Content Analysis and Gender Stereotypes in Children's Books
Author(s): Frank Taylor
Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 31, No. 3, (Jul., 2003), pp. 300-311
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3211327
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CONTENTANALYSISAND GENDER
STEREOTYPESIN CHILDREN'SBOOKS*
This article deals with gender stereotypes in popular children's books. I propose an exercise in which students use content analysis to uncover latent
gender stereotypes present in such popular books as those by Dr. Seuss.
Using a coding frame based on traditionalgender-role stereotypes, I assign
students to small groups who then undertakea close analysis of selected children's books to see whether or not traditionalgender-role stereotypes are apparent. Students examine the text, symbols, characters, use of color, and
major themes in each book. In this article, I briefly review the theoretical underpinnings of the exercise, offer a brief summary of content analysis, and
outline the delivery of the exercise, its learning goals, and major discussion
points. Througha take-home assignment, students are asked to articulate the
manner in which gender stereotypes may be perpetuated by the media. Additionally, students are encouraged to think about the ways in which their own
gender identities have been shaped by the media. Actual student comments
are used throughout to highlight the majordiscussion points.
FRANKTAYLOR
EdinboroUniversityof Pennsylvania
themselvesas membersof various social
categories, includingcategoriesrelated to
gender,social class, or race and ethnicity,
and to thinkaboutthe ways in whichtheir
lives have been shapedand influencedby
membershipin those groups. Perhapsthe
most basic social status is that relatedto
gender.Societymaintainsa differentset of
normativeroles for women and men, and
requiresof them differentresponsibilities
andkindsof work.One'sexpectedopportunitiesandoutcomesin life correlatestrongly
withgender.
One method of helping students learn
aboutgenderstereotypesand gettingthem
interestedin sociologyin generalis to use
the tools of qualitativeanalysis (Walzer
2001). The exercisedescribedhere consists
of a content analysisof children'sbooks
which contain many common stereotypes
"*Pleaseaddress all correspondence to the
relatedto gender.Almostany type of chilauthor at Department of Sociology, Edinboro
dren'sbook can be used. Studentsperform
University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA
a contentanalysisof gendermessagesin the
16444; e-mail: ftaylor@edinboro.edu.
books
by using a codingframespecifically
Editor's note: The reviewers were, in
for the purpose.Using the techdeveloped
M.
Linda
Art
order,
Grant, Jipson,
alphabetical
described
here, studentsread and
niques
and J. Allen Williams.
ONE OF THEMOSTdifficult tasks we face
whenteachingintroductory
coursesin sociis
students
that society
ology
convincing
in
a
role
their
behavior
plays large
directing
and shapingtheirlives. Studentssteepedin
the ideologiesof individualism
andmeritocmuch
to
racy
prefer view theirbehavioras a
matterof choice and outcomesin life as
congruentwith their unique talents and
skills. For instance,when it comes to genderedbehavior,manystudentsare inclined
to believe that differentialoutcomesin life
for womenand men are due to naturalor
innate differences(particularlydifferences
relatedto biology)ratherthanthe processes
of socializationand social forces which
might be suggested by using their
(Mills 1956).
"sociologicalimagination"
Thus, students must learn to identify
Teaching Sociology, Vol. 31, 2003 (July:300-311)
300
CONTENT ANALYSIS AND GENDER STEREOTYPES
examinethe books and record their findings, payingparticularattentionto charactersandthemesthatare stereotypical.
First I discuss theoreticalbackgroundto
the exercisein relationto languageandgender codes. Next, I brieflyreviewthe literature relatedto gender stereotypesin children'sbooksandreviewthe learningobjectives of the exercise and what previous
learningstudentsshould have masteredin
orderfor the exerciseto be effective. This
is followed by a brief review of content
analysis.I thendiscussthe exercisedelivery
andsomeinstructions
on how to carryit out
successfully.Finally, I bringup some useful pointsof discussionthat can follow the
exercise.This articlecontributesto the present literatureon genderstereotypesby presentingactualstudentobservationsand reflections.
THEORETICALBACKGROUND
301
pressionof the generalizedother,andhence
of femalenessand maleness (Bem 1981;
1983;Mead1934).
