tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post3365714483360321533..comments2023-11-02T05:05:46.010-07:00Comments on book, book, book: Male and Female Created (S)he ThemElsKushnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584616838165132885noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-27437902351137184782007-05-05T01:39:00.000-07:002007-05-05T01:39:00.000-07:00Animals apart, I've always felt that kid lit is gi...Animals apart, I've always felt that kid lit is girl-centric, I'm talking about fairytales. But it is a good idea to introduce kids to the idea of male and female co-existing in story books too. Kids only grow up to be what they are told and if we can instil a sense of equality early on, the world will be a better place.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://bluerectangle.com/" REL="nofollow">BlueRectangle Books</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-32689018712344045852007-05-03T15:21:00.000-07:002007-05-03T15:21:00.000-07:00Oh good grief, is that still going on? I thought t...Oh good grief, is that still going on? I thought they had finally gotten the memo.<BR/><BR/>Candlewick published an author who specifically had all her animal-people be female just to counteract that problem, but I can't remember now how it was...webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02111147106670737578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-16915714259910052062007-05-03T12:03:00.000-07:002007-05-03T12:03:00.000-07:00Yes we loved Mrs. Chicken! The kids clapped after ...Yes we loved Mrs. Chicken! The kids clapped after I read it. Paye is a wonderful storyteller.Andromeda Jazmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12355192738014962965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-61392352437552395822007-05-03T10:20:00.000-07:002007-05-03T10:20:00.000-07:00I think many kids books and movies use a male char...I think many kids books and movies use a male character because the feeling is that girls will read/watch something where the main character is a boy, but boys will <EM>not</EM> read/watch something where the main character is a girl. <BR/><BR/>I don't know if it is that meaningful in preschool books, though. <BR/><BR/>Oh, and I love that Mrs. Chicken book. I just read it to my 2nd graders class last week - after being reminded of its existence by the Wrung Sponge blog.MotherReaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11274509991340797264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-12076179740655546532007-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:002007-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:00It's been my experience that with kids the assumpt...It's been my experience that with kids the assumption of gender has partly to do with perceptions of the characteristics of that animal. If the animal in question is generally perceived as scary or violent -- alligator, bear, dinosaur -- children tend to assume it is male. baby animals without gender specific names tend to be assumed to be female, like chicks and bunnies and sheep.<BR/><BR/>I've always loved that Bambi is the name of a male deer but that it's origin is female in Italian.david elzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-89781566796896448902007-05-03T08:08:00.000-07:002007-05-03T08:08:00.000-07:00Frances is a badger!:) I think the hedgehog appear...Frances is a badger!:) I think the hedgehog appears somewhere in a Beatrix Potter book.<BR/><BR/>A lot of the folktales I find with animal protagonists are called "he." I often change the sexes of the animals if the change enhances the story but doesn't mess with the cultural significance. One example is the Iroquois "Rabbit and Fox" from <I>The Boy Who Lived with the Bears</I> (Bruchac). Once Rabbit became female, the story was about a female trickster outwitting a hungry male.Saints and Spinnershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04733517166056974501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-57629417381921432462007-05-03T07:41:00.000-07:002007-05-03T07:41:00.000-07:00I guess there are a fair number of female chickens...I guess there are a fair number of female chickens out there in picture-book land, now that I think of it. And there are lots of girl animal characters like Martha the dog and Frances the...hedgehog(?) and Zelda and Ivy, who are foxes, and that pig in Hog-Eye. <BR/><BR/>What I'm thinking of more are the sort of general animal characters who populate picture books in sort of walk-on roles: you know, like when one animal after another is fooled by Anansi, or insists that the sky isn't falling. They all tend to be male. It's not the most urgent issue in the universe, but it's a persistent annoyance.<BR/><BR/>In Eastern Eurpoean immigration stories, on the other hand, the protagonists are almost invariably female. To go by those books, the Lower East Side circa 1910 must have been populated entirely by plucky 12-year-old girls in babushkas. But that's a post for another day.ElsKushnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08584616838165132885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3047768604497531498.post-81681052445962583302007-05-03T06:02:00.000-07:002007-05-03T06:02:00.000-07:00Hi Els,I know what you mean about pronouns--I do i...Hi Els,<BR/>I know what you mean about pronouns--I do it too. But I have a vauge feeling that there are lots and lots of female chicken characters out there--Hilda Hen and Lottie come to mind. I also have the feeling that in non- fiction videos there are more female animals than male, for what that's worth...Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.com