Professional Resource Review

Hamilton, M., Anderson, D., Broaddus, M., & Young, K. (2006, December 1). Gender stereotyping and under-representation of female characters in 200 popular children's picture books: a twenty-first century update. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 55, 757-765.

“Who cares if girls are cast in passive roles, boys in active ones, or if male characters outnumber female characters? They're just books” (757).

The authors of this article reviewed previous studies concerning gender roles in children’s literature and conducted a study of their own. They review studies conducted and previous patterns that have been found when investigating gender portrayals or roles in children’s literature. They address the above statement by claiming that,

“First, common sense suggests that gender bias in books matters--that stereotyped portrayals of the sexes and under-representation of female characters contribute negatively to children's development, limit their career aspirations, frame their attitudes about their future roles as parents, and even influence their personality characteristics. Second, experimental research strongly suggests that gender bias in picture books is harmful to children” (757).

The authors designed and conducted an extensive study that tested five different hypotheses regarding gender stereotyping and the portrayal of women. They found that, “modern children's picture books continue to provide nightly reinforcement of the idea that boys and men are more interesting and important than are girls and women. Every hypothesis we tested concerning numbers of male versus female characters was confirmed, as were all hypotheses about occupational stereotyping” (765). Other interesting conclusions included the fact that “nurturant behaviors are even more likely now than in the 1980s and 1990s to be performed exclusively by girls and women” (763). This study was an interesting resource. Much research was done previously regarding gender roles, and it was useful to see what seems to be the present trend now that we have entered the 21st century. The authors of this study found that females are still suffering due to their representation in children’s literature. It is the authors’ hope that, “with attention to the persistent problems inherent in children's picture books, parents, teachers, and librarians can choose selectively for balanced portrayals of gender roles until the time when authors and publishers provide us with such balance” (765).