also welcome books like Mara Rockliff's "Me and Momma and Big John," which IS about the work a boy's mother is doing as a stonecarver, but the point of the book is not about how unusual it is to be a woman stonecarver. This is the child's story, and the point is that this child is coming to an understanding that the work his mother and other stonecarvers are doing on The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is about artistry, and also about being part of something bigger---it's a
collaborative effort that is dependent upon the contribution of so many individuals, his mother among them.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
Received on Thu 08 Aug 2013 11:43:15 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 11:43:15 -0500
When I think of children's fiction (novels) as opposed to picture books, I don't sense the same failure that we are discussing with picture books with regard to gender roles.So what is it about the picture book that makes this an issue?Are we asking too much when we ask for picture books that reflect the fact that the roles of women and men---at home and at
work and in the lives of children and families---are more fluid and less
rigid than they once were?Are we asking too much when we want books that show boys and girls engaged in doing what they love even when what they love is STILL (sadly) considered by some unsual or inappropriate for their gender? Are 32 or 40 pages inadequate space in which to acknowledge this?
I don't think so.At the same time, I don't think any of us are asking for a plethora of books that make it a point---at least obviously---to
show women and men and girls and boys in these shifting and changing roles, because the story needs to be a child's story. (Then again, the world is a much better place for "William's Doll" by Charlotte Zolotow, so in the hands of a skilled writer, a book that is created to make a point is a welcome book indeed.)
Does it have to do with the age of the audience of most picture books?Picture books are most often rooted in the world of young children. But guess what? The ways that the roles of men and women in children and families have changed over time IS part of the world of young children. Children won't necessarily be aware of the change itself, unless they are experiencing it in the moment, but the reality is that there are kids whose dads are the primary caretaker and whose mom is the primary earner; or both parents are sharing these roles---sometimes on a split shift; or they have only one adult at home,
who is doing it all. (I'll stay off my soapbox here regarding women and work, except to say the reality is that there have ALWAYS been women who have worked outside the home in addition to at home---it has been an
economic reality for many women across centuries and cultures.)
What I'd like to see more of are books that remain rooted in the child's experience, and tell a story that might have nothing to do with what mom or dad do at home or away from it, but that nonetheless reflect the varied roles they plan in the child's life (like the books of Bob Graham and Kevin Henkes I mentioned yesterday).
And I also welcome books like Mara Rockliff's "Me and Momma and Big John," which IS about the work a boy's mother is doing as a stonecarver, but the point of the book is not about how unusual it is to be a woman stonecarver. This is the child's story, and the point is that this child is coming to an understanding that the work his mother and other stonecarvers are doing on The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is about artistry, and also about being part of something bigger---it's a
collaborative effort that is dependent upon the contribution of so many individuals, his mother among them.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
Received on Thu 08 Aug 2013 11:43:15 AM CDT