By age seven, andperhapsas earlyas age
four, childrenbeginto understand
genderas
a basic componentof self. The literature
affirmsthat many masculineand feminine
are not biologicalat all; they
characteristics
are acquired.Genderschema theory, for
instance,suggeststhatyoungstersdevelopa
sense of femalenessandmalenessbasedon
gender stereotypesand organizetheir behavior around them (Bem 1981, 1983,
1984; Eagly and Wood 1999). Children's
books may be an importantsourceof gender stereotypesthat childrenuse to help
organizegenderedbehavior.
An interestingaspect of ideology, and
genderideologyin particular,is thatpeople
practiceit (Taylor 1998). Ideologicalmessages aboutgenderare embeddedthroughout our culture,andwhen womenand men
use them as standardsof comparisonto
makejudgmentsaboutthemselvesor about
others, we may say that they are
"practicing"
genderideology.Genderideology is internalizedas a systemof signs; in
other words, a code. For example, when
trying to emulate cultural standardsof
beauty,womenmay use cosmetics,certain
styles of dress, and even certaincolors in
order to alter their appearance.The same
may be said for men. Peoplemay not even
be awarethattheirperceptionsaboutreality
and their place in it are constantlystructuredin an ideologicalmanner(Heck1980).
This exerciseattemptsto help studentsuncover the gendercode and thinkaboutthe
waystheirlives havebeenstructured
by it.
Languagesets the stagefor the development
of self-conscious behavior and thought.
Throughlanguageand interaction,children
acquire a social self (Mead 1934). Language allowshumansto make sense of objects, events, andotherpeople in our environment. Indeed, it is the mechanism
throughwhich humansperceive the world
(Sapir1929; 1949; Whorf 1956). As childrenlearnhow to read, they are exposedto
the culturalsymbols containedin books.
Given the assumptionthat languageshapes
andconditionsreality,thenit mightbe useful to ask what childrenmight be learning
aboutgenderwhentheylearnhow to read.
Children'sbooks presenta microcosmof
ideologies, values, and beliefs from the
dominantculture,includinggenderideoloLITERATUREREVIEW
and
In
other
when
chilwords,
gies
scripts.
drenlearnhow to readthey are also learn- Children'spre-schoolbooks are an imporing aboutculture.Learningto read is part tant culturalmechanismfor teachingchilof the process of socialization and an important mechanism through which culture is
transmittedfrom one generation to the next.
For example, children may use the gender
scripts and ideologies in these books when
they are role playing and forming an im-
dren gender roles. A 1972 study of awardwinning children's books discovered that
women and girls were almost invisible.
Boys were portrayedas active and outdoorsoriented, while girls stayed indoors and
behaved more passively; also, men were
TEACHING SOCIOLOGY
302
leadersandwomenfollowers(Weitzmanet
al. 1972). This researchwas replicatedin
1987, and the researchersconcludedthat
althoughsome improvementsin roles for
women had taken place, the charactersin
the bookswereportrayedin traditionalgender roles (Williamset al. 1987). The 1987
researchfound a majorityof the female
charactersshared no particularbehavior,
girls in the books failed to expressany career goals, female role models were lacking, and male characterswere still portrayedas more independent.More recent
research, based on the same Caldecott
children'sbooks, foundthat
Award-winning
women were still portrayedin traditional
gender roles usually associated with the
householdandtoolsusedduringhousework,
whereasmaleswere non-domesticandassotools and
ciated with production-oriented
artifacts(CrabbandBielawski1994). However, otherresearchconductedin the 1990s
suggests that the traditionalportrayalof
womenin children'sbooksis givingway to
a moreegalitarian
depictionfor bothwomen
andmen(Clark,Lennon,andMorris1993).
This certainlysuggests that the issues are
farfromsettledandrequiremoreresearch.
LEARNINGOBJECTIVES
In orderto successfullyachievethe learning
objectivesof the exercise, some previous
topics should have been fully addressed,
includingsocialization,culture,and gender
inequality.The following learning objectives are derivedfrom the theoreticaldisof languagein the
cussionof the importance
of
socialization:
process
1. Demonstratethat gender ideology is
embeddedin popularchildren'sbooks.
