Weitzman

Sex-Role Socialization in Picture Books for Preschool Children
Author(s): Lenore J. Weitzman, Deborah Eifler, Elizabeth Hokada, Catherine Ross
Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 77, No. 6 (May, 1972), pp. 1125-1150
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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Sex-Role Socialization in Picture Books
for Preschool Children'
LenoreJ. Weitzman
Universityof California, Davis
ElizabethHokada, and Catherine
DeborahEifler, Ross
Yale University

An examination prize-winning
of picturebooks revealsthat women
are greatly in centralroles,and illustra-
underrepresented the titles,
tions. Where women do appear their characterization reinforces
traditionalsex-rolestereotypes:boys are active while girls are
passive; boys lead and rescueotherswhile girls followand serve
others.Adultmenand womenare equallysex stereotyped: men en-
gage in a wide varietyof occupations while womenare presented
onlyas wivesand mothers. effects theserigid
The of sex-roleportraits
on the self image and aspirations the developing
of child are dis-
cussed.

INTRODUCTION

Sex-rolesocializationconstitutes of the mostimportant
one learning ex-
periences the youngchild.By the timethe child enterskindergarten,
for
he or she is able to make sex-roledistinctions express
and sex-roleprefer-
ences.Boys alreadyidentify withmasculine roles,and girlswithfeminine
roles (Brown 1956). They also learn the appropriate behaviorforboth
boys and girlsand menand women. Hartley (1960) reports that,by the
time they are four,childrenrealize that the primaryfeminine role is
housekeeping, whilethe primary masculine role is wage earning.
In additionto learningsex-role identification sex-role
and expectations,
boys and girlsare socializedto accept society'sdefinition the relative
of
worth each of the sexes and to assumethe personality
of characteristics
thatare "typical"of members each sex. Withregard relative
of to status,
theylearnthatboys are morehighly valued thangirls.And,withregard
to personality differences, learn that boys are active and achieving
they
whilegirlsare passive and emotional. Eight-year-old boys describegirls
as clean,neat,quiet,gentle, and fearful,whiletheydescribe adult women
as unintelligent, unadventurous,
ineffective, nasty,and exploitative (Hart-
ley 1959). Indeed,Maccobyfinds that,although girlsbeginlifeas better

1We are indebtedto William J. Goode, Kai Erikson,Alice Rossi, and Erving Goffman
commentson an earlierdraftof this paper which was presentedto
fortheirinsightful
the 1971 meetingof the AmericanSociological Association,Denver, Colorado.

AJS Volume 77 Number6 1125

AmericanJournal Sociology
of
achieversthanboys,theygradually behindas theybecomesocialized
fall
(Maccoby 1966).
In thispaperwe wishto concentrate one aspectof sex-role
on socializa-
tion: thesocialization preschool
of childrenthrough picture books.Picture
books play an important in earlysex-role
role socializationbecause they
are a vehicleforthe presentation societalvalues to the youngchild.
of
Through books,children learnabout the worldoutsideof theirimmediate
environment: theylearn about what otherboys and girls do, say, and
feel; theylearn about what is rightand wrong;and theylearn what is
expectedof children theirage. In addition,books providechildren with
rolemodels-imagesof whattheycan and shouldbe like whentheygrow
up.
Children'sbooksreflect culturalvaluesand are an important instrument
for persuading children accept those values. They also contain role
to
prescriptions which encourage childto conform acceptable
the to standards
of behavior. The Child StudyAssociation (1969), aware of the socializa-
tion potentialof books, states that a book's emotionaland intellectual
impacton a youngreadermustbe considered. Therefore recommends
it
thatchildren's bookspresent positiveethicalvalues.
Because books for youngchildrenexplicitly articulatethe prevailing
culturalvalues,theyare an especially usefulindicator societalnorms.2
of
McClelland (1961) used children's books as indicators achievement
of
values in his cross-cultural studyof economic development. the period
In
priorto increasedeconomicdevelopment founda high incidenceof
he
achievement motivation reflected the children's
in books.This indicated a
strongpositiverelationship betweenachievement imageryin children's
storiesand subsequent economic growth. McClelland (1961, p. 71) noted
that the storieshad providedchildren withclear "instructive" messages
aboutnormative behavior. Margaret Mead also commented "a culture
that
has to get its values acrossto its children such simpleterms
in that even
a behavioral scientist understand
can them."3

STUDY DESIGN

Our studyfocuseson picturebooks forthe preschool child.These books
are oftenread over and over again at a time whenchildren are in the
process developing
of theirownsexualidentities.
Picturebooksare read to
2Erving Goffman has questioned the direct relationship have postulated between
we
the themesin children's
literature
and societal values. He suggeststhat literarythemes
may provide alternativecultural norms or irrelevantfantasy outlets. Unfortunately,
we do not know of any researchother than McClelland's (1961) supportingeither
our own formulation Goffman's.
or
3 As quoted in McClelland (1961, p. 71).

1126

Sex-Role Socialization
children when they are most impressionable, beforeother socialization
influences (such as school,teachers, and peers) becomemoreimportant
at laterstagesin thechild'sdevelopment.
WVe have chosento examine howsex rolesare treated thosechildren's
in
booksidentified the "verybest": the winners the CaldecottMedal.
as of
The CaldecottMedal is givenby the Children's of
ServiceCommittee the
American LibraryAssociation the mostdistinguished
for picturebook of
theyear.The medalis the mostcovetedprizeforpreschool books. Books
on the list of winners(and runners-up) orderedby practically
are all
children's libraries the UnitedStates. Teachersand educatorsencour-
in
age children read the Caldecotts,
to and conscientious parentsskim the
libraryshelveslookingfor those books that display the impressive gold
seal whichdesignates winners.
the The Caldecottawardoftenmeanssales
of 60,000books forthe publisher, others the industry
and in look to the
winners guidancein what to publish (Nilsen 1970).
for
Although have computed statistical
we a analysisof all the Caldecott
winners from the inception the award in 1938, we have concentrated
of
ourintensive on
analysis thewinners runners-up thepast five
and for years.
Most of the examples citedin thispaper are takenfrom the 18 books in
thislattercategory.4
In thecourseof ourinvestigation readseveralhundred
we picturebooks
and feelthatwe can assert, withconfidence, ourfindings applicable
that are
to the wide rangeof picturebooks. In fact,the Caldecottwinners are
clearlyless stereotyped than the averagebook, and do not includethe
mostblatantexamples sexism.
of
In orderto assureourselves the representativeness our study,we
of of
have also examined threeothergroupsof childrens books: the Newbery
Awardwinners, LittleGoldenBooks,and the "prescribed
the behavior" or
etiquettebooks.
The Newbery Awardis givenby the American Library Association for
thebestbook forschool-age children.Newbery booksare forchildren who
can read,and are therefore in
directed children thethird sixthgrades.
to to
The Little GoldenBooks we have sampledare the best sellersin chil-
dren'sbooks,since we have taken only thoseLittle Golden Books that
sold over threemillion copies.5These books sell for39 cents in grocery
4 The Caldecott winners and runners-upfor the past five years are: 1967 winner
(Ness 1967), 1967 runner-up(Emberley 1967b); 1968 winner (Emberley 1967a), 1968
runners-up (Lionni 1967; Yashimo 1967; Yolen 1967); 1969 winner (Ronsome
1968), 1969 runner-up(Dayrell 1968); 1970 winner (Steig 1969), 1970 runners-up
(Keats 1969; Lionni 1969; Preston 1969; Turkle 1969; Zemach 1969); 1971 winner
(Haley 1970), 1971 runners-up(Sleater 1970; Lobel 1970; Sendak 1970).
5 We wish to thank Robert Garlock,productmanager of Little Golden Books, for his
help withthisinformation forfurnishing
and many of the books themselves.

