Gender Roles In Native American Literature

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Children come into this world with a clean slate. Parents can chose to raise their child in any way they chose. During their formative years, most parents provide their children with books to encourage their curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Deciding which books to read to their children, can give children the dreams to be a Princess, firefighter, doctor, or tooth fairy. Many stories have a take away messages that teach children to be kind, generous, and thoughtful human beings. However, children can be negatively impacted by exposure to inaccurate representations that impose stereotypes about other cultures and occupational roles in different genders. Despite all the different cultures and ethnicities present in America, many different …show more content…
There have been issues regarding inaccuracies found in children’s novels which has been thought to be “virtually worthless as a reflection” on cultures because it “robs the accompanying story of its cultural background” according to Norton (p. 86). By inaccurately describing an entire group of people to young minds, the authors of children’s books are making Native Americans feel inferior to others and unimportant. Furthermore, children of other cultures and backgrounds begin to view people of the highlighted culture or group in a certain light, which may not be accurate at all (Norton, …show more content…
Women are found to be helpless, vulnerable, and often take roles as the homemaker or caretaker in children’s books (Gopalkrishnan, 2011). According to Hamilton et. Al (2006) stereotypical images of sexes “contribute negatively to children’s development, limit their career aspiration… and influence their personality characteristics” (p. 45). Reading stories such as Beauty and the Beast, girls find themselves introduced to domestic roles and catering men (Brooks, 1992). Young girls are lead to believe their purpose in life is to help their parents with household chores until they are married and begin to take over domestic duties in their husband’s home. As a result there are many young girls who grow up reading stories with docile maternal women play with life size kitchenettes preparing for tea parties and meals for their stuffed animals, family, or imaginary friends. All these games make girls believe they are to be the house