2. Uncoverthe dimensionsof genderideology presentin the books throughthe
use of contentanalysis.
3.
4.
Connect the gender ideology in children's books to gender inequalities related to work, occupation, income, and
education.
Discuss whether the books are simple
reflections of innate gender differences
or whetherthey actuallyhelp produce
genderstratification.
and
5. Facilitatea discussionon patriarchy
sexism.
CONTENTANALYSIS
AND EXERCISEDESIGN
The exercise relies on contentanalysis-a
strategyfor collectingandanalyzingqualitative data throughthe use of an objective
codingscheme(Berg2001). Thisdiscussion
is intendedto assist instructorsin carrying
out a simple content analysis and is not
meantto be a thoroughanalysisof methodology. The discussionwill be restrictedto
the aspectsof contentanalysisnecessaryto
carryout the exercisein a meaningfulfashion.
A contentanalysisexaminesthe artifacts
of materialculture associatedwith social
These artifactscan include
communication.
writtendocumentsor otherformsof social
communicationsuch as children'sbooks,
television programs, photographs,magazines, or music recordings.The methodology is useful for inferringmanifestand latent content by systematicallyand objectively examiningthe messagescontainedin
the artifact(Abrahamson
1983; Berg 2001;
Holsti1968; 1969;Selltizet al. 1967).
SamplingStrategy
A numberof standardsamplingprocedures
can be adaptedfor use in a contentanalysis.
However,purposivesamplingis best suited
for this exercise (Berg 2001). In a purposive sample, the researcherdraws upon
his or her expertiseto select a samplethat
exemplifies certain characteristicsof the
populationto be studied.Since the goal of
the exerciseis to demonstratethat cultural
messages about gender are embeddedin
children'sbooks, a purposivesamplebased
upon an ideal type is acceptable. In this case
an "ideal type" is a genera of books in
which gender stereotypes are known to exist. For example, some researchers have
used Caldecott Award books for the obvious
reason that if gender stereotypes are found
CONTENTANALYSISAND GENDERSTEREOTYPES
303
in award-winningchildren's books, progress toward gender equality is probably
lackingthroughoutthe genre of children's
literature.
Prior to conductingthe exercise, I ask
studentsto write out a list of children's
books they are familiarwith. Dr. Seuss is
the most frequentlymentionedchildren's
book series. The BerenstainBearsand Disney series are also popular,along with a
host of other children'sbooks. Out of a
populationof 1,357 studentsat four separateinstitutionswho completedthe exercise
in my classes over a five-year period of
time, 88 percentindicatedthat they were
familiarwith the Dr. Seuss series and 71
percentwere familiarwith the Berenstain
Bears.
This sampleis, therefore,not a representativesampleof booksactuallyreadby any
in
particulargroupof studentsparticipating
the exercise. However, since the exercise
thatgenderstereotypes
seeksto demonstrate
were actuallypresent in the books many
studentsreporthaving read as children,it
seems, on the face of it, that these books
are acceptablefor analysis. Rather than
drawinga sampleof books from each series, I purchasedthe entire collections.
When I conductthe exercise, I ask each
group of studentsto select a book they
mightreadto theirchild. In fact, manystudents do report that their selection was
basedon a book they were familiarwith as
a child or, in the case of some nontraditional students,a book they had actually
purchasedandreadto theirchildren.
contentis not arbitrary(Berg 2001). The
criteriaof selectioncan yield eitherquantitative or qualitativedata; quantitatively,
tally sheets can be used to determinethe
frequencyof certainelementsin the message. Qualitatively,the studentscan examine the ideologies, symbols, and themes
embeddedin the messages and write out
summariesof their findings. In this exercise, the criteriafor selectionare basedon
traditionalstereotypesaboutgender,usually
presentedas a genderdichotomy,and both
quantitativeand qualitativeapproacheswill
be used.
count for variations in messages, explicit
enough so that the analysis can be easily
replicated, and should reflect the relevant
aspects of the messages. Additionally, the
criteria of selection should be applied consistently so that inclusion or exclusion of
A content analysis can proceed in either an
inductive or a deductive manner or some
mixture of both (Strauss 1987). If the instructorhas the time to devote to an inductive approach, students start by examining
the message in detail and seek to identify
ManifestandLatentContent
Manifest content in an artifactof social
communicationrefers to elementsthat are
physicallypresentandcan be countedaccurately.For example,studentscan countthe
numberof male or female role models in
the books. Additionally,the number of
womenin rolesoutsideof thehouseholdcan
be countedor the numberof womenin leadershiproles, andso forth.
