From The Times (UK), Elizabeth Judge writes…
\”WOMEN characters in children’s storybooks fit 1940s stereotypes, being meek, gentle, ineffectual, rarely employed, and wholly dependent on their men, an American study has concluded.
The only feisty women with roles that extend beyond baking cakes or washing clothes are evil, usually witches, the researchers say.
One of the worst offenders was the Harry Potter series, in which two of the most admired female characters exhibit nurturing, humble, emotional traits. “Mrs Weasley and Harry’s mother are known for their feminine traits, where family and children come first,” said Claire Etaugh, from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, who led the research. “Only one of Harry’s friends, Hermione, is tomboyish, clever and smart and able to get the boys out of scrapes.” [more…]
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