The ‘symbolic annihilation of women’ in primary school literature.

Children are strongly impacted by the gender and racialised messages they receive at a young age, and books are integral to this messaging. Gender stereotypes are reinforced in children’s literature in a number of ways, including: male centricity of protagonists, portrayal of gender roles and behaviours. The impact of this exposure is to condition young children in ways that are reductive, limiting and damaging to both the individual and society. The ramifications of patriarchal socialisation at such an early age are significant on the way they understand society and their role/position within it. It is therefore important to assess the nature of gender and racialised messages children received in the context of primary education

This project examines the prevalence of male and female characters in primary school books.