June 15, 2013

Kids books that use animals "confirm racist, heteronormative, patriarchal norms"

You knew this was gonna happen.

You know those cute childrens books that have talking animals as the main characters?  Berenstain bears, "Arthur the Aardvark," that sort of thing?  Bet you thought they were cute, fun and maybe even educational for kids, eh?

Oh no, citizen!  According to a paper by two Canadian professors such books are nothing less than sinister propaganda vehicles.

The two claim kids' books use anthropomorphized animals to "reinforce socially dominant norms” like nuclear families and gender stereotypes.  “[M]uch of young children’s media reproduces and confirms racist, colonial, consumerist, heteronormative, and patriarchal norms,” they wrote.

Why do I imagine these two would not be a bit outraged if a kids book was "homo-normative" or depicted a matriarchal society? 

Next up:  Sociology prof claims ice-hockey "reproduces and confirms racist, colonial, consumerist, heteronormative, and patriarchal norms."  Whereas football and baseball confirm all but the raacist thing. 

Oh, and all professional sports that don't have women players are sexist.

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