1127

AmericanJournalof Sociology

stores,Woolworth's, Grant's,and toyand gamestores.Consequently, they
reacha morebroadly based audiencethando themoreexpensive Caldecott
winners.
The last typeof book we studiedis what we call the "prescribedbe-
havior" or etiquettebook. Whereas other books only imply sex-role
prescriptions, about the properbehaviorforboys
thesebooks are explicit
and girls.They also portray adult modelsand advise children future
on
rolesand occupations.6
If we mayanticipate laterfindings, wouldlike to noteherethat
our we
the findings from latterthreesamplesstrongly
the parallelthosefromthe
Caldecottsample.Although remainder this paper will be devoted
the of
primarily the Caldecott
to sample, willuse someof theother
we books for
illustrative
purposes.

THE INVISIBLEFEMALE
It wouldbe impossible discusstheimageof females children's
to in books
without firstnotingthat,in fact,womenare simplyinvisible. We found
thatfemales in
wereunderrepresentedthetitles, centralroles,
pictures, and
storiesof everysampleof bookswe examined. Most children's books are
about boys,men,and male animals,and mostdeal exclusively withmale
adventures. Most picturesshow men-singly or in groups.Even when
womencan be foundin the books,theyoftenplay insignificant roles,re-
maining bothinconspicuous nameless.
and
A tabulation the distribution illustrations the picturebooks is
of of in
probably single
the bestindicator theimportance menand women
of of in
these books. Because womencomprise51% of our population, there if
wereno bias in thesebooks theyshouldbe presented roughly
in half of
thepictures. in
However, our sampleof 18 Caldecott winners runners-
and
up in the past fiveyearswe found261 pictures males compared
of with
23 pictures females.
of This is a ratioof 11 pictures malesforevery
of one
pictureof a female.If we include animalswith obvious identities, the
bias is evengreater.The ratioof male to femaleanimalsis 95:1.7
Turning the titlesof the CaldecottMedal winners
to since the award's
inception 1938,we findthatthe ratioof titlesfeaturing
in malesto those
6 The Dr. Suess books, althoughpopular among preschoolaudiences,were not included
as a supplementary sample because they representonly one author and one publisher
ratherthan a more broadly based series. They do, however, conformto the general
patternof sex-roleportrayalthat we foundamong the Caldecott winners.
7The illustrations Caldecott winnersand runners-up
of since 1967 included 166 male
people, 22 female people, and 57 picturesof both males and females together.The
animal illustrations included 95 of male animals, one of a female animal, and 12 of
both male and femaleanimals together. Together,this resultedin a total male/female
ratio of 11: 1. There were also 14 illustrations characterswithouta sex.
of

1128

featuring females 8:3.8 Despite the presence the popularCinderella,
is of
Snow White,Hansel and Gretel., and Little Red Riding Hood in the
sampleof GoldenBooks thathave sold morethanthreemillion copies,we
findclose to a 3:1 male/female ratioin thissample.9The 49 books that
have received Newbery
the Awardsince1922 depictmorethanthree males
to every one female.'0
Children scanning list of titlesof whathave been designated the
the as
verybest children's books are bound to receivethe impression that girls
are not veryimportant because no one has bothered writebooks about
to
them. The content thebooksrarely
of dispelsthisimpression.
In close to one-third our sampleof recent
of Caldecottbooks,thereare
no womenat all. In these books,both the illustrations and the stories
reflect man's world.Drummer
a Hoff(Emberly1967a) is about a group
of armyofficers getting readyto firea cannon; Frog and Toad (Lobel
1970) relatesthe adventures two male animal friends;In the Night
of
Kitchen (Sendak 1970) followsa boy's fantasyadventures through a
kitchen that has threecooks, all of whomare male; Frederick(Lionni
1967) is a creative malemousewhoenableshis brothers survive cold
to the
winter;and Alexander a mousewho helps a friend
is transform himself
(plate 1).
Whenthereare femalecharacters, theyare usuallyinsignificant in-
or
conspicuous. The one girl in Goggles (Keats 1969) is shown playing
quietlyin a corner. The wifein The Sun and the Moon (Dayrell 1968)
helpsby carrying wood but neverspeaks. There are two womenin The
Fool of the World(Ronsome1968): themother, whopacks lunchforher
sons and waves goodby,and the princess whosehand in marriage the
is
object of the Fool's adventures. The princess shownonly twice: once
is
peering of thewindow thecastle,and thesecondtimein thewedding
out of
scenein whichthe readermuststrainto find her.She does not have any-
thing say throughout adventure, of courseshe is not consulted
to the and
in thechoiceof herhusband; on the last page, however, narrator
the as-
8 The statisticsfor titlesof the Caldecott winnersfromthe inceptionof the award in
1938 show eight titles with male names, three with female names, one with both a
male and a female name together,and 22 titles without names of either sex. This
resulted an 8:3 male/female
in ratio. The statistics titlesof recentCaldecottwinners
for
and runners-up(since 1967) show eight titles with male names, one with a female
name, one with both together, and 10 titleswithoutnames of eithersex. This resulted
in an 8:1 male/female ratio.
9 The statistics the titlesof the Little Golden Books sellingover threemillioncopies
for
show nine titles with male names, four with female names, one with both together,
and 14 titleswithoutthe names of eithersex. This resultedin a 9:4 male-femaleratio.
10 The statisticsfor the titles of Newbery winnerssince the inception of the award
in 1922 show 20 titleswith males names,six titleswith femalenames,none with both,
and 23 titles without the names of either sex. This resultedin a 10:3 male/female
ratio.

