Abby cadabra, super speller |
by Joan Holub |
Characters:
Message/Theme: Working fairly with others will bring you rewards.
Gender Roles Reviewed:
This story presents a mixture of traditional and egalitarian attitudes. Again, we have a female teacher, compliant with the traditional female role/career as a nurturer. There are only a few boys in the class probably because of gender-schema theory (we hear witch and automatically think of a woman) but all of the girls in the classroom are wearing skirts or dresses which is also compliant with traditional gender ideas that women should be feminine, lady-like, and graceful which dresses/skirts symbolize. Some egalitarian elements of the story would include the fact that both girls excel above the rest of their classmates but they do excel in grammar/language which is traditionally considered a woman's skill but they are also extremely competitive with one another with is traditionally a masculine trait. The ending of the story goes along with traditional ideas that women care more about the feelings of others and working together (not independently) to build emotional relationships, developed when the two girls team up instead of fighting and share the prize. Because the traditional elements in the story are more prominent and outweigh the egalitarian ones it is compliant with traditional gender role attitudes.
- Abby Cadabra (witch student)
- Wanda Cassandra (witch student)
- Ms. Poof (teacher)
Message/Theme: Working fairly with others will bring you rewards.
Gender Roles Reviewed:
This story presents a mixture of traditional and egalitarian attitudes. Again, we have a female teacher, compliant with the traditional female role/career as a nurturer. There are only a few boys in the class probably because of gender-schema theory (we hear witch and automatically think of a woman) but all of the girls in the classroom are wearing skirts or dresses which is also compliant with traditional gender ideas that women should be feminine, lady-like, and graceful which dresses/skirts symbolize. Some egalitarian elements of the story would include the fact that both girls excel above the rest of their classmates but they do excel in grammar/language which is traditionally considered a woman's skill but they are also extremely competitive with one another with is traditionally a masculine trait. The ending of the story goes along with traditional ideas that women care more about the feelings of others and working together (not independently) to build emotional relationships, developed when the two girls team up instead of fighting and share the prize. Because the traditional elements in the story are more prominent and outweigh the egalitarian ones it is compliant with traditional gender role attitudes.