Latent content, on the other hand, requires an interpretivereadingby the researcher, who interrogatesthe symbolic
meaningof the datain orderto uncoverits
deep structuralmeaning(Berg2001). Obviously, a contentanalysisof latentmessages
is moredifficultto achieve.Whenemploying a latentanalysis,the researchershould
use corroborative
techniques,such as using
coders
or providingdetailed
independent
from
the
data, which supportthe
excerpts
statedinterpretations.
A rich latentanalysis
not
be
in
feasible
one class period,but
may
students
should
be
Criteriaof Selection
encouragedin the atThe issue of exactly which elementsfrom tempt.Also, a latentanalysismaybe approthe bookswill be analyzedrefersto the cri- priatefor a take-homeexercise, which the
teriaof selection;in this exercise,the crite- instructor
can easilydevelop.
ria are usuallyworkedout in advance.The
criteriashouldbe exhaustiveenoughto ac- Whatto Count
304
themes that seem to be important
(Abrahamson1983). The deductive approach,on the other hand, uses a coding
schemedevelopedin advanceof the analysis. The researcherdevelops a hypothesis
from a theoreticalframeworkand tests it
usinga codingschemewhile performingthe
analysis.A codingscheme-in this example
one basedon the traditionalgenderdichotomy foundin many introductionto sociology textbooks-is providedto the students
in advance.
Althoughalmostanythingcan be counted
when performinga contentanalysis,seven
major elements are usually emphasized.
These elements include words, themes,
items,concepts,and
characters,paragraphs,
semantics(Berg 2001). For this exercise,
studentsshould easily be able to identify
words,themes,andcharactersrelatedto the
traditional gender dichotomy. Students
shouldbe instructedto look for these elementsin the book'stext, as well as the use
of color, the storyline,phrases,picturesand
anythingelse relatedto gender.
CodingFrame
This exercise employs a coding frame to
organizethe dataandto help studentsidentify findingswhile analyzingthe books. I
have used the coding framepresentedhere
with great success, and instructorsshould
findit easy to reproduce(see Appendix).
TEACHING SOCIOLOGY
EXERCISEDELIVERY
StepOne
Startby dividingthe class into smallgroups
of two or three students.I have used the
exercisein largerclasses wherethe groups
can be as largeas five students,althoughin
largergroupsthe chanceof socialloafingis
greater.Once the groupshave been established, allow themto select a book to analyze and handout the coding sheets. Each
group should have one book, one coding
sheet, and a copy of the traditionalgender
roleslistedin Figure1.
At this point, give the studentsexplicit
aboutwhatthey are expectedto
instructions
do. Explainthatthey are going to readthe
booksandlook at the pictureswith the specific goal of determiningto what extent
genderstereotypesare present.The importanceof systematically
linkingtheiranalyses
to the datacannotbe overemphasized
(Stalp
and Grant2001). This is accomplishedby
askingthe studentsin eachgroupto develop
operationaldefinitionsof the genderstereotypestheywill code.
I like to use a dialecticalapproachthat
mixes inductiveand deductivetechniques.
Studentsfirst take a cursorylook at each
book to see whetheror not genderstereotypesarepresent.For example,if the group
thinksthe book containsan exampleof a
womanbeing passive, they begin to try to
GenderStereotypes*
Figure1.GenderThemesBasedon Traditional
Traits
Masculine
Traits
Feminine
Dominant
Submissive
Independent
Dependent
Intelligent
Unintelligent
Emotional
Receptive
Intuitive
Weak
Timid
Content
Passive
Cooperative
Sensitive
Sex object
Attractivedue to physical appearance
"*Foundin Macionis (2001).