1129

AmericanJournalof Sociology

PLATE 1.-Maurice Sendak, In the Night Kitchen (New York: Harper & Row,
1970). (Reprintedwithpermission the publisher.)
of

suresus thatshe soon "loved him to distraction." Loving,watching,and
are
helping amongthe fewactivities allowedto womenin picturebooks.
It is easy to imaginethat the littlegirl readingthesebooks mightbe
of
deprived her ego and her senseof self. She may be made to feel that
girlsare vacuouscreatures whoare less worthy do less exciting
and things
thanmen.No wonder, then,thatthe childpsychologists reportthat girls
at everyage are less likelyto identifywiththe feminine role,whileboys
of everyage are morelikelyto identify withthe masculine role (Brown
1956).
Although thereis muchvariationin plot amongthe picturebooks, a
significantmajorityincludes someform male adventure.
of The fisherman
in SeashoreStory(Yashimo 1967) ridesa turtle a hiddenworldunder
to
the sea. Afteran encounter witha lion, Sylvester transformed a
is into
rock in Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Steig 1969). Goggles (Keats

1130

1969) tellsof the adventures Peter and his friends
of escapingfromthe
big boys.In Thy Friend,Obadiah (Turkle 1969), Obadiah rescuesa sea
gull; theSpiderMan outfoxes godsin A Story, Story(Haley 1970).
the a
A boy rescueshis girlfriend fromthe moon god in The AngryMoon
(Sleator 1970). The male central characters engagein manyexciting and
heroicadventures whichemphasize theircleverness.
In our sampleof the Caldecottwinners and runners-up the last five
in
years, found
we onlytwoof the 18 bookswerestories aboutgirls." In one
of thesestories,Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine(Ness 1967), the girlhas a
boy's name.In the second,The Emperor and the Kite (Yolen 1967), the
is
heroine a foreign princess.
Each of thesegirlsdoes engagein an adventure. Sam's adventure takes
place in her daydreams, whilethe adventure the princess
of Djeow Seow
occurswhenher father's kingdom seized by evil men. Like the male
is
centralcharacters who engagein rescues,Djeow Seow managesto save
herfather, she accomplishes taskonlyby beingso tinyand incon-
but this
spicuousthattheevil mendo not noticeher.Although Djeow Seow is one
ofthetwowomen central
characters, message
the conveyed readers
to seems
to be thata girlcan onlytriumph playing traditional
by the feminine role.
Womenwho succeed are those who are unobstrusive and work quietly
behindthe scenes. Womenwho succeed are littleand inconspicuous-as
are most women in picture books. Even heroinesremain "invisible"
females (plate 2).

THE ACTIVITIES OF BOYS AND GIRLS

We can summarize first
our findings about differences the activities
in of
boysand girlsby noting thatin theworld picture
of booksboysare active
and girlsare passive. Not only are boys presented moreexciting
in and
adventuresome roles,
but theyengagein morevariedpursuits and demand
moreindependence. The moreriotousactivityis reserved the boys.
for
Mickey, heroofIn theNightKitchen(Sendak 1970), is tossedthrough
the
the air and skipsfrom bread to dough,punching and pounding. Then he

11 The statisticsfor central charactersin the Caldecott winnerssince 1938 show 14
males, 10 females,6 males and females together, and 4 central characterswithout a
sex. This resultsin a 7:5 male/female ratio. It is importantto note that the situation
is becomingworse, not better.During the last five years the ratio of male to female
central charactershas increased. The statistics for central characters in Caldecott
winnersand runners-up during the last five years show a 7:2 male/femaleratio in
contrastto an 11:9 male/femaleratio for the years prior to 1967. The statisticsfor
central charactersin the Newbery winnerssince 1922 show 31 males, 11 females,4
males and femalestogether, and 3 central characterswithout a sex. This resultsin a
3:1 male/female ratio. The statisticsfor centralcharactersin the Little Golden Books
sellingover threemillioncopies show an 8:3 ratio of male/femalepeople, a 5:2 ratio
of male/female animals,and a 5:3 ratio of all males and femalestogether.

1131

of

PLATE 2.-Jane Yolen, The Emperor and the Kite (Cleveland: World Publishing
Co., 1971). (Reprintedwithpermission the publisher.)
of

makesan airplaneand flies intothenightand dives,swims,
out and slides
untilhe is homeagain. Similarly, Archieand Peter race,climb,and hide
in thestory Goggles(Keats 1969). Obadiah travelsto thewharf the
of in
cold of Massachusettswinter, and Sylvester searches for rocks in the
woods.
In contrast, mostof the girlsin the picturebooks are passive and im-
mobile.Some of themare restricted theirclothing-skirts
by and dresses
are soiledeasilyand prohibit moreadventuresome activities. The Fool
In
oj the World and the Flying Ship (Ronsome 1968), the hero,the Fool,
in
is dressed a sensible manner, which
one does notinhibit movement
his in
the tasks he has to accomplish. The princess, however, whomall the
for
exploitsare waged,remainsno more than her long gown allows her to
be: a prize, an unrealistic passive creaturesymbolizing rewardfor
the
male adventuresomeness.
A seconddifference between activities boys and girlsis that the
the of
girlsare moreoften foundindoors.12 This places another limitation the
on

12 The statisticsfor activitiesof boys and girlsin Caldecott winnerssince 1967 show
48 male charactersindoors, 105 male charactersoutdoors, 15 femalesindoors,and 26
femalesoutdoors.This means that 32.6% of the males are shown indoors,while 36.5%
of the femalesare shown indoors.

