Gender
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Gender within children’s literature studies is an analytic concept that names and sorts a constellation of bodies. According to the OED, the term gender historically classifies words and bodies into a particular “sort or kind.” Indo-European languages include pronouns and nouns classified as feminine, masculine, or neuter and bodies categorized into male or female, as in “the collective attributes or traits associated with a particular sex, or determined as a result of one’s sex. Also: a (male or female) group characterized in this way” (OED). Since the twentieth century, gender operates as a verb “to assign or attribute a gender to; to divide, classify, or differentiate on the basis of gender” (OED). These definitions define social classifications within and beyond literature for the child. From its inception in the eighteenth century, children’s literature enforced ideas about biological sex as synonymous with a gender that required specific behaviors. In 1744, John Newbery published A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in two editions, one for little Master Tommy and the other for pretty Miss Polly; it included a pincushion for Miss Polly and a ball for Master Tommy. By the mid-1800s, British magazines like the Girl’s Own Paper and the Boy’s Own Paper, and...
This essay may be found on page 81 of the printed volume.