Rational
Assertive
Analytical
Strong
Brave
Ambitious
Active
Competitive
Insensitive
Sexually aggressive
Attractivedue to achievement
CONTENTANALYSISAND GENDERSTEREOTYPES
305
identify other behaviors associated with they findandtheycan countandtallyexamdefinition.
passivity.I instructthe studentsto writeout ples for eachoperational
their operationaldefinitions so that they
mayreferto themwhilecodingin steptwo. Step Three
Whenthe studentsare finishedcodingtheir
Two
books, ask two or three groups to share
Step
Once everythinghas been handedout and their findings and observationswith the
the instructionsgiven, the instructoracts as class. Ask each grouppresentingto explain
a facilitator.Some groups will need more their operationaldefinitionsand how they
thanothers, and in my ex- codedexamplesof genderstereotypes.Genencouragement
with
the
exercise, studentsasking erally, students explain their operational
perience
for help will adoptan instructor'sinterpre- definitionsandthenpointout picturesfrom
tationverbatimif they can. The instructor theirbookor readtext fromtheirparticular
shouldmakeeveryeffortto avoidprojecting book thatthey feel exemplifiestheirdefinionto the groupif tions of gender stereotypes.While each
his or her interpretations
asked for help. One idea for limitingthe groupis presentingits findings,the instrucinstructor'sinfluencein the codingprocess tor writessummarieson the boardthatwill
is to reservea book to whichhe or she can help studentsdraw conclusionsfrom the
referwhenansweringquestionsandprovid- exerciseandfacilitatethe discussion.
ing examples.
The goal is to get the studentsto do the StepFour
coding. Instructthem to be consistentand Studentswill take the exercise more seriencouragethem to analyze the data mi- ously if they know there will be some asnutely,pointingout, for instance,thatcer- sessmentof their work. To thatend, I ask
tain colors are frequentlyassociatedwith studentsto writea short(1-2 pages)reflecgenderand that this fact shouldbe part of tion paperin whichthey discusswhatthey
their observations. Likewise, students learnedfrom the exercise. Instructorswho
shouldexaminethe text, and even certain wish to give studentsmore time to conduct
words, for genderstereotypes.The nature, a latentanalysiscan do so duringthis step
type, andnumberof characters,characters' by allowingthemto take the book home. I
body size, behaviors,and even the title of performanothercontentanalysisof the rethe book shouldall be examinedby the stu- flectionpapersandthenpresentthatdatato
dentsto uncovermanifestandlatentgender the class at a laterdate. The commentsand
remarksreportedin the discussionsection
stereotypes.
All the membersof the groups should come fromthe studentreflectionpapers.
participatein the codingprocess, and they
shouldenterdataon the coding sheet only
DISCUSSION
whenthey are generallyin agreementabout
whetheror not a stereotypeis present. In Over severalyears of conductingthe exerthis partof the exercise, studentsshouldbe cise, I have discoveredthat the discussion
allowed to disagreeand discuss their dis- portionof the exercise tends to gravitate
agreementsbecausethis helps themdevelop towardsome fairly predictableissues and
a deeperunderstanding
of the process(Stalp themes. Whilea varietyof issues emerge,
and Grant2001). Additionally,encourage students repeatedlyinvoke three general
them to jot down their thoughts on a separate sheet of paper to refer to later during
the discussion and to help them write the
reflection paper. Students can code in both
a qualitative and quantitativemanner: they
can write out explanationsof the stereotypes
conclusions: 1) the book is only a book and
we are reading too much into it-children
are not affected by the ideologies in the
books; 2) things have changed and more
recent children's books no longer reflect
attitudes about gender, especially for
306
TEACHING SOCIOLOGY
women; and 3) the books simply reflect dren'sperspectivesaboutgender,as gender
schema theory suggests. Moreover, it is
reality.
the
claim
that
the
Regarding
analysis apparentthat these women had not previreadstoo muchinto the books, it is impor- ously given much thoughtto the gender
tantto pointoutto studentsthatchildrenare rolesactuallyportrayedin the books.