1132


activities potential
and adventures girls.Even Sam, in Sam, Bangs,and
of
Moonshine(Ness 1967), stays inside as she directsthe activityof the
book. Sam constructs fantasy
a worldand sendsThomas,a littleboy, on
wild goose chases to play out her fantasies. is Thomas who rides the
It
bicycleand climbsthe treesand rocksin response Sam's fantasy.
to Sam,
however, waitsforThomasat home,looking thewindows sitting
out or on
the steps (plate 3). Similarly, theFool of the World(Ronsome 1968),
in

PLATE 3.-Evaline Ness, Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine (New York: Holt, Rinehart&
Winston,1967). (Reprintedwith permission the publisher.)
of

theprincessremains peering thewindow hercastle,watching the
out of all
activities her behalf.Whileboys play in the real worldoutdoors,
on girls
sit and watch them-cut offfromthat worldby the window, porch,or
fence aroundtheir homes.This distinctionparallelsErik Erikson's(1964)
conception themasculine
of outerspace and thefeminine innerspace.
Our third observationdeals withtheservice performed the
activities by
girlswhoremain home.Even theyoungest
at play tradi-
girlsin thestories
tionalfeminine roles,directedtowardpleasingand helpingtheirbrothers
and fathers.Obadiah's sisterscook in the kitchen he sits at the table
as

1133

of

PLATE 4.-Brinton Turkle, ThyFriend, Obadiah (New York: Viking Press, 1969).
(Reprintedwith permission the publisher.)
of

sipping chocolate
hot afterhis adventures (plate 4). In The Emperor and
the Kite (Yolen 1967), the emperor's daughters bringfood to the em-
peror's table,buttheir brothers thekingdom.
rule
Whilegirls serve,
boyslead.13 Drummer Hoff, although onlya boy,plays
thecrucialrolein the finalfiring thecannon.Lupin,the Indian boy in
of
The Angry Moon (Sleator 1970), directsthe escape fromthe moongod
(plate 5). He leads Lapowinsa,a girlexactlyhis size and age, everystep
of the way. Even at the end of the story, afterthe dangerof the Angry
Moon is past, Lupin goes down the ladder first "so that he could catch
Lapowinsaif she shouldslip."
Trainingfora dependent passive role may inhibita girl'schances for
intellectual creativesuccess.It is likelythat the excessivedependency
or
in
encouraged girlscontributes the declinein theirachievement
to which
becomesapparentas theygrowolder.Maccoby (1966, p. 35) has found
that "For both sexes, there is a tendencyfor more passive-dependent
children perform
to poorly a variety intellectual
on of tasks,and forinde-
pendent children excel."
to
The rescuesfeatured many storiesrequireindependence
in and self-
confidence. Once again, thisis almostexclusively male activity.14
a Little
13 The statisticsfor activitiesof boys and girls in Caldecott winnersand runners-up
since 1967 show a 0:3 ratio of males/females service functions,
in and a 3:2 ratio of
males/females leadershipfunctions.
in
14 The statisticsfor activitiesof boys and girls in Caldecott winnersand runners-up
since 1967 show a 5:1 ratio of males/females rescuefunctions.
in

1134


-

PLATE 5.-William Sleator, The AngryMoon (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1970).
('Reprinted with permission the publisher.)
of

boysrescuegirlsor helpless animals. Lupin saves a crying Lapowinsafrom
theflames. Obadiahsaves theseagullfrom rusty
a and
fishhook, Alexander
saves Willie,the windupmouse,from the fateof becoming "tossed-out
a
toy." In Frederick,Frederick's creativenesshelpsto sparehis companions
from worst
the conditions winter. Sam, Bangs,and Moonshine(Ness
of In
1967), Sam does notplay theroleof therescuer although is thecentral
she
character.Rather, her father muststep in and rescueThomas and Bangs
from drowning. theend,Sam herself
In "mustbe" saved from potential
the
consequences her fantasy.
of
Finally,we want to note the sense of camaraderie that is encouraged
amongboysthrough theiradventures. example,
For The Fool of the World
dependsupon the help and talentsof his male companions (plate 6). In
Goggles(Keats 1969), the two male companions together outwita gang
of olderboys.Similarly, bondsof masculine
the friendship stressed
are by
Alexander, Frederick, Frog and Toad.
and
In contrast, rarely
one sees onlygirlsworking playingtogether.
or Al-
thoughin realitywomenspend much of theirtime with otherwomen,

1135

of

PLATE 6. Arther Ronsome, The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (New
York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1968). (Reprinted with permissionof the publisher.)

picturebooks implythat womencannotexist without men. The role of
mostof the girlsis defined primarily relation that of the boys and
in to
menin their lives.'5It is interesting note thatSam turnsto a boy,not
to
a girl,to accomplish of theactivity her fantasies.
all of Her dreamswould
have no reality without Thomas.
The sex differences have noted are even more apparent in the
we
prescriptive etiquette
or books.An excellentexampleis foundin a pair of
matched books: The VeryLittleBoy (Krasilovsky 1962a) and The Very
Little Girl (Krasilovsky1962 b). Both books are written the same
by
author,followthe same format, and teach the same lesson: that little
children grow up to be big children. However,the maturation process
differssharply theverylittleboy and theverylittlegirl.'6
for
As we opento thefirst pagesof theVery LittleBoy (Krasilovsky 1962a)
we findthe boy playingon the livingroomfloor the fireplace. has
by He

15This problem is not confinedto children'sbooks. As Virginia Woolf pointed out
over 40 years ago, women in literatureare rarely represented friends: "They are
as
now and then mothersand daughters.But almost without exceptionthey are shown
in theirrelationto men. It was strangeto think that all the great women of fiction
were, until Jane Austen's day, . . . seen only in relation to the other sex. And how
little can a man know even of that when he observes it throughthe black or rosy
spectacles which sex puts upon his nose. Hence, perhaps the particular nature of
women in fiction;the astonishing extremes her beauty and horror" (1929, p. 86).
of
16We gratefully acknowledgeBarbara Fried's imaginativeanalysis of these two books
in her paper, "What Our Children Are Reading," written for Sociology 62a, Yale
fall term,1970.
University,

