Popular Culture: Recommended Children's Books

You’re in luck! We are presently in a historical period in which there are many types of feminist books out there for children. What do I call a feminist book? Good question — In my view a feminist book must be ethnically diverse as well as:
A) Have strong, female characters who aren't only wearing dresses.
B) Depict males in nurturing roles (indeed, for the opposite characterization, please see the bombed-out house being advertised by J.C. Penny's --- equiped with ammunition, gun-toting soldier and American flag). C) Show the point of view of white females and/or people-of-color D) Have adult women and men/boys of color in roles other than the good/evil dichotomy

Question:   Should boys read “feminist books. Answer: YES!

We are taught very subtly and quite overtly that the world should be framed from the white, male perspective.  Indeed, studies reveal that the majority of popular culture (from books and movies to video games) is framed from the point of view of white, boys.  What this means is that we are asked to view the world from the eyes a white boy.  In this way, we learn to sympathize, feel compassion and understand the social context of this person’s thoughts, ideas and behaviors.    Unfortunately, what this means for boys of color and girls is that their point of view is often neglected, and subsequently, devalued.

For instance, imagine the Harry Potter series gaining such world-wide acclaim had the main character been Harriet Potter, a black girl!   It is unthinkable in a racist, patriarchal society because a) girls and boys of color are supposed to be passive; b) if girls or boys of color are active, they should only be so if their actions support a white, male or if they are "evil"; c) our culture believes white boys should not be asked to relate to boys-of-color and/or white girls, but boys-of-color and/or white girls are encouraged to relate to white, boys.  Indeed, children are often censored from anything else.

Marketing studies show that at a young age, boys and girls can relate to either sex or any race in commercials targeting “gender and race-neutral” toys.  However, most commercials still depict white, males!   Eventually, both boys and girls learn that “gender and race-neutral” means white male.  White boys learn to eschew anything female or related to children of color while girls and kids-of-color are taught that being non-white and female is abnormal.

You may ask,   So, why is this a problem?

This is a problem because oppression emerges and perpetuates when one group is taught to denigrate its own qualities in favor of another with more power.  Thus, to change oppression, boys and girls of all colors must change.

Insight: Some adults with white, male children worry that reading a majority of stories from the female and/or person-of-color perspective might harm white, boy’s self esteem.

Think about this:

In contemporary society, girls and boys-of-color are asked in most of their waking hours to look at reality from the white, male perspective.  I find it compelling that very few people are asking how this affects boys-of-color and girls’ self esteem!!!!!

As parents, we can never over-do framing reality from people-of-color or white girls’ perspectives.  This is because in every other facet of our children’s lives, they are learning to relate to themselves from the point of view of white, boys — From peers, from our schools and from our religious institutions.

When my children were little, my partner and I tried to limit our children’s literature to stories about children-of-color and white girls.   Further, we constantly changed all the literary characters to which our children were exposed to female – from Winnie-the-Pooh to Spiderwoman.   We referred to all their stuffed animals as girls, as well as their cars, transformers and other toys.  Whenever we were unsure of someone’s (be it animal or human) sex, we called that thing a girl.  We even did some gender transgressing.  Given that females are almost universally depicted in “dresses” while boys are in pants, we often told our children that the characters in dresses were fathers or brothers.

Nonetheless, when our children entered school (at three, although their reality didn’t start to shift until four or five), all our “gender transgressive” acts were rejected by them.  In school, they clearly learned the difference between boys and girls!  Boys most certainly never wore dresses!  And for that matter, anything without a specific sex was now a boy!  Especially, all scary monsters, adventurers, workers, etc.

This goes to show you that there is little to worry about white, boys’ self esteem.   Society will take care of that for you.   If only more people had the same concern for people of color and white girls!