just beginningto acquireself and personal- In turn, this female student'sreflection
her abilityto find genity at the very time they are readingthese handilydemonstrates
books. In otherwords, they are beginning derscriptsandthemesin children'sbooks:
to learn how to organize their behavior
Therewasa partin thebookwherea female
along the patriarchal,genderedcodes emdog askeda maledog if he likedher hat.
beddedin suchbooks. It can also be pointed
Everytimehe saidno, untilin theendhe fiout thatchildrenwill face similarmessages
nallysaidyeswhenshehadonthemostfancy
from the broader cultural milieu. Aside
hat.Thelastpictureshowedthemgoingoff
from the messagesthey contain,the books
This was a symbolof powerof
together.
are themselvessocial artifactsthat do not
looks.Showinghow the maledog wouldn't
exist in a vacuum, but in relationshipto
takeheruntilhe likedherhat,andthatthegirl
otherartifactsand social relations.Gender
him.
doggota newhateachtimeto impress
ideologiesapparentin the books are also
embeddedin children'stoys, the mass me- This observationcertainly illustratesthe
dia, and even clothing. It is thereforeim- connectionbetween gender scripts in the
portantthat students learn to see these media and the continuingimportanceof
booksas only one componentof patriarchal personal attractivenessfor women. Thus,
gendercodes. If languagedoes shape and women in the classroombegin to underconditionour perceptionsof reality, then standthattheymayhaveinternalized
certain
parentswho desireequalityfor theirdaugh- behaviorsandattitudeswith respectto their
tersor egalitarianism
for theirsons oughtto appearancewhen they were very young.
look moreclosely at whattheirchildrenare Conversely,the same is true of the men,
reading.Studentswho expectto be parents, who begin to see thatthey have learnedto
or perhapsalreadyare, can gaina greatdeal see women,partly,as sexualobjects.
of insightfromthe exercise.
Anothercommonthemethattendsto surI have kept studentsummariesof the ex- face duringthe discussionis the claim that
ercise for several years and presenthere gender inequalityis a thing of the past.
someof theirmoreinterestingobservations. Whileit is true thatsignificantsocial, eduIn relationto whetheror not genderideolo- cational,and occupationalgains have been
gies and stereotypesare present in the madeby women,thereis still a long way to
books, two female studentsmake the fol- go beforegenderequalityis reached.Gender stratificationremains apparentin the
lowingcomments:
family, in education,in the mass media,in
I haveneverthought
of theseideasas I have the laborforce, in housework,in the distrireadthesebooksto my children.I am quite butionof incomeand wealth, and even in
offendedby the messagesthatare so craftily
politics (Bernard1981; Bianchiand Spain
hidden
bytheauthors.
1996; Charles 1992; Davis 1993; Pear
1991;OllenI neverrealizedhow children'sbookscould 1987;FullerandSchoenberger
and
Moore
1992; Waldfogel1997).
have such stereotypical
views withinthem. burger
However,nowthatI am awareof theseunder- Even when women are in the work force
lyingviews, I will be moreobservant.
they often encounter a glass ceiling which
prevents their rising much beyond middleFrom these observations it seems clear that level management (Benokraitis and Feagin
the exercise helps students understandthat 1995; Yamagata et al. 1997). Women still
children's books can actually influence chil- face a considerable amount of violence in
CONTENTANALYSISAND GENDERSTEREOTYPES
307
A thirdinterpretation
oftenvoiced during
discussionis that the books simply reflect
reality.Witha little effort, studentscan be
spurredinto thinkingof lots of womenand
men they have knownor knowwho do not
fall into the traditional definitions of
"feminine" and "masculine." In other
words, not all men are dominantand independent, nor are all women submissive,
passive, and dependent,as suggested by
genderstereotypes.If the booksdo not accuratelyreflect realityfor boys, they do a
worsejob of reflectingrealityfor girls, who
are nearly invisible in them. Moreover,
researchsuggeststhatmost childrendo not
developconsistentlyfeminineor masculine
(Bem 1983;Bernard1981).