1136


alreadydiscarded big rubber
a ball and is nowmaking racket banging
a by
on a pan witha spoon.In contrast, first the page of the VeryLittleGirl
(Krasilovsky1962b) shows the littlegirl sitting quietlyin a big chair.
There is no activityin the picture: the littlegirl is doing nothing but
sitting withher hands foldedin her lap. This is our introduction an to
angeliclittlegirland a boisterous littleboy.
In the following pages the authorcomparesthe size of the children
to the objectsaroundthem; we findthat the boy is smallerthan a corn-
stalk,his baseballbat, his sled,his father's workbench, a lawnmower.
and
In contrast, littlegirlis smaller
the thantherosebush, kitchen
a stool,and
her mother'sworkbasket. We note that the boy will be interested in
sports-in fact,boththebasketball and sled are his,waiting thereforhim
untilhe is old enoughto use them. The girlhas beengivenno comparable
presents her parents.She can only look forward conquering
by to the
rosebush and the kitchen stool.
Even moreimportant the way in whicheach of themrelatesto these
is
objects.The littleboy is in constant motion, continuously interacting with
the worldaroundhim.He is jumping to touchthe scarecrow
up next to
the cornstalk, unwrapping baseball bat (leaving the mess of paper,
his
string,and box forsomeoneelse to clean up), building blockson top of
his sled,reaching on tiptoeto touchhis father's
up workbench, spray-
and
ingthelawn (and himself) withthegarden hose.In contrast, littlegirl
the
relatesto each of theobjectsaroundher merely looking them.
by at
Similarly,whenthe authorindicates whateach childis too smallto do,
we find thatthelittleboy is too smallto engagein a seriesof adventures.
The littlegirl, however, too smallto see things
is from sidelines.
the Thus,
we are told thatthelittleboy is too smallto march theparade,to feed
in
theelephant thezoo, and to touchthepedals on his bike. But thelittle
at
girlis too small to see over the gardenfenceand to see the face on the
grandfather clock.Even whenthelittlegirlis trying see something
to she
appearsto be posing, and thuslooksmorelike a doll thana curiouslittle
girl.
The littlegirl'sclothesindicatethatshe is not meantto be active.She
wearsfrilly, starchy, pink dresses, and her hair is alwaysneatlycombed
and tied withribbons. She looks pretty-too pretty ride a bike, play
to
ball, or visitthe zoo.
Little girlsare oftenpictured pretty
as dolls who are not meantto do
anything be admired
but and bringpleasure.Their constant smileteaches
thatwomen meantto please,to makeothers
are smile, and be happy.This
imagemay reflect parentalvalues.In a studyof the attitudes middle-of
class fathers toward their children, Aberleand Naegele (1960, pp. 188-98)
report thattheparentsatisfaction withtheir daughters seemedto focuson
their daughters beingnice,sweet, pretty, affectionate, wellliked.
and

1137

of
If we follow littleboy and littlegirlas theygrowup, we can watch
the
thedevelopment theproper
of service rolein a littlewoman.We are shown
thatthegirlgrows enoughto waterthe rosebush, the cake batter,
big stir
set the table,play nurse, and help the doctor(who is, of course,a boy),
pick fruit from trees,
the take milkfrom refrigerator,
the preparea baby's
formula, feedherbaby brother.
and Conveniently enoughfortheirfuture
husbands, girlsin storybooks learnto wash,iron,hang up clothesto dry,
cook,and set the table. Of course, whenthe boy growsup, he engagesin
moreactivepursuits:he catchesbutterflies, mows the lawn, marches in
theparade,visitsthezoo to feedthe elephants, hammers and wood at the
workbench.
One particularly strikingcontrast between twochildren illustrated
the is
by the pictures both of themwiththeirdogs. In discussing
of how both
have matured, authortells us that bothhave grownup to be bigger
the
thantheir pets. The picture the littlegirl,however,
of makesus seriously
doubt any grown-up self-confidence and authority. She is shown being
pulledby a verysmalldog,whomshe obviously cannotcontrol. The little
boy,in contrast, in firm
is command a muchbigger
of dog, and does not
evenneed a leash to control him (plates 7, 8).
It is easyto see whymanylittle girls prefer identify
to withthemalerole
(Hartup 1962; Brown1956). The littlegirlwho does findthe male role
moreattractive faced with a dilemma.If she follows
is her desiresand
behaveslike a tomboy, maybe criticized herparentsand teachers.
she by
On the otherhand,if she givesup her yearnings identitiesand withthe
traditional feminine role,she will feelstifled. Girlswho wish to be more
thanplacidand pretty leftwithout acceptable
are an rolealternative. They
must choose betweenalienationfromtheirown sex of assignment, and
alienation from theirreal behavioral and temperamental preferences.
The rigidity sex-role
of stereotypes not harmful
is only to littlegirls.
Little boys may feel equally constrained by the necessity be fearless,
to
brave,and cleverat all times. Whilegirlsare allowed a greatdeal of emo-
tionalexpression, boy who criesor expresses
a fearis unacceptable.17Just
as the onlygirlswho are heroines picturebooks have boys' namesor
in
are foreign princesses, onlyboyswhocryin picture
the booksare animals-
frogs and toads and donkeys.
The price of the standardization rigidity sex roles is paid by
and of
children bothsexes.Eleanor Maccoby (1966, p. 35) has reported
of that
analyticthinking, creativity, generalintelligence associatedwith
and are
cross-sex typing. Thus, rigidsex-role definitions only foster
not unhappi-

17 But Hartley (1959) also discovered that as a corollary the boys felt extreme
pressureas a result of the rigid masculine role prescriptionswhich they saw as de-
manding that they be strong,intelligent, and generallysuccessful.The boys believed
that adults liked girlsbetterbecause the girlswere cute and well behaved.

1138


-Le~~~~~~~~~~v

PLATE 7.-Phyllis Krasilovsky,The Very Little Girl, illustratedby Ninon (New
York: Doubleday & Co., 1962). (Reprinted with permission the publisher.)
of

ness in childrenbut theyalso hamperthe child's fullestintellectual
and
socialdevelopment.

ROLE MODELS: ADULT MEN AND WOMEN

Adultrolemodelsprovideanother crucialcomponent sex-role
of socializa-
tion.By observing adult men and women, boys and girlslearnwhat will
be expectedof themwhentheygrowolder. They are likelyto identify
withadultsof thesame sex,and desireto be like them.Thus, role models
not onlypresent childrenwithfuture imagesof themselves theyalso
but
influence child'saspirations
a and goals.
We foundthe imageof the adult womanto be stereotyped limited.
and
Once again, the females passive whilethe males are
are active.Men pre-
dominatein the outsideactivities while moreof the womenare inside.
In the house, the womenperform almost exclusivelyservicefunctions,
takingcare of the men and children theirfamilies.
in When men lead,
womenfollow. Whenmenrescueothers, womenare the rescued.18
18 Among the Caldecott winners and runners-upfor the past five years, we found

1139

of

re
a

PLATE 8.-Phyllis Krasilovsky,The Very Little Boy, illustratedby Ninon (New
York: Doubleday & Co., 1962). (Reprinted with permission the publisher.)
of

