Sexism and Reading: A Critical Review of the Literature

REVIEWS CRITICALLY 78 ARTICLES which presume to investigate sexism in basal readers, texts, and children's literature. Analysis of the various procedures utilized in such works shows that most authors employed a criteria of tallying the frequency of male/ female names, pronouns, characters, and illustrations. Others examined anthologies to determine the ratio of male to female authors. Certain investigators examined the occupations of men and women depicted. Traditional roles tended to be seen as stereotypes. A number of writers criticized works without specifying their criteria. The vast majority of those engaged in this sort of research failed to view the problem of sexism from the viewpoint of its impact upon the motivation and learning of children.