personalities
a
and
reads
sits
down
studentscommentedon
someone
female
Several
Until
actually
bookand analyzeseverypictureand word, how accuratelythe booksreflectreality:
you don'tsee the hiddenmessagesor probthatkidsare beingexlemswithinequality
Notall boysarebad,notall girlsareprissy.
posedto. It wasn'tjust in one or two of the
notall fathers
arehousewives,
Notallmothers
and
books.Therewere cases of inequality
aredoingallthework.Therewerejusta lotof
ineverybook.
cultural
different
messages
inthebooks.
wrongmessages
the home (Gelles and Cornell 1990;
Schwartz1987; Smolowe 1994; Strausand
Gelles 1986) andunwantedsexualattention
outsidethe home (Loy and Stewart1984;
Paul 1991). As partof theirpreviouslearning in the course, studentsshouldbe well
awarethat genderstratificationstill exists.
Therefore, in considering their findings
from this exercise, students should be
pressedto thinkaboutthe ways certainchildren's books supportand help reproduce
genderstratification.
While consideringwhetheror not negative gender stereotypesfor women are a
thingof the past, two malestudentscontributedthe followingcomments:
Gender
playsa largerolein thesebooks.For
inthesebooksit is veryrarethatyou
instance,
will see the malebeingshorterthanthe fethe malein a
male,or the femaleprotecting
is almost
female
The
situation.
dangerous
and the
follower
as
the
alwaysportrayed
in
leaderis morelikelythemale.Themothers
whostay
thesebooksareusuallyhousewives
homecleaningandcookingall day.Whilethe
andcomeshome
fathergoesto a jobeveryday
withthechildren,or relaxes
androughhouses
aftera hardday'swork.Someof thesethings
mayhavebeentrueat thetime,butin today's
societymostwomenworkeverydayto help
earna living.
Livingintheworldas a femaleI wouldliketo
believethatnoneof thatwastrue,butfromall
thatwe have
thefactsandlearning
everything
inclassI believeotherwise.
These commentsclearly draw attentionto
the lack of accuracy,let alonediversity,in
some children'sbooks. One of the advantages of the exercise is that studentsare
clearlyable, with a little prodding,to realdo not accuize thatthesechildren's-books
of either
behavior
the
actual
reflect
rately
instructors
most
I
think
All
in
all,
gender.
who decideto try the exercisewill be pleasantlysurprisedby the level of sophistication
The observationsaddressthe pervasiveness studentsare able to achieveusing the stuof genderstereotypesin the books as well dent-friendly
methodof contentanalysis.
as the dissonancebetweenwomen'sstereotypeddomesticroles and the contemporary
ASSIGNMENT
TAKE-HOME
realityof workingwomen.Bothmen admitted that they had, as a matter of fact, read
the books when they were children. Thus,
students are able to understand that when
the books were actually published is a moot
point if parents are still buying them for
their children.
One of the central issues this exercise raises
is the question of whether or not the gender
stereotypes embedded in children's books
simply reflect innate differences between
the sexes or whether they are, in fact, reproducing and reinforcing culturally-based
308
TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
genderstereotypes.Althoughthis exercise
cannot directly determine the extent to
whichany particularstudent'sgenderidentitywas influencedby children'sbooks,it is
an issue studentsshouldbe asked to consider. To that end, instructorsmay find it
useful to assign studentsa take-homeproject in whichthey conductfurtheranalysis
of genderin the media.
These take-homeassignmentscan take a
variety of forms, but I have found two
strategiesto be particularlyeffective. The
first strategy asks studentsto reexamine
mediathey were familiarwith as children.
In this case, studentsare directedto recall
theirchildhoodandto identifytheirfavorite
children's books, cartoons, storybooks,
textbooks,and even games. They are then
instructedto locatesamplesof thatparticular mediaand conducta latentanalysisfor
genderstereotypesin a mannersimilarto
the class exercise.The secondstrategyasks
studentsto conducta broaderlatentanalysis
usingcurrentmedia.Thisanalysiscan focus
on advertisements,commercials, magazines, and television programs such as
situationcomedies, or movies. For example, certain, if not all, Disney movies
(includingTheLion King, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin)lend themselvesquite
well to a latent analysisof genderstereotypes.
