I’m Glad I’m a Boy – I’m Glad I’m
a Girl
By, Whitney Darrow Jr.
This story
follows a boy and a girl while talking about all the things that they do in
contrast to one another, such as toys, hobbies, careers, and appearances. Many
people consider this book to sexist in that it depicts stereotypical roles of females
as opposed to males. In the following text, we’ll look at this book in more
detail while also considering our gender biases at the time this book was
published in determining whether or not this book is suitable for children.

Let’s
start by looking at the illustrations. As we look at the illustrations let’s
ask ourselves whether or not each gender represents stereotypical appearances
and roles. Starting with appearances we’ll look at the boy first. His appearance
includes having short hair while wearing mostly shirts, long/short pants, and
the occasional hat and suit. The girl is seen having medium length hair which
is always seen down with a bow or the occasional hat. She is seen mostly
wearing dresses/skirts, although with the exception of a few pages where she is
seen wearing shorts. So what is the underlying message within these
illustrations? Well from a glance one can depict that girls, for the most part,
will always have longer hair and be dressed in dresses and bows, whereas, boys
will always be seen as having short hair and wearing pants, shorts, and shirts.
So what does this mean for a boy who has long hair? The interpretation from
this book is that those with short hair are boys and those with long hair are
girls, so that being said should that boy with long hair be considered a girl? Today,
girls may have their hair long or short and are less inclined to wear dresses
and bows, but instead will wear pants and shirts, therefore should a girl with short
hair wearing pants and a shirt be considered a boy? The simply representations
of gender appearances in these book can lead to false interpretations in the
real world.
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Now
let’s look at any stereotypical roles portrayed in this book. Let’s just say I
found many. Starting with the first page, “Boys have trucks. Girls have dolls
(Darrow, 1970, p.3).” This very much demonstrates stereotypical gender roles
leading to the idea that girls cannot play with truck and boys cannot play with
dolls; therefore, if you were to choose the opposing gender’s toy than you
would be linked and seen as the gender associated with that toy. Besides appropriate
toys for each gender, the book goes on and shows occupations for each gender.
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“Boys
are doctors. Girls are nurses.” (p.7)
“Boys
are policemen. Girls are metermaids.” (p. 8)
“Boys
are pilots. Girls are stewardesses.” (p. 10)
“Boys
are Presidents. Girls are First Ladies.” (p. 13)
Can you see a pattern?
According to the depictions in this book, boys have the dominant more important
job over the girls. This is something that is most certainly false in today’s
time where women are seen taking dominant roles in their occupations
frequently. According to one article, in Britain, “women doctors will outnumber
their male colleagues within 6 years (Hope, 2011).” This demonstrated how the
number of woman taking dominant roles in their occupations is on the raise;
therefore, making, “Boys are doctors. Girls are nurses,” a completely
inaccurate fact. The book also goes further in demonstrating that boys play a more dominant role by stating...
"Boys fix things, Girls need fixing," (p.13)
"Boys invent things. Girls use what boys invent." (p. 15)
"Boys build houses. Girls keep houses." (p. 16)
These statements demonstrates a girls inability to fix things and work with their hands, saying that that's the role of the boy. Making the interpretation that girls are in a sense helpless without boys. Although, in the statement, "Boys can eat. Girls can cook (pg. 14)." the boy than depends on the girl for domestic duties. Even in the statement, "Boys build house. Girls keep houses," it shows the girls domestic duties to take care of the home and family. So is that still the case today? Unfortunately, there aren't any studies that I could find that show whether men and women still engage in traditional domestic duties; however, whatever the case may be today, I think its important to demonstrate to children that gender doesn't determine your role in the household. Girls are just as able to fix and build things as boys are able to cook and clean.
Know
that we've looked at why the book, “I’m Glad I’m a Boy, I’m Glad I’m a Girl,”
is stereotypical in its views on gender, let us now look at why that is by
asking the question: Where were we in history in regards to gender at the time
this book was written and released? Since this book was release in 1970, we’re
going to take a look at the 1960s and than the 1970s. That will give us an idea
of both views on gender while the book was being written as well as when it was
release. Starting in the 1960’s, an organization called the National
Organization for Women questioned the unequal rights of women which lead to the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include gender equality. Birth control, also during
this time, became widely available and a legalization of abortion was in affect
(Goodwin and Bradley, 1999). Later on in the 1970’s, women became increasingly
involved in politics demanding full equality and privileges in society leading
to affirmative action policies, most specifically in the work place (Gillis,
2010). Big changes were in motion around the time this book was both written
and released in terms of women’s right and roles. That being said, why is the
book so stereotypical in depicting the roles of women? To answer that question
we will now turn to the author in our next discussion.
According
to one coworker, Lee Lorenz, former art director of The New Yorker, “Mr. Darrow
was known for his sense of humor and for being shrewdly observant of the
contradictions of human behavior (Gussow, 1999).” Whitney Darrow Jr., the author of “I’m Glad I’m
a Boy, I’m Glad I’m a Girl,” was a satiric cartoonist from The New Yorker, meaning
that he used humor to ridicule people’s stupidity or vices (Satire). So, that
being said, in light of the social changes that were taking place during the
time of the books creation and release, I conclude that the author wrote the
book as a satire on gender roles.
Know we
have come to the final question of whether or not this book is ideal for
children? According to my findings this book demonstrates stereotypical roles
of both boys and girls that are not accurate for today’s time. Although the
author had the intention of humor, I find that the inaccurate used of gender
roles can be detrimental to a child’s development in that it can lead to
confusion of their own gender position. According to the article, “Gender and
Toys: Does it Really Matter,” toddles need to be raised with the awareness that
whether they are male of female they can pursue anything of interest to them
(Daniel, par. 5). The article further explains that gender specific patterns
can set children up to feel insecure and ashamed of themselves for liking
something not associated with their gender as well as sparking name calling in
the form of “sissy” and “tomboy (Daniel, par. 5 & 6).” Therefore, I have
concluded that the book, “I’m Glad I’m a Boy, I’m Glad I’m a Girl,” is not
suitable for young children due to the critical stages of self development that
they endure at this age.
Works Cited:
Darrow,
Jr, W. (1970). I'm Glad I'm a
Boy - I'm Glad I'm a Girl. New York: Windmill Books.