In most of the stories,the sole adult womanis identified only as a
mother a wife.Obadiah's mother
or cooks,feedshim hot chocolate, and
goes to church. The wifeof the Sun God carrieswood to help him build
the house,but she neverspeaks. Sylvester's motheris shownsweeping,
packing a picniclunch,knitting, crying.
and And Mrs. Noah, who had an
important in thebiblicalstory theflood, completely
role of is omittedfrom
thechildren's book version.
The remaining threerolesthatwomen feminine
play are also exclusively
roles:one is a fairy, seconda fairy
the and an
godmother, thethird under-
watermaiden.The fairy godmother the onlyadult female
is whoplays an
active leadershiprole. The one nonstereotyped woman is clearlynot a
"normal" woman-she is a mythical creature.
In contrast thelimited
to rangein women's roles, rolesthatmenplay
the
are varied and interesting. They are storekeepers, housebuilders,kings,

that women were engaged in a much narrowerrange of activitiesthen men. The ratio
of male to femaleadults engaged in serviceactivitieswas 1:7, while the ratio of male
to femaleadults in leadershipactivitieswas 5:0, and the ratio of the male to female
adults in rescueactivitieswas 4:1. In addition,40%oof adult females,but only 31% of
adult males, were picturedindoors.

1140


spiders, storytellers, gods, monks, fighters, fishermen, policemen, soldiers,
adventurers, fathers, cooks,preachers, judges,and farmers.
Perhaps our most significant finding was that not one womanin the
Caldecottsample had a job or profession. a country
In where40% of
the womenare in the labor force, and close to 30 millionwomenwork,
it is absurdto findthatwomen picture
in books remain onlymothers and
wives (U.S. Department Labor 1969). In fact,90% of the womenin
of
thiscountry be in thelaborforce sometimein theirlives.
will at
is in
Motherhood presented picturebooks as a full-time, lifetimejob,
althoughfor most womenit is in realitya part-time 10-yearcommit-
ment.The changing demographic patterns this country
in indicate that
theaveragewomanhas completed mainportion her childrearing
the of by
hermid-thirties has 24 moreproductive
and yearsin thelabor force she
if
returns workonce her children in school.Today even the mothers
to are
of youngchildren work.There are over 10 millionof themcurrently in
thelaborforce(U.S. Department Labor 1969,p. 39).
of
As the averagewomanspendseven less timeas a mother the future,
in
it is unrealistic picture
for booksto present roleof mother the only
the as
possibleoccupationfor the younggirl. Alice Rossi (1964, p. 105) has
notedthattodaytheaveragegirlmayspendas manyyearswithher dolls
as theaveragemother spendswith children.
her
The way in whichthe motherhood is presented children's
role in books
is also unrealistic. She is almostalways confined the house,although
to
she is usuallytoo welldressed housework. dutiesare notportrayed
for Her
as difficult challenging-sheis shown as a housebound
or servantwho
cares forher husbandand children. She washesdishes,cooks, vacuums,
yellsat thechildren, cleansup, does thelaundry, takescare of babies.
and
For example, typicaldomestic
a scenein Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
shows the fatherreadingthe paper, Sylvesterplaying with his rock
collection, the mother
and sweeping floor(plate 9).
the
The picture booksdo notpresent realistic
a picture whatreal mothers
of
do. Real mothers drive cars, read books, vote, take childrenon trips,
balance checkbooks, engage in volunteer activities, ring doorbellscan-
vassing,raise moneyfor charity, workin the garden,fix thingsin the
house,are activein local politics, belongto the League of WomenVoters
and thePTA, etc.19
Nor do these picturebooks providea realisticimage of fathers and
husbands.Fathersneverhelp in the mundanedutiesof child care. Nor
do husbands sharethe dishwashing, cooking, or
cleaning, shopping. From
thesestereotyped imagesin picture books,littleboys may learn to expect
19 Only one of the Caldecott winnerspresentsthe woman as an active equal to her
husband. It is Edna Mitchell Preston's Pop Corn and Ma Goodness (1969) (see
plate 10).

1141

of

PLATE 9.-William Steig,Sylvesterand the Magic Pebble (New York: Simon&
Schuster,1969). (Reprintedwithpermission the publisher.)
of

their wivesto do all thehousework to cater to their
and needs.These un-
real expectations marriage inevitably
of will bring and
disappointment dis-
content boththemaleand thefemale
to partners.
Lonnie Carton'stwo books,Mommies(1960b) and Daddies (1960a),
are excellent of
examples thecontrasting to whichboys and girlscan
lives
look forward theyfollowthe rolemodelsprovided the adult charac-
if by
tersin picturebooks.As the books begin,Mommyputs on her apron to
preparefora day of homemaking, whileDaddy dashes out of the house
withhis briefcase the way to work.The nexttwo pages show the real
on
differencesbetween woman'sworldand the man's world.Daddies are
the
shownas carpenters, housepainters,
executives, mailmen,teachers,
cooks,
and storekeepers. They are also the bearersof knowledge.
Daddies drivethe trucksand cars
The buses,boats and trains.
Daddies buildtheroadsand bridges,
Houses, storesand planes.

