Feminist books for five-year-olds
December 5, 2009
by Hughes
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Found a great article in The Guardian today. That’s right. “Feminist books for five-year-olds“. Hah! Has there even been an article more up my alley? I would have thought the title was directed right to me. It is nice to know I’m not the only one out there trying to battle the onslaught of Barbies and princesses.
The author is a mother of a 6 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. Through entertaining prose, she takes you on her journey of discovering the need for a “gender stereotyping intervention”.
Until now, my two have been young enough to do their own thing – Will has enjoyed baking cakes, Vera has pretended to be Luke Skywalker. But the older they get, the harder it is to resist the pink-and-blue divide.
I wanted to find something feminist, subversive. The Female Eunuch for five-year-olds.
She sets out to answer the question:
But can a three-year-old girl who wants to marry her daddy, and a six-year-old boy who hates pink, really be radicalised in just five easy reads?
The author’s review of these 5 “feminist books” complete with her children’s summary is thoughtful, informative and entertaining.
I highly recommend reading the entire one page article, but for those who don’t have time, here’s her finding:
Verdict: You can’t teach gender studies to small children in a day, but you can make a start. They have already demanded Pippi Longstocking and Pirate Girl again – and again. Lessons that they have learned? The existence of the term “Ms”, which prompted a heated discussion. The idea that marriage is not everyone’s idea of a fairytale ending. And that women wielding cutlasses are just as menacing as men – possibly more so. Overall, I think, Professor Greer would be proud.
And you might even get some gift ideas out of it!
Enjoy!
Brava!
I have my first grandchild on the way so I went shopping for baby clothes. I was shocked by how polarized the blue/pink divide is at stores such as Macy’s. It is just like the two separate clothes departments offered to men and women right from infancy. Aside from pink or blue you cannot find neutral colors, other than in layettes sold as gifts for people who do not know what the sex of their child will be.
As long as you can teach the boy not to hold everything associated with girls in utter and total contempt, you’re getting somewhere at least.
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