Sexist and Nonsexist Materials: What Impact Do They Have?

Author(s): Kathryn P. Scott

Source: The Elementary School Journal , Sep., 1980, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Sep., 1980), pp. 46-52
Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1001193

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 Sexist and Nonsexist
Materials: What
Impact Do They Have?

Kathryn P. Scott
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

Sexism in elementary-school books? Yes, it

is there, researchers report (1-4). Pub-
lishers have issued guidelines that call for
the elimination of sexism in their materials
(5, 6), but books published since these
guidelines show little evidence of change
(7, 8, 9).
Why is change slow in coming? For one
thing, it is costly and time-consuming to
bring out new editions of textbooks. In ad-
dition, publishers may well be unsure of
the reception that nonsexist textbooks
would receive from school personnel and
students.
Some educators lament the lack of data
on the impact of sexist and nonsexist read-
ing materials on children (1, 10). Neverthe-
less, data of this kind are available. Studies
have been made of the effect of materials
on children's reading interests, on their at-
titudes toward sex roles, and on their com-
prehension. Studies reviewed here differ-
entiated sexist from nonsexist materials on
the basis of three attributes: the sex of the
main characters, the role behavior of the
main characters, and the language used to
refer to females and males.
The sex of the main characters is one
test that researchers use to distinguish
sexist from nonsexist materials. In real life,
females make up slightly more than half of

The Elementary School Journal

Volume 81, Number I
O 1980 by The University of Chicago
0013-5984/81/8101-0002$00.75

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 48 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL

the population. Nonsexist

about females,textbooks, re-
while girls enjoyed reading
flecting this fact, have at either
stories about least boysas many
or girls (13).
main characters who are female as main However, the studies reviewed by Tibbetts
characters who are male. Sexist textbook (13) did not include content analyses of the
have a disproportionately large number
stories. In a separate analysis of the ac-
of main characters who are male. tivities of main characters (4), girls' stories
The range of roles depicted by female
were found to be weak and uninteresting,
and male story characters is another test
while boys' stories were full of lively, inter-
that researchers use to distinguish sexist
esting activities.
and nonsexist materials. Many textbooksThus, the question of differing prefer-
stereotype the roles of females: "Females
ences of girls and boys needs to be linked
are weak and passive." "Women's placetoisthe content of stories as well as the sex of
in the home." In reality, few differences the
inmain characters. Four recent studies
the personalities of males and females havecompared children's preferences for
been documented (11), and women con- stories featuring traditional and nontradi-
stitute 40 percent of full-time workers in tional role models. Frasher (14) found that
the U.S.A. (12). While sexist materials a sizable proportion of male students and
portray primarily stereotyped personality female students chose Pippi, a nontradi-
traits and show women in a limited
tional female, as the character they liked
number of occupational roles, nonsexist best in Pippi Longstocking. Pippi was chosen
textbooks show females and males ifi
over two a
traditional characters. In another
variety of family, personality, study
and work
by Frasher and Frasher (15), girls
roles. read two stories with main characters who
The use of language to refer to females were female, one in a traditional role and
and males is a third area that researchers
the other in a nontraditional role; boys
have used to distinguish sexist and non- read two stories with main characters who
sexist textbooks. For years, writers werehave male, one in a traditional role and the
used male generic terminology-man, other in a nontraditional role. The re-
manmade, salesman, mankind-to refer to searchers found that girls preferred
females as well as males. Such usage may story with the nontraditional main char
be correct technically but may limit chil- ter over the story with the traditional m
dren's comprehension when both females character. Boys expressed interest in bo
and males are essential to the meaning of a of the stories they read and did not pref
narrative. Sex-neutral generic terms such one story over the other.
as people or sex-specific terms such as men Scott and Feldman-Summers asked
and women are used in nonsexist materials, children to evaluate a set of eight storie
while male generic forms prevail in sexist which the sex of the main character was
materials.
systematically varied (16). The researchers
found no significant differences between
ratings of stories with a female as the main
Children's reading interests character and those with a male as the
If children are to choose, or are to be re- main character. Boys as well as girls like
quired to read, stories about main charac- the stories in which a female was portray
ters who are female and stories that por- in a nontraditional role or a male was po
tray a variety of nontraditional roles, the trayed in a traditional role. Rakes, Gotfre
children must find the stories appealing.and Bowman (17) reported little diffe
In a survey of studies of children's prefer-ence between female readers' and male
ences, Tibbetts reported that boys usually readers' preferences for stories about f
expressed a distinct dislike for stories males. Female readers and male readers
SEPTEMBER 1980

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 SEXIST AND NONSEXIST MATERIALS 49

