Check out Scholastic’s “How to Survive Anything” series. Boys are taught to survive things like shark attacks. Girls are taught to survive a fashion disaster.
Help me, Jesus. Fortunately, DickG., who sent the link, was not the first to notice the problem, and Scholastic responded by saying they didn’t print that many of the books, and they’ll print no more.
At least the cover of the girls’ version doesn’t show a young woman freaking out in front of a mirror.
True. At least we have that.
In my former job as stay-at-home-dad I wanted to avoid gender stereotyping with my sons and daughter, and found this great book by Eleanor MacCoby (link and blurb below). In restospect, I was surprised to learn that gender identity is *not* something that can or should be overcome, unlike, say, bigotry or homophobia. Sure, we should be working for equal pay for equal work, but we shouldn’t force individual kids / people into gender roles that they find uncomfortable. If Scholastic’s marketing team calculates that most girls want to talk on their cell phones while on zip lines, how is that bad for girls? Is the answer to avoid gender-specific imagery altogether?
The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart, Coming Together (Family and Public Policy)
“In this book, the distinguished psychologist Eleanor Maccoby explores how individuals express their sexual identity at successive periods of their lives.”
I agree, forcing any one into any role is just dumb and potentially quite harmful. But I can remember watching old movies on television as a girl and wondering why, when the women are attacked, do they stand there and scream and wait for someone to attack their attackers. Why didn’t they fight back? Why didn’t they show some common sense. This one set of books is not going to sink a little girl’s self-esteem or tell a little boy he has to be all man, but this set of books coupled with all the other media messages is just dumb, and potentially quite harmful. It wouldn’t have hurt Scholastic Books to mix it up a little, include in the boy’s book a kitchen disaster, or some other such activity that would flip traditional gender roles on their heads. I appreciate the link for the book. It looks interesting and I just may add it to my reading table.
Maybe the antidote to the media message is to expose girls to books like “The Paper Bag Princess” by Robert Munsch. How about coming up with a list of “strong girl” books?
Excellent idea, Jerome. I’ll start a blog post on that and feel free to contribute. You rock, and welcome to the rag-tag bag of Dating Jesus contributors. The position carries absolutely no financial reward, and even less social clout.
Wow — my kids bring home scholastic flyers every year. We pick the books out together…I’ll be sure to keep an EXTRA eye out for such non-sense. Thanks for sharing this.
No “strong girl” books spring to mind (nor do any “strong boy” books, either). but I can offer this true tale of Juliane Koepcke, one seriously tough badass girl.
She was on an airplane that was struck by lightning during a severe thunderstorm and exploded in mid-air, disintegrating at 10,000 ft. Koepcke, who was seventeen years old at the time, fell to earth in the midst of a tropical jungle still strapped into her seat – and survived. With several broken bones she walked alone for nine days until she found help. Read about it at the link above, or fire up google. Oh, and if you see her photo you will realize that “strong” does NOT mean plain, ugly or masculine.
For some more “strong girl (and women)” stories look for girl’s names on the list atBadass of the Week.
Read the story of The Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley (Grainne, 7/8/11), too — this writer sure has a take-no-prisoners style!
That would be at http://www.badassoftheweek.com/omalley.html
Kim Campbell is another tough, strong woman. Her handle is (or was) “Killer Chick.” She piloted an A-10 WartHog in Iraq, a slow, ugly and awesomely deadly warplane that was built around a Gatling cannon that can blow tanks into the next life in seconds. Another example of a tough woman who by all appearances is not the slightest bit masculine – pretty in fact (OK, that is a matter of opinion).
These are extreme examples I’ve posted. But on average the toughest and strongest people, in my opinion, tend to be women. Men can fall back on the psychologically wimpy fact that they usually are larger, physically stronger, and far more brash and aggressive than women; it makes it EASY for them to be dominant. In other words, I think an awful lot of men are wimps, but with macho attitudes that women have not decided to stand up to, by and large. Although many have.
But if women as a group ever start to say “treat me and other women well, or no sex for you,” then men quickly will treat women differently.
“But if women as a group ever start to say “treat me and other women well, or no sex for you,” then men quickly will treat women differently.”
Unless, of course, those men are “celibate” and powerful, or buy sex in one way or another.