This was a project completed in my Research Writing and Literacy class. The assignment was to find a primary source and come up with a topic we would like to write about. Our professor took us to the archives in the UCF library and there I found a children's book from 1894.
This book was a fictional story that taught young girls how to be daughters their parents could be proud of. I immediately objected to some of the suggestions that the time period was known for. This got me thinking about gender roles and how they are taught through literature.
I began researching and comparing modern day children's stories and found that the language may be different from 1894, but the stereotypical gender roles could still be found in many of the stories. This paper showcases the research I did and proposes a study on the literature we use to teach children about gender identity.