1142

and
Daddieswork factories
in
Daddiesmakethethings
grow.
Daddieswork figure
to out
The things do notknow
we (1960).
On thecorresponding pages (in Mommies),we learnthat,although
two
the mother supposedly does "lots and lots," her tasks consistof washing
dishes,scrubbing pots and walls, cooking, baking,tyingshoes, catching
balls,and answering questions(whichseemsto be hermost"creative"role
so far). Mommy does leave the house severaltimesbut only to shop for
groceries to take the children
or out to play. (She does drive a car in
thisbook,however, whichis unusual.)
In contrast, when Daddy comes home he not only plays in a more
exciting way withthechildren he provides
but their contactwiththeout-
side world.While Mommiesare restrictive, "shout if you play near
and
thestreet," Daddies take you on tripsin cars,buses,and trains;Daddies
take you to thecircus, park,and zoo; buy you ice cream; and teachyou
to swim.Daddies also understand betterbecause they"knowyou're
you
big enough and braveenough do lots of things
to thatmommies thinkare
muchtoo hard foryou." Mothers, however, usefulfortakingcare of
are
you whenyou are sick,cleaning after
up you,and telling you whatto do.
Mommiesdo smile,hug, comfort, nurture,
and but they also scold and
instruct a notaltogether
in pleasantmanner. They tellyou to be quiet,and
to "Sit stilland eat!" Ironically, negative
this imageof thenagging mother
may be a resultof an exclusive devotionto motherhood. Alice Rossi
As
has observed:"If a woman'sadult efforts concentrated
are exclusively on
her children, is likelymoreto stifle
she than broadenher children's per-
spectiveand preparation adult life. . . . In myriad
for ways the mother
binds the child to her, dampening initiative,
his resenting growing
his
independence adolescence,
in creating subtledependence
a whichmakesit
difficult thechildto achievefulladultstature"(1964, p. 113).
for
In additionto havinga negativeeffect children,
on this preoccupation
withmotherhood also be harmful the mother
may to herself. Pauline Bart
(1970, p. 72) has reported extreme depression amongmiddle-aged women
who have been overinvolved with and have overidentified with their
children.
We have alreadynotedthat thereare no working women the Calde-
in
cott sample.It is no disparagement the housewife mother point
of or to
out that alternative rolesare available to, and chosenby, many women
and thatgirlscan be presented withalternative modelsso that they,like
boys,maybe able to think a wide rangeof future
of options.
Because thereare no femaleoccupational role modelsin the Caldecott
books,we will turnto the prescribed role books to examinethe typesof
occupations that are encouraged boys and girls.For this analysiswe
for

1143

American of
Journal Sociology
willcompare verypopularpair of Hallmarkmatched
a books: WhatBoys
Can Be (Walley,n.d.,a) and WhatGirlsCan be (Walley,n.d., b). Both
books followthe same format:each page showsa boy or a girl playing
an occupational
role.We are toldthatboyscan be:
a fireman squirts
who wateron theflames, and
a baseballplayerwhowinslotsof games.
a bus driver whohelpspeopletravelfar,or
a policeman witha sirenin his car.
a cowboywhogoes on cattledrives, and
a doctor whohelpsto save people'slives.
a sailoron a shipthattakesyou everywhere, and
a pilotwhogoes flying through air.
the
a clownwithsillytricks do, and
to
a pet tigerownerwhorunsthezoo.
a farmer who drivesa big redtractor, and
on TV shows,if I becomean actor.
an astronaut who lives in a space station,and
someday growup to be President thenation
of
[Emphasisadded; Walley,n.d.,a]
The second book tells us that girls can be:
a nurse,withwhite uniforms wear,or
to
a stewardess, flieseverywhere.
who
a ballerina,who dancesand twirls around,or
a candyshop owner, best in town.
the
a model,whowearslots of pretty clothes,
a bigstarin themoviesand on specialTV shows.
a secretary who'lltypewithout mistakes,or
an artist,
painting treesand cloudsand lakes.
a teacher nursery
in schoolsome day,or
a singerand makerecords peopleplay.
a designer dressesin theverylateststyle,
of or
a bride,who comeswalking downtheaisle.
a housewife, somedaywhenI am grown, and
a mother, withsome children myown
of
[Emphasisadded; Walley,n.d.,b]

The twoconcluding pictures the mostsignificant; ultimate
are the goal
forwhichlittleboys are to aim is nothing less than the president the
of
nation.For girls,the comparable pinnacleof achievement motherhood!
is
in in
Many of the differences the occupations thesetwo books parallel
the male/female differences have alreadynoted. One is the inside/
we
outsidedistribution.Eleven of the femaleoccupationsare shownbeing
performedinside, whileonlythree outside.Indeed,noneof the female
are
occupationslistednecessitatesbeingperformed outdoors.The ratioforthe
maleoccupations exactlyreversed:
is three inside,11 outside.
are
We alreadyobserved thatlittlegirlsare encouraged succeedby look-
to

1144

ingpretty serving
and others. shouldtherefore be surprising find
It not to
that the womenare concentrated glamorousin and serviceoccupations.
The mostprestigious feminineoccupations thosein whicha girl can
are
succeedonly if she is physically attractive. The glamouroccupations of
modeland moviestar are thetwomosthighly rewarded amongthe female
choices.Since fewwomen can everachievehighstatusin theseglamorous
professions, real message thesebooksis that women's
the in truefunction
lies in service.Serviceoccupations, such as nurse,secretary, housewife,
mother, and stewardess, reinforce the traditional patternsto feminine
success.
Although someof the male occupations also require physicalattractive-
ness (actor) and service(but driver),thereis a muchgreater rangeof
in
variation the otherskills theyrequire:baseball playersneed athletic
ability, policemen supposedto be strong
are and brave,pilotsand doctors
need brains,astronauts need mechanical skills and great energy, clowns
mustbe cleverand funny, presidents
and need politicalacumen.
If we compare statuslevelof the male and female
the it
occupations, is
apparent thatmenfillthemostprestigious highly and paid positions.They
are the doctors, pilots,astronauts, and presidents. Even whenmen and
womenare engagedin occupations the same field,it is the men who
in
hold the positionswhichdemand the most skill and leadership.While
men are doctors,womenare nurses; while men are pilots, womenare
stewardesses. Onlyone of the women engagedin a professional
is occupa-
tion: the teacher. is important note,however,
It to thatthe authorscare-
fully specified thatshe was a nursery schoolteacher.
Similarly, mostof the occupations that require advancededucationare
occupiedby men.Four of the maleshave apparently gone to college,com-
pared withonlyone of the women.
It is clear that the book What Boys Can Be encourages littleboy's
a
careerambitions. is told thathe has thepotential achieving
He for any of
theexciting highly
and rewarded occupations oursociety.
in
In contrast, book WhatGirlsCan Be tellsthelittlegirlthatshe can
the
have ambitions she is pretty.
if Her potential achieving prestigious
for a
and rewarding is dependent her physicalattributes. she is not
job on If
attractive, mustbe satisfied
she witha lifeof mundane service. women
No
are represented traditional
in male occupations, such as doctor,lawyer,
or
engineer, scientist. Withwomen comprising of the country's
7% physi-
cians and 4% of its lawyers, surelyit is moreprobablethat a girl will
achieveone of theseprofessional statuses thanit is thata boy willbecome
president.
The occupational distribution presented these books is even worse
in
than the real inequitabledistribution employment the professions.
of in
Picturebooks could inspirechildren strivefor personaland occupa-
to

1145

of
tionalgoals thatwould take thembeyondtheireverydayworld.Instead,
women deniedboththe due recognition their
are for present
achievements
and the encouragement aspire to morebroadlydefined
to possibilities
in
the future.

