This oh bother comes from Ms. Magazine via Diverse_IDs:
3 thoughts on “Oh bother, part 19: Gendering Poetry”
These books with “for boys” and “for girls” are extremely uncomfortable for me. Sara, I know you have covered all of these issues in your blog, but I have to sound off to blow off some steam in this area. Why are some skills/poems/stories/jokes/images etc recommended to children based solely on gender? It is dangerous because it sets assumptions on what one gender would want, it completely excludes (and thereby judges) the idea that perhaps gender is not an either/or situation and it does a disservice to the artists, writers, etc who may or may not have intended any restrictions to whom their audience may include. Definitely a HUGE oh bother.
These books with “for boys” and “for girls” are extremely uncomfortable for me. Sara, I know you have covered all of these issues in your blog, but I have to sound off to blow off some steam in this area. Why are some skills/poems/stories/jokes/images etc recommended to children based solely on gender? It is dangerous because it sets assumptions on what one gender would want, it completely excludes (and thereby judges) the idea that perhaps gender is not an either/or situation and it does a disservice to the artists, writers, etc who may or may not have intended any restrictions to whom their audience may include. Definitely a HUGE oh bother.