found the same stories appealing, about male characters that girls could per-
two of
formrole
which depicted a female in a passive the activities of the main characters.
and one a female in an active role. However, children's perceptions about
In summary, children rate stories withsex-role behaviors that were not portrayed
main characters who are female and who in the stories were not affected.
exhibit nontraditional role behavior as Schau, Kahn, and Tremaine (19) mea-
high as, or higher than, stories with sured
mainthe impact of nontraditional occupa-
characters who are male. Male readers as tions for women and men, as portrayed in
well as female readers rate stories about
elementary-school reading materials, on
children's attitudes about appropriate
females high. Thus, changes in textbooks
work roles. The researchers found no sig-
to include a significant number of stories
nificant changes. The materials were then
about girls, some of them in nontraditional
rewritten to present the role models in an
roles, should not negatively affect students'
interest in reading. Indeed, the changes
interesting way that encouraged children
to identify
might enhance interest if the stories are of with the main characters who
high quality. successfully overcame obstacles to pursue a
nontraditional occupation. When the re-
Children's sex-role attitudes and behavior vised versions were read, the children's at-
titudes toward both males and females in
Because children spend a large part of the
school day reading, books may have a con-four nontraditional careers were affected
siderable impact on children's attitudes,positively (20). In this study, as in the Scott
values, and behavior. Social learning
and Feldman-Summers study (16), chil-
theorists suggest the importance of sym- dren's attitudes about appropriate ac-
bolic role models, such as characters found
tivities for males and females did not gen-
in books, on children's acquistion of sex-
eralize to occupations not presented in the
role behaviors (18). Although by no meansstories. Schau, Kahn, and Tremaine-like
Scott and Feldman-Summers-worked
the only source of influence, the stories
that children read provide a vehicle for
with elementary-school children. Fle
identification and imitation, particularly Fidler,
if and Rogers found that the attit
the role models are of the same sex as the of preschool children who heard presen
reader. Studies reviewed here compare thetions of stories with nontraditional role
impact of traditional and nontraditional models were also less stereotyped than the
role models on children's sex-role attitudes attitudes of preschool children who heard
and behavior. traditional stories (21). Five-year-olds were
In a study by Scott and Feldman- more influenced than younger children,
Summers (16), elementary-school pupils
and girls' views were less stereotyped than
read eight stories excerpted from text-
boys'.
books, each featuring a main character in aFurther evidence of the impact of read-
traditionally male role. Each story in ing
thematerial can be seen in the assessment
textbook had two versions: one with a of children's behavior after an oral presen-
female as the main character (and there- tation of traditional and nontraditional
fore in a nontraditional role) and one role withmodels. McArthur and Eisen (22) re
a male as the main character. Each student ported that preschool boys were more
read one version and was then asked to likely to persist in a task after hearing a
make predictions about female and male story about a boy who achieved than afte
capabilities in real life. The researchers hearing about a girl who achieved or a
found that pupils who read about female neutral control story. Girls were more
main characters in nontraditional roles
likely to persist after hearing about either
male achiever or a female achiever than
predicted more often than those who read

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 50 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL

after the control story. The

pictures, while significant
the sex-specific forms gen-
changes in children's erated
behavior
pictures thatafter
had the mostexpo-
balanced
sure to the role modelrepresentation
in theofstory males and females.
shows One
the powerful impact canofclearly conclude that
reading male generic
materials
on children's actions. Further studies are
terminology significantly distorts chil-
dren's understanding of events in which
needed to explore the differences in im-
pact on girls and boys. both males and females are present. De-
spite the "correctness" of referring to
Thus, reading materials are an impor-
males and females with masculine forms,
tant, although by no means the only, in-
fluence on children's sex-role attitudes.
children envision predominantly males in
Even after reading only a few storiesresponse
with to this form of language.
nontraditional main characters, boys as
Textbooks that use neutral or sex-specific
well as girls became more flexible in assign-
terminology would be helpful in improv-
ing nontraditional role behavior to ing males
children's reading comprehension.
and females. The impact of the sex of the main
character on children's test performance
Children's comprehension was investigated by Ekstrom, Donlan, and
Educators have frequently expressed con-Lockheed (25), who found that the use of
cern about improving students' reading male characters or female characters in test
performance, especially that of boys, whoitems produced no significant differences
usually score lower than girls during thein achievement. The use of items about
elementary-school years. The impact of female characters did not increase
sexist and nonsexist materials is particu-
achievement scores for girls, but the item
larly important to consider. did not have a negative impact on boys
The literature on the impact of lan- achievement, either.
guage indicates that boys and girls often Finally, Koblinsky, Cruse, and Suga
miscomprehend masculine generic ter- wara (26) examined the impact of ste
minology. Harrison and Passero (23) askedreotyped and nonstereotyped behavior
young children to interpret various lan- and traits of story characters on children
guage forms by selecting appropriate pic-comprehension and memory. The in
tures to illustrate sentences. The re- vestigators exposed children to carefull
searchers found that pupils consistently designed stories with a main character wh
matched passages that used male generic was male and another who was female.
forms-for example, men of goodwill,Each character exemplified an equal
sales-
men, forefathers-with exclusively male number
pic- of masculine and feminine
tures. Passages with sex-neutral forms--stereotyped characteristics. Children wer
better able to remember the masculine
for example, people of goodwill, salespersons,
ancestors-were more likely to elicit pic-
sex-typed characteristics of the male
tures of individuals of both sexes.
character and the feminine sex-typed
Harrison assessed older children's characteristics of the female character than
understanding of generic terminologythebyopposite sex-typed characteristics of
examining pictures the pupils drew in re-
each. The children were particularly un-
sponse to short passages about Cro- likely to remember the feminine traits of
Magnons (24). Each passage used one of the male character.
three language forms: male generic (man, This finding is in direct contrast to
men), sex-neutral(human beings, people), andfindings of two other studies (15, 27). Jen-
sex-specific (men and women). The male nings (27) reported that preschool chil-
generic forms elicited predominantly maledren's recall of a story that featured a

SEPTEMBER 1980

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 SEXIST AND NONSEXIST MATERIALS 51

nonstereotyped role model was sig-

tive, or at least not a harmful, effect on
nificantly superior to their recall children.
of a storyResearch suggests that changes
that featured a traditional role model. In of this kind in children's reading materials
Frasher and Frasher's study (15), male par-are justified and long overdue.
ticipants as well as female participants
scored significantly higher in comprehen-
sion for stories with nontraditional main References
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