School in Barcelona Removes Over 200 Sexist Children’s Books

Over 200 books deemed to be sexist have been removed from the Tàber school’s infant library, which holds around 600 books in total. The books were taken off the shelves following a review by the Associació Espai i Lleure as part of an effort that aims to shed light on hidden sexist content. The group reviews each book and examines the female characters, taking note of the roles they serve and how often they speak. 30 percent of the books were found to have failed to meet the organisation’s standards and were deemed to be of no pedagogical value.

Several other school across Barcelona are now considering their own purge of stereotypical and sexist children’s books, including the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the story of the legend of Saint George. As The Guardian reports, the Associació Espai i Lleure believes that children who see “strongly stereotypical” of relationships and behaviors in what they read, they will begin to consider them normal.  Anna Tutzó, a parent who was one of the reviewers of the books, said: “society is changing and is more aware of the issue of gender, but this is not being reflected in stories.” She went on to state that masculinity is often associated with competitiveness and courage, and “in violent situations, even though they are just small pranks, it is the boy who acts against the girl,” which “sends a message about who can be violent and against whom.”

Other schools are now following suit, including the Fort Pienc school, which is setting up a gender-equality commission to review books. “The type of books children read is very important, because traditional books replicate gender stereotypes, and it is good to have books that break these,” said Estel Clusella, the head of Fort Pienc’s parents’ association. “At the age of five, children have already established gender roles, they know what it is to be a boy or a girl and what that means. So it’s key to work with a gender perspective from the infancy stage.”

The Tàber school will also review the books in its primary library, but will take a different approach to the one it took with the infant’s library. It believes older children are able to look more critically and can analyse and critique any sexist themes they may encounter.

“In early childhood, kids absorb everything around them, which allows sexist stereotypes to be normalised,” Tutzo told El País. “Primary school students [aged six to 12], however, have a greater ability to think critically, and the books can be an opportunity to learn, so that they themselves recognise the sexist elements.”

In 2018, research carried out out by the Observer and Nielsen discovered that male characters were twice as likely to have leading roles in children’s picture books when compared to female characters. Characters who spoke were also twice as likely to be male. “It gives out a message about how society sees you,” said children’s laureate Lauren Child at the time. “If boys get the starring roles in books – both as the good and bad protagonists – and girls are the sidekicks, it confirms that’s how the world is and how it should be. It’s very hard to feel equal then.”

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