CONCLUSION
Preschool childreninvest their intellectsand imaginations picture
in
booksat a timewhentheyare forming their self-images future
and expec-
tations. Ourstudy suggested
has thatthegirlsand women depicted these
in
books are a dull and stereotyped We have noted that littlegirlsre-
lot.
ceive attention praisefortheirattractiveness,
and whileboys are admired
fortheir achievements cleverness.
and Most of thewomen picture
in books
have statusby virtue theirrelationships specific
of to men-they are the
wivesof thekings, judges,adventurers, explorers, theythemselves
and but
are not the rulers, judges,adventurers, explorers.
and
Through picture books,girlsare taughtto have low aspirations because
thereare so fewopportunities portrayed available to them.The world
as
of picture booksnevertellslittlegirlsthatas womentheymight findful-
fillment outsideof theirhomesor through intellectualpursuits.Women
are excludedfrom worldof sports,
the politics,and science.Their future
occupational worldis presented consisting
as primarily glamourand
of
service.Ironically,many of these books are written prize-winning
by
female authors whosown lives are probably unlikethosetheyadvertise.20
It is clearthatthestorybook characters reinforce traditional
the sex-role
assumptions. of
Perhapsthisis indicative American for
preferences creative-
ness and curiosity boys and neatnessand passivityin girls. Many
in
parentswant theirsons to growup to be brave and intelligent theirand
daughters to be pretty compliant.
and
In thepast,social theorists have assumedthat such strongly differenti-
ated sex roleswould facilitate child'sidentification
a with the parentof
the same sex. For example, Talcott Parsons (1955) has commented that
"if the boy is to identify withhis father theremustbe discrimination in
roleterms between twoparents"(1955, p. 80). More recently,
the however,
Philip Slater (1964) has argued that adult role models who exhibit
stereotyped sex-roledifferentiation impede,
may rather thanfacilitate,the
child'ssex-role Children
identification. findit easier to identifywithless
and
differentiated less stereotyped parentalrole models.It is easier for
20 A tabulation of the percentage of female authors indicates that 41% of the
Caldecott and 58% of the NewberyMedal winnerswere writtenby women. However,
women authorsappear to be more positivethan theirmale counterparts.The pre-1967
Caldecotts,which had a larger percentageof female central characters,also have a
largerpercentage femaleauthors: 48%ocomparedwith 33%.
of

1146


them to internalizeparental values when nurturance(the typically
feminine role) and discipline (the typically masculine role) comefrom the
same person.
Not only do narrowrole definitions impede the child's identification
withthe same sex parent, but rigidsex-role distinctions may actuallybe
harmful the normalpersonality
to development the child. In fact,
of
Slater (1964) has postulated negativerelationship
a betweenthe child's
emotional adjustment the degreeof parentalroledifferentiation.
and
Some evidence,then,suggeststhese sex roles are rigid and possibly
harmful. They discourage and restrict woman'spotentialand offer
a her
fulfillment through limited
only the spheres glamour
of and service.More
flexible definitions sex roles would seem to be morehealthful en-
of in
couraging greatervarietyof role possibilities.
a Storiescould providea
morepositive imageof a woman's potential-of her physical, intellectual,
creative, and emotional capabilities.
Picturebookscould also present less stereotyped less rigiddefini-
a and
tionof male rolesby encouraging boys to expresstheiremotions wellas
as their Books might
intellect. showlittleboyscrying, playing withstuffed
toysand dolls,and helping the house. Stereotypes
in could be weakened
by booksshowing boysbeingrewarded beingemotional supportive,
for and
and girlsbeingrewarded beingintelligent adventuresome.
for and
AlthoughZelditch (1955, p. 341) has noted the cross-cultural pre-
dominance malesin instrumental and females expressive
of roles in roles-
likethepatterns found children's
we in books-Slater (1964) suggests that
the ability to alternateinstrumental and expressiverole performance
rapidly-what he calls interpersonal flexibility-iscoming to be more
highly valuedin our society.
This arguesforless stereotyped adult roles.Fatherscould take a more
activerolein housework childcare. And,similarly, rolesof adult
and the
women could be extended beyondthe limitedconfines the home,as in
of
face theyare. Whenwomenare shownat home,theycould be portrayed
as the busy and creativepeople that manyhousewives are. For example,
the womanin Pop Corn and Ma Goodness,the singleexceptionto the
Caldecott norm,equally shares diversified activitieswith her husband
(plate 10).
If thesebooksare to present real-liferoles,theycould give moreatten-
tionto single parents and divorced families. Storiescouldpresent real-
the
life problemsthat childrenin these familiesface: visitinga divorced
father, having two sets of parents,not having a fatherat school on
father's day,or havinga different namethanone's mother.
The simplified stereotyped
and imagesin thesebooks presentsuch a
narrow view of realitythat theymustviolate the child'sown knowledge

1147

Americanjournal of Sociology

PLATE 10.-Edna MitchellPreston,Pop Corn and Ma Goodness (New York: Viking
Press, 1969). (Reprintedwith permission the publisher.)
of

of a richand complex world.2Perhapstheseimagesare motivated the by
same kindof impulsethatmakesparents to theirchildren orderto
lie in
"protect"them.2 As a result,the child is givenan idealized versionof
thetruth, ratherthanhaving realand pressing
his questionsanswered. Not
only are the child's legitimate questionsignored, but no effort made
is
to createa social awareness whichencompasses widersociety.Picture
the
booksactuallydenytheexistence thediscontented, poor,the ethnic
of the
minorities, the urbanslumdwellers.
and
Storieshave always been a means for perpetuating fundamental
the
culturalvalues and myths. Storieshave also been a stimulus fantasy
for
imagination and achievement. Books could developthis latterqualityto
encourage imagination creativity all children.
the and of This wouldpro-
vide an important implementation the growing
of demandfor both girls
and boys to have a real opportunity fulfill
to theirhumanpotential.

21 We are indebted to William J. Goode for this insight.
22This is not to deny the value of fantasy.As Margaret Fuller wrote in 1855: "Chil-
dren need some childishtalk, some childishplay, some childishbooks. But they also
need, and need more,difficulties overcome,and a sense of the vast mysteries
to which
the progressof their intelligence shall aide them to unravel. This sense is naturally
theirdelight. . . and it must not be dulled by prematureexplanationsor subterfuges of
any kind" (pp. 310-13). Alice Rossi broughtthiswork to our attention.

1148

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