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Gender and Children's Literature
Students' Work on Gender Representation in Children's Literature
Stories that Challenge Traditional Gender Roles
Is bag weaving only for females and sword fighting only for males? This story is about how Little Daring helped Knight Brave and cleverly defeated a huge monster with her woven bag. The story ends with Knight Brave learning to weave bags and Little Daring learning sword fighting.
The king and queen are trapped in a maze by a monster. The princess and the prince overcome challenges and save their parents. Traditional feminine and masculine traits are reversed in the story.
Susan likes reading about superheroes and dressing up as a superhero. One day she saves a man and extinguishes a fire. She becomes a real superhero in the community.
This book is inspired by My Feminist ABC by Duopress Labs. Sexual diversity is often neglected in sex education in many schools, perhaps because of traditional cultures, religious backgrounds and/or school policies. This book aims to heighten readers’ awareness of the existence of different sexual communities and inspire respect for these minority groups.
Prince Alex started training early in order to become king of the Mermaid Kingdom one day. However, he didn’t enjoy chariot racing or swimming training. He preferred to join his sisters for art lessons. Human fishing activities were becoming common in their neighbourhood, damaging the Kingdom. Alex had to solve the problem. Clever Ariel, together with their other sisters, helped Alex to drive away the fisherfolk. Read the story to learn about the wisdom of Ariel and her sisters.
Greg and Freda the Frog
Freda was placed under a spell and became a frog. She jumped into a bag and was taken home by Greg. She stayed in Greg’s home. One day, Greg dropped his mother’s wedding ring into a drain. Could Greg get back the ring? How could Freda turn back into a human being? Let’s find out.
Why are there differences between boys and girls? In school, girls usually queue at the front ahead of boys. Girls are often asked to design the board for the inter-class board display competition, and boys are expected to join football matches. Can you think of other examples? Should these differences be stopped?
Acknowledgements:
The copyright of the learning materials belongs to The Education University of Hong Kong. We are grateful to the original authors for granting us the right to share their ideas. Please fully acknowledge the source of the materials and the authors.
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Duplication of the materials is restricted to non-profit making educational purposes only. Otherwise, no part of these materials may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the Project Supervisor.
Students' presentations
Acknowledgements:
The copyright of the learning materials belongs to The Education University of Hong Kong. We are grateful to the original authors for granting us the right to share their ideas. Please fully acknowledge the source of the materials and the authors.
Duplication of the materials is restricted to non-profit making educational purposes only. Otherwise, no part of these materials may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the Project Supervisor.
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The Little Mermaid and Merman
The New Class Teacher
Knight Brave and Little Daring
Save the King and Queen
Susan, the Super Girl
Sexuality ABC
Susan, the Super Girl