Gender equity in preschool books?

Why does gender equity in preschool books matter?

Because every interaction we have with a child, including reading a book, shapes their* brain, how they see themselves, and how they see others.

Collaborating neuroscientists explain on BrainFacts.org, “Compared to other animals, we’re born with less developed brains, and they take longer to fully mature.” “One advantage of having such a protracted period of brain development is that our developing brains are more easily shaped by environment and experience, which helps us adapt and thrive in our unique environment.”

“The circuits of the brain are quite literally a product of your physical, social, and cultural environment, as well as your behavior and thoughts. What we experience and do creates neural activity that can alter the brain, either directly or through changes in gene expression.” ¹

More than scientists previously realized, we have the opportunity to shape our kids’ brains.

“[Our] job as a parent is critical,” explains Christia Spears Brown, Ph.D., author of Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue. “Experiences make all the difference.”²

If we want to maximize our children’s full potential during the infant and preschool years, we want to keep their brains open to the widest variety of development. Such growth comes from diverse experiences. “It is important to help strengthen [all of] our children’s important synapses so that they don’t get eliminated.” ³

If we introduce gender too soon, which severely limits expected skills, talents, affinities, life goals, and emotional expression, “kids lose the ability to do all they were born capable of doing.” ²

Preschool books with gender equity counter that by giving kids a chance to enjoy reading without encumbering it with gender. With these books, we can more easily refer to characters as “a child,” “the kid,” “the little person, “a big person,” “the parent,” “the grown-up,” “the big giraffe,” and so on. The books with gender equity that do show people with different gender expressions, show them interacting with mutual respect–creating a vision in our kids’ minds of a world with gender equity.

Books rated high for gender equity help by:

1) Keeping gender secondary so we can focus on developing all of our kid’s potential and sharing the main ideas of the book.

2) Providing room to compensate for the over-representation of one gender over another. In one day alone, our child may hear:

• The librarian referring to both the stuffed dog and stuffed penguin in the children’s area as “he.”
• Your friend calling the turtle in a book a “he,” and then a dinosaur toy in your hand a “guy.”
• Song after song with “he,” “him,” and “his.” One might be “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” with every single monkey being a “he” and the only female being a “Mama,” followed by “was his name-o” over and over in “B-I-N-G-O,” and then the repetitive “and on his farm he had a…” in “Old MacDonald.”
• The preschool teacher referring to the hand puppet as “he.”
• The parent next to you referring to the toy car as “this guy.”
• Being addressed multiple times as a “guy,” with grown-ups saying, “Hey, guys.”
• The preschool teacher referring to the skeleton in the classroom as a “he.”

3) Allowing us more flexibility to keep gender secondary, even after kids are aware of the concept of gender.

4) Offering an example of people, with different gender expressions, interacting with mutual importance, skill, and respect.

5) Providing books that, once our kids can read, support our desire to keep gender secondary. (While we can change the words of any book before kids recognize words, we are not able to do that once they become readers themselves.)

The Equity 8™ tool, using eight criteria (listed below), helps parents find preschool books that reduce the emphasis on gender and promote gender equity.

Criterion 1: Did the author tell the entire story without mentioning gender?

Merely by mentioning gender in a book we send the message that gender is someone’s most important quality and awaken gender stereotypes our child has learned elsewhere. By not mentioning gender, our child is able to fully experience the lessons and messages of the story, which might be: friends can have conflict and work things out, sometimes we are sad and that’s okay, our imaginations can come up with amazing adventures, etc.

Criterion 2: Did the artist illustrate the entire story without contributing to gender stereotypes?

What we see matters. When our kids see illustrations featuring stereotypes (such as girl characters with exaggerated eyelashes or wearing something pink, and boy characters wearing blue or ball caps), they get the message that girls must look and act certain ways and boys must look and act certain ways.

Criterion 3: Is there counter stereotyping?

Showing the opposite of a stereotype is a powerful way to erode it. Examples are showing a boy happily cuddling a baby or a girl swinging a bat with expert skill. Another way a book can counter stereotypes is by not mentioning gender. This puts gender in the background where it belongs.

Criterion 4: Are kids with different gender representations interacting with mutual respect, skill, and admiration?

Toddlers reading books that contain both girls and boys positively interacting, working, and playing together learn to do this in real life. When boys mostly read books with only boy main characters, they do not learn enough about interacting with mutual respect with girls. When girls only read books with either boy main characters or girl main characters, they do not learn enough about how to interact with boys with confidence.

Criterion 5: Does the girl character have agency?

Having agency is a powerful way to demonstrate that girls make things happen with their bodies and with their brains. It can be demonstrated by showing a girl’s body in motion, seeing her straining her muscles with exertion, and making things happen through her efforts. We need both girls and boys to know that girls are important contributors. Too many books have girl characters merely standing, sitting still, or being observers of boys’ more interesting antics. We need illustrations of girls that show their muscles, and that demonstrate them using their bodies to push, pull, climb, sprint, jump, and so on. We also need books that show girls making something happen through their efforts, such as building a birdhouse, moving rocks for a fort, rolling a wheelbarrow of toys, shooting a basketball, rescuing a friend, and so on.

Criterion 6: Does the book’s story represent any of the Guiding Principles?

The Guiding Principles of Gender Equity Parenting focus on qualities in people that make the world more equitable and fuel gender equity. Seeing these traits demonstrated in a story helps children learn more about them.

Criterion 7: Are girls the main characters or do they share the spotlight equally with boy characters?

Too many books don’t have girl characters at all (particularly those read by boys) or only have them as secondary characters when boys are present. We need books with girls as main characters (that boys also read) and, even better, books with girls and boys both as main characters. This way both girls and boys learn that girls are equally important contributors in life.

Criterion 8: Is the writer and/or illustrator a woman?

Historically women have been underrepresented among writers, illustrators, and publishers. Yet they are half the population. By staying aware of who created a book, we can continue to ensure that women’s voices are heard and fairly represented.

* “Their” and “they” used as singular pronouns.

1 Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference, Cordelia Fine, page 236

2 Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes, Christia Spears Brown, Ph.D., page 103

3 Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes, Christia Spears Brown, Ph.D., page 107