GENDER DISPARITY IN JUVENILE LITERATURE

Abstract

Female under-representation has been under scrutiny since the start of feminist movement. Women have been suppressed in all domains of human life, be it real or reel, they have been shown as having no significance. In literature, patriarchal prejudice is prevalent there both in direct and indirect forms. It is also observed that a tendency towards equal representation of genders has also come to work to counter that oppressive patriarchal discourses. In the study, we have selected CBT publication entitled as Short Stories for Children published in India. The collection consists of 17 stories for kids written by different writers for the entertainment of children. This paper discusses gender stereotypes, i.e. how females and males have been portrayed, their representation in titles, as central and side characters, their roles and activities, gender segregation, and some counter tendencies such as equal gender roles have been analysed. Such
deconstruction helps Asian educationists understand the penetrating pervasive gender biased representation with its different forms and discursive levels which is impinging on the juvenile minds by normalizing this phenomenon.