Gender Roles in Literature

Using either or both mystery and series books, look at the roles of the characters. Were these roles stereotypical? Why or why not? What problems--if any--do you see with today's children being exposed to stereotypical gender roles?

This week, I read books from the American Girls and Junie B. Jones series. Each of these books definitely showed gender roles- some stereotypical and some not so stereotypical. The two American Girls books I read were set in the 1930s and 1940s. It probably goes without saying that these books portrayed gender roles more stereotypically than the Junie B. Jones books, set in modern day.

The first American Girls book I read was about Kit, living in the Great Depression era. Her father goes to work while her mother stays home and does fun things like throw garden parties. Not long into the book, though, her father loses his job. Even after he loses the job, the gender roles still remain for the most part. Father goes out during the day to search for a job while mother thinks of things she can do at home to earn some money. She ultimately decides to rent rooms in their house to boarders. Although this would require her to work, it is the traditional female role- cooking, cleaning, etc. While the traditional gender roles are definitely there as far as the parents go, Kit isn’t interested in the stereotypical girly pastimes. She and her friend create a newspaper which they write stories for each day. As far as I know, there weren’t many women reporters during this time period.

The second American Girls book I read was about Molly, living in the World War II era. Although these gender roles vary a bit from the gender roles in Kit’s era, I still think they are very stereotypical. Father goes off to war while mother works at the Red Cross. Because mother is working all day, there is a housekeeper that lives with them to do the cooking, cleaning, and take care of the children when mother isn’t home. Of course the housekeeper is female, because that vocation is fairly stereotypical. It certainly would’ve been during that time period, anyway. Although mother is the head of the house while father is away, the gender roles are still much the same as they would’ve been before the war. During this time period, they just shifted from fathers working and mothers taking care of the home to fathers at war and mothers taking care of the home front. Molly and her siblings are just typical children.

In the Junie B. Jones series, the gender roles are still fairly stereotypical, but they have evolved from 1940s gender roles into a more modern version of gender roles. Both father and mother work outside of the home. They both play a fairly equal role in taking care of the children when they aren’t at work. It seems that mom is still a bit more involved with the children than dad, but not extremely. While mom and dad are working, a retired grandpa comes and takes care of the kids. On occasion grandma helps out, but it is usually grandpa who watches them. This is definitely not the stereotypical role. Generally, it is a female who takes care of the children. It is especially strange to me to see an older man watching them, but I love the relationship that Junie B. has with Grandpa Frank Miller. As far as the children go in these books, they are fairly typical. Junie B. loves to do pretty much anything, whether it be considered more of a “girl thing” or a “boy thing.”

I really don’t have a problem with children being exposed to stereotypical gender roles. Gender roles are a part of society, whether we like them or not. Honestly, I think it’s good for children to see a balance of stereotypical roles and non-stereotypical roles. In historical fiction especially, children need to see an accurate depiction of family life. If authors of historical fiction pretended that men and women were equal and shared all responsibility, it would be an inaccurate representation. In modern fiction, I think authors should be accurate as well and show how these roles have changed in some ways, yet in some ways remain the same. While it is common for women to work outside of the home and for parents to share many responsibilities, we still more often see stay at home moms than stay at home dads. It is important for girls to have hopes, dreams, and goals, realizing they can be anything they want to be. In the same way, it’s important for boys to respect girls and not expect a wife to be a housekeeper. I don’t think that learning about traditional gender roles is going to keep either of these things from happening, especially since traditional gender roles have evolved so much.