Does Gender in Children’s Books Matter?

Abstract

This paper analysed gender representations in children's books. To be specific, the paper assesses gender equality in children's books. In general, children acquired gender concepts from the culture within the society. Then, it is transmitted through various media, book is one of them. Gender is defined as a characteristic of men and women constructed by society and culture. As one of cultural products, books convey cultural messages including gender messages. Children's books contain narratives and pictures of men and women and messages about contemporary men and women. Based on literature research this paper argues that children’s books contribute to shaping children's understanding about society and themselves. This paper is organized as follows, first, the concept of gender will be explained. Second, the paper will combine several previous studies on various issues and how children's books constructed the concept of gender for children. Third, the paper analyses the importance of gender equality in children's books. The paper concludes that children’s books play an important role in shaping children’s understanding about gender equality.