Moya-Guijarro, A. Jesús and Eija Ventola, editors. A Multimodal Approach to Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books. Routledge, 2021. 306 pages

Abstract

Gender stereotypes are socially assigned to people from a very early age. They place psychological effects on the individual ranging from self-esteem issues to ambition and expectations, and may effectively shape the way in which society acts and reacts in any given discursive situation. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) describes a gender stereotype as "a generalised view or preconception about attributes, or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and women" (Gender Stereotypes 1). More often than not, gender stereotypes have been studied for their negative effect on girls and women, as their detrimental consequences have been reported to reduce aspirations and limit career options (Mmari et al.). However, gender identity, i.e. a person identifying as male, female, or other, in contrast to that person's biological sexual traits, is understood as a kind of social identity crucially related to cultural roles typically associated with men and women. Consequently, with reference to some expected social behavior, the volume seeks to encompass a variety of aspects of gender and non-binary consequences, as well as to the means by which those stereotypes are manifested and culturally transmitted. Furthermore, as mental models and social schemata are formed at a very early age, it is important to understand the myriad of aspects that go into meaningmaking, identity building, and the discourse modes that small children typically consume.