Gender Issues in Children ’ s Literature

Jenny Meis Language and Learning Gender Issues in Children’s Literature Issues Paper Everything we read constructs us, makes us who we are, by presenting our image of ourselves as girls and women, as boys and men (Mem Fox, 1993). Children’s books play an important part in developing children’s language skills, but it also plays an important part in transmitting a culture to the child. It is a fact that gender roles are an important aspect in our culture and society, thus children’s books contribute to the image children develop of themselves. In this paper I will address six major questions involving gender in children’s literature: How gender is present in children’s literature, why gender-representation in children’s literature is significant, what is the history of children’s books and how they have effects on gender development, how coloring books relate to this issue, how this applies to the twenty-first century, what teachers should keep in mind while selecting children’s books, and how teachers can use children’s literature to promote gender equality.