While doing research for my gender topic (music), I came across this article - "Correcting classic childhood gender biases" by Dean Burnett in The Guardian (here's the link if you're interested: http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/mar/08/correcting-childhood-bias-international-womens-day). Burnett starts off stating that (when he wrote this) it's International Women's Day, and generally, even on this day, "women get a much harsher deal all around" when it comes to gender bias.
To be honest, in the beginning I found myself confused by his message; for the first six or so paragraphs, he seems to ramble about the topic of gender bias and his position on the matter. However, once he focuses on his point - that while the problem of gender inequality cannot be addressed as a whole or all at once, a person can put his or her effort into smaller facets of the issue. His way of doing this is changing gender-biased nursery rhymes to portray gender equality when reading them to his son to prevent him from believing in negative stereotypes. For example, here's Burnett's rendition of Jack and Jill:
"Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill made it to his side and did her best to tend his injuries and eventually called an ambulance so he could be treated by professionals, rather than fall down after him due to some illogical and outdated notion about women being subservient to men and following their lead regardless of how unwise it may seem."
Weird, right? I actually laughed when I read this and other rhymes he's transformed, at the same time wondering - does he actually read the nursery rhymes this way to his son? Honestly, I'm not entirely convinced this is an effective method. Nursery rhymes affect children's views of society because their rhyming nature makes children remember the lyrics more easily, and Burnett's new lyrics are far from easy to get stuck in one's head. Of course, Burnett might not be serious about this method to correct gender inequality in society and could just be making a point. (In fact, that's probably true...)
In any case, I think focusing on gender-biased nursery rhymes is ineffective in the long run. Yes, children recite these rhymes myriad times, but most don't really consider the real-life applications of the lyrics; they sing the rhymes for fun. Those who desire to enact change in regards to gender equality should focus on other facets of the issue.
- Kaley P.
To be honest, in the beginning I found myself confused by his message; for the first six or so paragraphs, he seems to ramble about the topic of gender bias and his position on the matter. However, once he focuses on his point - that while the problem of gender inequality cannot be addressed as a whole or all at once, a person can put his or her effort into smaller facets of the issue. His way of doing this is changing gender-biased nursery rhymes to portray gender equality when reading them to his son to prevent him from believing in negative stereotypes. For example, here's Burnett's rendition of Jack and Jill:
"Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill made it to his side and did her best to tend his injuries and eventually called an ambulance so he could be treated by professionals, rather than fall down after him due to some illogical and outdated notion about women being subservient to men and following their lead regardless of how unwise it may seem."
Weird, right? I actually laughed when I read this and other rhymes he's transformed, at the same time wondering - does he actually read the nursery rhymes this way to his son? Honestly, I'm not entirely convinced this is an effective method. Nursery rhymes affect children's views of society because their rhyming nature makes children remember the lyrics more easily, and Burnett's new lyrics are far from easy to get stuck in one's head. Of course, Burnett might not be serious about this method to correct gender inequality in society and could just be making a point. (In fact, that's probably true...)
In any case, I think focusing on gender-biased nursery rhymes is ineffective in the long run. Yes, children recite these rhymes myriad times, but most don't really consider the real-life applications of the lyrics; they sing the rhymes for fun. Those who desire to enact change in regards to gender equality should focus on other facets of the issue.
- Kaley P.