Gendered Book Marketing

On a recent trip to a Wilko’s store, I was disappointed to see a range of children’s books both implicitly and explicitly divided by gender. Do we not give children books to engage their imagination, to expand their horizons and to bloom their creativity irrespective of their gender? I was particularly drawn to two colouring books titled, The Boy’s Colouring Book and The Girls’ Colouring Book by publisher Buster Books pictured below.

As is clear from the books covers, the books perpetuate stereotypical ideas of gender. Whilst we don’t fully know what effect the influence of books could have on children’s understanding of gender, the messages that these books send merely reinforce patriarchal ideas of gender, and by perpetuating these ideas we are preventing equal opportunities. They seem to suggest that only males have an interest in space travel, adventure, martial arts, cars and construction, where female interests are limited to fashion, motherhood and all things pretty. This is the wrong message we are sending our children about gender. A good read should be a good read for boys and girls, and a colouring book should just be a colouring book.

The organisation, Let Toys Be Toys, who have successfully campaigned with retailers to stop gender categorisation of toys, launched a campaign against these books earlier in the year. The Let Books Be Books campaign has highlighted the debate and has gained widespread support in its struggle to challenge the publishers and retailers. I was assured by Wilko on twitter that they plan to discontinue the range of gendered books, and I hope to see this come to fruition as soon as possible.

Hi @XAntonio88X. We recognise the need to change how kids' books are promoted & are striving to ensure it is done in a gender neutral way
— Wilko (@LoveWilko) June 19, 2014

It is not only stereotypical gender representations that are problematic in our children’s books, but it seems a female presence at all is in minority. A report recently found that females are outnumbered by males 2:1 as central characters in British picture books. Where there are females they are all too often products of gender stereotyping. To allow such gender divisions in books is o demean all our children. Children are not inherently born with certain interests, they are acquired through socialisation. It is time to challenge these representations of gender, and pressure the retailers and publishers so that all children can enjoy all books, regardless of the genitalia they happened to be born with.

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