Gender Stereotypes in Literature Essay - 1969 Words

There is no doubt that certain books children read are made especially for boys or for girls. Like any developmental form of entertainment, from toys to movies, childrens books are often littered with hints that dictate whether they were originally meant for male or female enjoyment. Sometimes these hints can be as simple as the specific gender of the main characters, for example Carolyn Keenes Nancy Drew series calls for a female audience while the extremely similar yet sexually opposite Hardy Boys mysteries fall into the hands of boys, yet other times more important factors decide who the book will best be suited for. Gary Paulsens Hatchet and Katherine Patersonss The Great Gilly Hopkins are books for a boy and a†¦show more content†¦Hatchets survival story, then, is two-fold. Because stereotypically boys are less focused on the emotional aspect of things, and boys raised on G.I. Joes as opposed to a game of â€Å"house† are less interested in domesticity, the a dventure trappings of Hatchet serve to mask what is really happening in the story. When Brian crashes in the woods he has already been set adrift by the rift between his parents, has already been left as one that will have to survive on his own. Brian was comfortable in the security of his stable familial unit but now he is left alone in a new world, the untamed wilderness of a broken home. These aspects of divorce and infidelity, however, would hold no real sway over young male readers, so it is made real by the woods that Brian finds himself in. Everything he has to do in the woods revolves around a â€Å"home†. When Brian takes stock of everything he must do once he first crash lands, from building a â€Å"lean-to† (Paulson, p. 53) and not just eating, but hoarding and storing the â€Å"gut cherries† (p. 67) what he is really doing is rebuilding the home that he felt his parents separation has stolen from him. It is indeed only a few days before he comes to think of his new crude lodgings as home, but when heShow MoreRelatedGender Stereotypes in Literature1570 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout history women have been victims of many stereotypes. The stereotypes that will be analyzed in this essay are the ideas that women are somehow inferior to men, the weaker sex, both mentally and physically; they are self-sacrificing mothers and wives and that they are dependent on men. This is seen in the play Medea, set in Greece during a time that was dominated by men. Women could only, under exceptional conditions, obtain a divorce yet any Greek man could rid himself of a wife simplyRead MoreGender Stereotypes Throughout Literature And Literature968 Words   |  4 PagesGender stereotypes exist in modern civilization and are heavily influenced in film and literature as well. The deeply ingrained values in our culture of standardized gender roles in terms of women are seen heavily in both Tarzan of the Apes and in Knocked Up. Alternatively, t hese stories released almost a hundred years apart portray masculinity very differently. To understand what constitutes an ideal male, both genders need to be considered and their differences exemplified. Tarzan is a stereotypicalRead MoreGender Stereotypes And Expectations In Literature1724 Words   |  7 Pagessuch means as literature, popular culture, and tradition, has perpetuated these gender stereotypes and expectations for much of history. 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Therefore, the gender roles and the number of female andRead MoreGender Inequality in Womens Rugby1181 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction As the nation’s gender inequality continues to diminish, things like sports stereotypes, and labour force conflict cannot be understood without understanding the term of identity. Identity work is explained by Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock in 1996 as â€Å"anything people do, individually or collectively, to give meaning to themselves or others† (as cited in Ezzell, 2009, p. 1). I propose to examine inequality based on gender identity and in depth the process of stereotype issues, - how people constructRead MoreHow Women Are Portrayed On Advertising And The Second Looks At This Time1104 Words   |  5 PagesAssignment #1 1. State your topic area for the literature review project. Be as specific as you are able to at this time. The topic area that I would like to cover for my literature review project is the topic of how women are portrayed in advertising and the impact this has on women in society. 2. State the claim the study supports The scholarly article I am reviewing is a research article that did two separate examinations on the role of humor in gender stereotypes. The first one is the role of humor seenRead MoreIdentity in the Workplace Creates Gender Inequality801 Words   |  3 PagesAs the nation’s gender inequality continues to diminish, things like sports stereotypes, and labour force conflict cannot be understood without understanding the term of identity. Identity work is explained by Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock in 1996 as â€Å"anything people do, individually or collectively, to give meaning to themselves or others† (as cited in Ezzell, 2009, p. 1). I propose to examine inequality based on gender identity and in depth the process of stereotype issues, - how people construct