School, Literature and Sexual Stereotypes. A Didactic Analysis

The purpose of the present article is to didactically analyze the responses to a questionnaire of 2,124 fifth and sixth-grade students on the subject under study. Students were asked about some gender stereotypes that appear in literary works to determine the perception that they had about them and to be able to make, in addition, a comparison between the answers of boys and girls. We focused on the results showing how the students are, in all the statements made, quite close to the answer related to agreeing with gender stereotypes, highlighting the fact that they prefer that the main characters in the books should be boys, which we could translate into future male power roles.

Keywords:
Gender; Literature; Primary school; Stereotypes; Student

Authorship

Lucía Rodríguez Olay

University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain. 29010 - anamp@uma.esUniversity of MálagaSpainMálaga, SpainUniversity of Málaga, Málaga, Spain. 29010 - anamp@uma.es

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3704-9962

Antonio Nadal Masegosa

University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain. 33005 - dpto.cceducacion@uniovi.esUniversity of OviedoSpainOviedo, SpainUniversity of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain. 33005 - dpto.cceducacion@uniovi.es

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2788-0058

rodriguezolucia@uniovi.es

Lucía Rodríguez Olay (rodriguezolucia@uniovi.es) is a PhD in Philology from the University of Oviedo. Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo in the Department of Educational Sciences. In 2011 she obtained a Master's Degree in Equality of Women and Men from the University of the Basque Country. She is currently working on her second doctorate within the Equity and Innovation doctoral programme with a doctoral thesis on current children's and young people's literature and its influence on the creation of gender stereotypes in primary school pupils.

Antonio Nadal Masegosa is a PhD in Pedagogy and Professor at the University of Malaga in the Department of Theory and History of Education and Methods of Research and Diagnosis in Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences. Master in Management of International Cooperation and NGOs (University of Granada, Spain). Former Visiting Research Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, UK). Author of two books, more than 30 book chapters and more than 10 journal articles.

Authorship contribution: The authors contributed equally

Conflict of interests: Not applicable

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain. 29010 - anamp@uma.esUniversity of MálagaSpainMálaga, SpainUniversity of Málaga, Málaga, Spain. 29010 - anamp@uma.es

University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain. 33005 - dpto.cceducacion@uniovi.esUniversity of OviedoSpainOviedo, SpainUniversity of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain. 33005 - dpto.cceducacion@uniovi.es

Tables

Tables (3)

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Table 1
Descriptive statistics items

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Table 2
Comparisons of means between sexes for each of the items

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Table 3
Analysis of mean value of men and women in relation to the total of each item

Table 1 Descriptive statistics items

	M	SD.	Asymmetry		Kurtosis		Range
			Std.	ST.	Std.	ST.
1. I prefer female protagonists to be the leaders in books.	2.35	1.277	.203	.053	-1.646	.106	3
2. I like the boys to be in charge in books.	2.72	1.212	-.130	.053	-1.604	.106	3
3. Books show the world as it is	2.70	1.218	-.164	.053	-1.583	.106	3
4. In books boys and girls behave as they are in everyday life.	2.58	1.266	-.072	.053	-1.658	.106	3
5. There are some things in books that girls can't do.	2.46	1.050	.346	.053	-1.146	.106	3
6. There are some things in books that boys can't do.	2.54	1.070	.271	.053	-1.294	.106	3
7. The male characters are funnier than the female characters.	2.51	1.016	.463	.053	-1.130	.106	3
8. The female characters are funnier than the male characters.	2.58	1.071	.283	.053	-1.359	.106	3
9. I like that the gangs in the books are mixed (with boys and girls).	2.73	.752	-1.518	.053	1.395	.106	3
10. I like the gangs in the books to be all boys.	2.53	.945	.697	.053	-.993	.106	3
11. I like the gangs in the books to be all-girl gangs.	2.56	.994	.509	.053	-1.169	.106	3

#PraTodoMundoVer Table whose columns represent the mean values of average, standard deviation, asymmetry, Kurtosis and range and in the rows are the overall results of the eleven items in which statements are made about gender issues that appear in the CYAL books and to which the students had indicated their degree of agreement or disagreement.

Table 2 Comparisons of means between sexes for each of the items

	Sex	M	SD.	t	gl
1. I prefer female protagonists to be the leaders in books.	Male	2.35	1.313	.000	.059	Female	2.34	1.239
2. I like the boys to be in charge in books.	Male	2.62	1.283	.000	-3.712	Female	2.82	1.124
3. Books show the world as it is	Male	2.60	1.194	.011	-3.913	Female	2.81	1.235
4. In books boys and girls behave as they are in everyday life.	Male	2.56	1.241	.001	-.553	Female	2.59	1.292
5. There are some things in books that girls can't do.	Male	2.51	1.062	.011	2.190	Female	2.41	1.035
6. There are some things in books that boys can't do.	Male	2.57	1.076	.214	1.220	Female	2.51	1.062
7. The male characters are funnier than the female characters.	Male	2.51	1.073	.000	-.253	Female	2.52	.953
8. The female characters are funnier than the male characters.	Male	2.65	1.095	.000	2.727	Female	2.52	1.041
9. I like that the gangs in the books are mixed (with boys and girls).	Male	2.73	.762	.268	-.343	Female	2.74	.741
10. I like the gangs in the books to be all boys.	Male	2.59	.988	.000	3.200	Female	2.46	.893
11. I like the gangs in the books to be all-girl gangs.	Male	2.55	.957	.000	-.039	Female	2.56	1.032

#PraTodoMundoVer Table whose columns represent the mean values of average, standard deviation, statistical and standard error and in the rows there are eleven items in which statements are made about gender issues that appear in the CYAL books and to which the students had indicated their degree of agreement or disagreement; these rows are, in turn, divided between males and females.

Table 3 Analysis of mean value of men and women in relation to the total of each item

	Males Test Value = 2.56			Females Test Value = 2.57
	t	Sig. (b)	D. A.	t	Sig. (b)	D. A.
1. I prefer female protagonists to be the leaders in books.	-5.356	.000	-.226	-5.840	.000	-.212
2. I like the boys to be in charge in books.	1.583	.000	.246	7.019	.114	.061
3. Books show the world as it is	1.220	.000	.240	6.240	.223	.044
4. In books boys and girls behave as they are in everyday life.	.055	.578	.022	.556	.957	.002
5. There are some things in books that girls can't do.	-1.644	.000	-.162	-5.031	.101	-.053
6. There are some things in books that boys can't do.	.315	.089	-.056	-1.702	.752	.010
7. The male characters are funnier than the female characters.	-1.626	.083	-.052	-1.733	.104	-.053
8. The female characters are funnier than the male characters.	2.572	.113	-.052	-1.587	.010	.085
9. I like that the gangs in the books are mixed (with boys and girls).	7.308	.000	.169	7.324	.000	.168
10. I like the gangs in the books to be all boys.	1.077	.000	-.109	-3.909	.282	.032
11. I like the gangs in the books to be all-girl gangs.	-.182	.673	-.014	-.422	.856	-.005

#PraTodoMundoVer Table whose columns represent the male and female values of average, standard deviation, statistical, bilateral standard error and difference in average and in the rows there are eleven items in which statements are made about gender issues that appear in the CYAL books and to which the students had indicated their degree of agreement or disagreement.

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[1] rodriguezolucia@uniovi.es