Tani "gets it"

[rhu]

Tani was reading a library book about fighter jets this morning, and said, "Hey, Abba, listen to this: 'The boys in the class all got Hurricane kites, and the teacher gave Erin a kite with the graceful wings of a Spitfire.'" [I may have the quote a word or two off.]

I responded, "Interesting. What about it?"

Tani: "I don't know. It seems odd. I mean, why should Erin get something different from the boys? I mean, a Spitfire is cool, too. Well, maybe she liked a Spitfire better."

Me: "Did the book say that she liked a Spitfire better?"

Tani: "No. I guess that's what's odd. Why should the teacher think she would want a Spitfire just because she's a girl?"

We had a good conversation after that about sexism, and how even though Erin in the story got a kite with a cool fighter jet, there were still three things wrong with the story: that there's a single girl in the class who is clearly intended to be a token, that the girl got a different kite than the boys did, and that the boy's kites were simply identified as "Hurricanes" while the girl's kite had "the graceful wings" of a Spitfire.

I'm proud of my child for being a sensitive enough reader to be uncomfortable enough with that passage to want to discuss it, even if he couldn't put his finger on why at first.

Comments

[jeffurrynpl.livejournal.com]

There was only one girl in the story? The writer must have been inspired by The Smurfs.

[jadelennox]

That's actually not that uncommon -- the Bechdel Test came from somewhere, after all. Lots of books for younger readers include a male hero, a female best friend who is often the only girl in the story, and a male best friend who is geeky/fat/short/funny looking/non-white or otherwise unqualified for being the hero. If the protagonist is male, most of the other kids in school will also be male. It's exceedingly frustrating.

[jedusor.livejournal.com]

Hey, you just described Harry Potter.

[jadelennox]

That's a great discussion, and great that it came from him.

[diceytillerman.livejournal.com]

Hooray for critical awareness!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Very cool!

[cellio]

Oh wow. Good for him!