An exploration of sex-role stereotyping in Australian award-winning children’s picture books

Abstract

A content analysis of 25 award-winning Australian picture books was conducted to examine whether the incidence of sex-role stereotyping had decreased in Australian picture books since the mid 1970s. Comparing a sample of books from the mid 1970s to a sample from the 2000s, three potential areas of stereotyping were assessed: ratios of male to female characters in central roles, titles, illustrations, and as animal characters; activities the central characters were depicted engaging in; and an exploration of the text for traits that central characters exhibited. No significant differences were detected between the ratios of male to female characters across the two time periods, however, trends towards equality were found between the early and the recent sample in the categories of titles and animal characters. Further, no evidence of stereotyping was found with regard to activities, with male characters not participating in instrumental-independent activities and masculine traits any more often than their female counterparts, and female characters not engaging in passive-dependent activities and feminine traits any more often than male characters. Finally, no evidence was found to suggest that male characters were any more rigidly stereotyped than female characters. It was concluded that, in the current sample, little stereotyping was present, and that such areas of disparity as were evident showed a trend towards equality. The difficulties and pitfalls involved in this sort of study are discussed, with an emphasis on the necessity for, and importance of, broadening the research. This article was originally conceived as an honours thesis.