Anderson, D. A., & Hamilton, M. (2005).
In this study, 200 popular children's books were coded for physical presence, actions, emotions, and mentions of mothers and fathers in addition to images and instances of parental nurturing. The results revealed that fathers appeared in only 47% of the books surveyed and were highly under-represented, unaffectionate, and lacking in display of childcare. They were shown as taking very little part in their children's lives and shown as primarily unemotional. Mothers, in contrast, were most often shown as emotionally expressive caring nurturers.
Anderson, D. A., & Hamilton, M. (2005). Gender Role Stereotyping of Parents in Children's Picture Books: The Invisible Father. Sex Roles, 52(3-4), 145-151. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-1290-8
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I was quite surprised when I came across the results of this study! I had never considered how father's are portrayed in children's books would be relevant to gender stereotypes. More often when I think of gender issues for children, I think of how children's roles are portrayed(boys as active, girls as passive for example). This study shows that gender stereotyping in children's literature can be particularly insidious.
ReplyDeleteIf fathers are mostly portrayed this way, it seems likely that children would just assume this is the way fathers act. They likely won't question their own parents' behaviours and may grow to exhibit them as well.