Ask studentsto writea threeto five page
essaybasedon theirchoiceof strategiesand
one (or some combinationof) suggested
topics. In orderto complementthe in-class
exercise, their essays should address the
followingissues:
"* identifiablegenderstereotypes
* similarityof sample to those gender
stereotypesfoundin the class exercise
"* what role the mediaplays in transmitting genderstereotypesto futuregen*
*
erations
how accurately students believe the
gender stereotypes describe themselves
or other women and men they know
to what extent students have incorporated gender stereotypes as part of their
*
genderidentity
to what extent students'gender roleperformancesapproximatethe gender
stereotypesandin whatsocialsettings
The take-home assignment, therefore,
shouldnot only be fun and interesting,but
also help studentsaddressand think about
the extent to which the media perpetuates
genderstereotypes.
CONCLUSION
Gender is perhaps the basic dimension
throughwhich individualsperceivethe social world and their place in it. Gender
shapes social organizationand influences
how we interactwith each other and even
how we evaluateourselves. Additionally,
gender shapes our feelings, thoughts,and
behaviors from birth to death. Children
learnearlyon thatsocietyhas differentexpectationsand standardsfor girls andboys.
However, before childrencan learn what
the standardsare and therebyapply gendered standardsto themselves,they must
learnthe gendercode. This code is clearly
embeddedin the children'sbooks used in
the exercise.Sincechildrenbeginto understandgenderand apply genderstereotypes
to themselvesat an early age, we can reasonablyask what such books are teaching
childrenaboutgender.
This female student'sreflection,I think,
the exercise:
aptlysummarizes
Toseehowthesebooksweremeantto encourlittlegirls,wasjust
agelittleboysanddegrade
shocking.Duringthe class discussion,it
seemedthatmostof thebookshadalmostall
male characters
doingeverythingimportant
if any,werealwaysin
andfemalecharacters,
werestrong
roles.Malecharacters
secondary
Whilefemale
andshowedlotsof imagination.
characterswereweakerandusuallymoresubdued, with theirpinkbows and clothing.If a
motherfigure appearedin a book she was
always cleaning or cooking. Father figures
workedhardand were more of the authority
figure. All the charactersseemedwhite and
middleto upperclass. All the troublemakers
CONTENTANALYSISAND GENDERSTEREOTYPES
or everythingthatwas evil or badwas colored
in black, while everythinggood and happy
was coloredin primarycolors.Thinkingabout
all thesemessagesremindedme of how whenI
was youngermy fatheronce saidto me, "You
hammerlike a girl,"to whichI replied,"What
thehelldoesthatmean?"He hadno answer.
From these remarks it seems clear that the
exercise is one that does indeed help students recognize gender stereotypes in popular children's books. Indeed, the exercise is
easily adaptedto other media and other ideologies and stereotypes. I conclude with a
comment from one of the male students,
who had a somewhat broader view of the
exercise:
309
I realizedthat childrenare introducedto racism, social class, and sexualroles at a very
youngage andtheydon'tevenknowit. I think
the reasonwe did this exercisewas to prove
the point that we, as children,are unableto
avoidthesebiaseswe growup with. Theyare
everywhere,even in children'sbooks.
I often hear colleagues despair over whether
or not their students are "getting the message" when the message is related to gender
or some other form of inequality. Content
analysis is, in my estimation, a useful tool
which can be added to one's inventory of
teaching strategies.
APPENDIX.
CodingFrame:FemaleGenderStereotypes
Submissive
Dependent
Unintelligent
Emotional
Receptive
Intuitive
Weak
Timid
Content
Passive
Cooperative
Sensitive
Sex Object
Attractive
CodingFrame:MaleGenderStereotypes
Dominant
Independent
Intelligent
Rational
Assertive
Analytical
Strong
Brave
Ambitious
Active
Competitive
Insensitive
SexuallyAggressive
Achievement
310
TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
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in sociology
FrankTaylorreceivedhis doctorate
He is curof Nebraska-Lincoln.
fromtheUniversity
at Edinrentlythechairof thesociologydepartment
andthe directorof
of Pennsylvania
boroUniversity
sociology.
applied