Abstract
This thesis explores the ways in which alternative day care-givers reinforce and perpetuate cultural and societal stereotypical gender roles by choosing and reading picture books to children. Three day care-givers reading to groups of five- and six-year-old children at The Wee Care Center, Perky's World of Children, and The College of Wooster Nursery School were analyzed using the methodological approach of ethnography. A content analysis of the specific picture books read at each facility determines the visibility of gender constructs found in children's literature, and, interactions between care-givers and children during story time show how these stereotypes are perpetuated. In-depth interviews with each care-giver reveal their beliefs and attitudes towards gender in order to provide a basis for understanding how they interpret information in books during story time. The analysis of data reveals that care-givers perpetuate gender stereotypes by substituting male pronouns for ambiguo"PS characters, by reinforcing societal expectations for males and females, and by accepting existing gender constructs. Future research is suggested so that more can be known about how care-givers influence and reinforce stereotypical gender roles.
Advisor
Horowitz, Sheryl
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Tinker, Dorothy A., "Perpetutating Gender Stereotypes: Care-Giver/Child Interaction During Story Time" (1993). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 5579.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/5579
Publication Date
1993
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 1993 Dorothy A. Tinker