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Gender Roles in English School Books
Introduction
Over the years, authors and publishers have printed books that portray various members of society in different ways. For instance, the portrayal of women differs from that of men and children (Ullah and Christine 191). Children and students use these books and other prints when studying at school or when doing their homework. This prolonged exposure to consistent or varying portrayal of different people enables users of these books to develop stereotypes or perceptions towards various age groups. Therefore, the topic of Gender Roles in English School Books is significant because it enables authors and publishers to understand how they unknowingly or knowingly shape the future of society (Davies 115). For instance, consistent representation of women as household managers will shape girls into believing that they have no significance in the society other than to give birth, care for their families, and maintain their houses. Similarly, a negative representation of the boy child as a rogue drug user will make them feel that it is healthy and right to act rogue and indulge in drugs. On the other hand, positive representation of gender images shapes the minds of young people into becoming useful members of the society.
In practice, linguistics illuminates trends and diversity in the structure and application of language in order to provide a platform for the development of that language (Hellinger and Hadumod 23). Accordingly, linguistics focuses on studying human language as a universal component of their behavior and thinking. For example, this discipline will explore the general properties of language, the position of language in the society, and how language satisfies the needs of people (Foroutan 773). Therefore, a study on how gender roles appear in English books will enable linguists to make sure that they use the language appropriately to satisfy the current needs of people and society (Beyer and Roberta 361). This will ensure that language does not cause undesired trends in the society with respect to the imagery created for men, women, and children (Azmah et al 157). In aIDition, feminists can use this tool to recreate the image of a woman and promote gender equality that has remained elusive in most societies.
The field of Gender Roles in English School Books still remains unexploited. This area requires extensive research to draw conclusions on how this can be used to improve the society as a whole. Today, more scholars, especially feminist, have joined others in research in this field, aiming to discover how beneficial it can be to women and the society in general (Lee and Peter b 134).
Analysis of English School Books
In most English textbooks, men continue to dominate the characters involved while women and children exist in few numbers and as supportive characters (Nasser and Irene 633). Over the years, the representation of women and children groups has evolved tremendously in the positive direction. On the other hand, men have undergone limited evolution in the reverse direction. For instance, the representation of women has moved away from the former traditional and demeaning roles of the early and mid1990s towards roles and positions previously occupied by men (Beyer and Roberta 361). Similarly, children have made significant growth in escaping from the bracket of little ones with no significance in society or the family towards people who can create a difference in their surroundings. On the contrary, men have made some slight ‘backward movement’ by accepting roles and positions previously preserved for the women.
In particular, women in the current society appear not as mothers and caretakers of the household, but as people who have gone to school and landed glittering careers in the fields of medicine, politics, management, education, and community heroines among others. In aIDition, most modern publishers have painted women as people who are independent, responsible, and influential in society (Ullah and Christine 191). Conversely, men have gained praise for getting involved with their families and children and household responsibilities. However, majority of men still emerge as highly successful people, energetic, innovative, and slightly above women. Lastly, children have managed to deserve images of well-behaved persons, creative, and innovative thus capable of doing unexpected things.
In modern and current presentations of different people, women serve the purpose of ensuring that they motivate and inspire young girls into working hard and securing a bright future. Similarly, men act as role models who shape the future of boys into becoming successful and responsible adults in the community. Conversely, children characters act to inspire their peers into developing the ideal and flawless characters painted or described in the books.
Interpretation
Visual presentation or vivid descriptions have the ability to pass the messages and information. In a similar manner, consistent presentation of people in the same way and prolonged exposure to this imagery can influence their thinking and attitudes towards others (Azmah et al 159). Therefore, when a child becomes exposed to gender bias books from the first grade to the twelfth or even the fifth grade, this child will develop some stereotypes or negative perceptions towards that gender (Al-Taweel 87). For example, in traditional books, children read that men and boys are the most significant people in the community. Accordingly, young boys tend to despise their mothers, women and girls in society, because they are second class citizens. Therefore, negative presentation of gender, age groups, and ethnic groups among others will result in deep rooted challenges that can only be solved through positive representation of these groups to the next generation that is not yet affected.
Solution
The presentation of gender roles and positions in English course books and other books of learning has existed for several years without being detected as a possible factor that affects people’s attitudes and behaviors in society (Giacomini et al 413). Considering the biased and negative representation of women, girls, and other minority groups in the books of early and miIDle 1900s, there is the need to reverse this trend and halt the effects it has imposed on society. Therefore, in the first recommendation towards this problem, the government and publishers should find it reasonable and moral to restrict the images that authors create for various people in society. Accordingly, the government should implore publishers to stop publishing books that present men, women, and children in some undesired manner (Murgescu 90). On the other hand, libraries should recall such books and take them out of the shelves to avoid exposing the future generation to images that will influence their lives negatively (Heathorn 1899).
With respect to the linguistics, this development will force them to conduct aIDitional studies and research to find the best way they can use language to make society a better place. Accordingly, they will have to find appropriate ways on how they can represent women, men, and children using language (Ismail 65).
Considering the obstacles and challenges that women face in society and how they struggle to overcome these situations, it is imperative that publishers must present women as unique people who overcome insurmountable obstacles to make society better. They should not be presented as people who struggle but fail or people who struggle but do not have any better option to explore. For instance, in The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman presents a mentally disturbed woman who manages to overcome her abusive husband only to escape into madness. In my opinion, the representation of women should create the actual picture to inspire and motivate other women (Heathorn 1889). In aIDition, modern authors should quote the names of successful women who have graced and succeeded in the fields of medicine, politics, engineering, law, community development, flight industry, management, and public administration among others. On the contrary, representation of men in a different way will only create a vicious circle in which the woman and girl child are the first victims then man and boy child as the second victims (Ismail 65). Therefore, men should maintain their current representations with aIDitional images of people who are more family-oriented than in the past. Therefore, in a single book, women and men should be painted as equal people who achieve the same levels of success. Accordingly, authors and publishers should not present men as more successful than women, yet there is no path the men followed, and no opportunity was presented to the women to achieve the same (Giacomini et al 413). Lastly, children should be presented as highly innovative people who are conscious about their surrounding and always devise ways of solving existing problems. This will ensure that the current and following generations are inspired and nurtured to think of ways of how to end the challenges that face the world today.
Today, a number of books have contents that define gender roles in different ways that are beneficial or harmful to the readers. For example, The Great Gatsby depicts men as irresponsible characters yet women still remain submissive to their demands. On the contrary, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, presents men as immoral and sexually abusive characters while the once submissive women are portrayed as people who overcome these challenges to become independent and successful. Lastly, in Tim Winton’s Breath, the author presents children as immoral people who engage in premarital sex with married women and also run away from home (Lee and Peter 357).
Conclusion
The presentation of women, men, and children in books influences the thinking, attitudes, and perceptions of people who read these books. Negative representation of any group results in stereotypes that undermine the social progress of this group while positive representation increases the chances of making positive progress. Therefore, linguistics should encourage publishers and authors of books to rethink their goals as they publish various books. They should adopt a positive approach to help in transforming society into a better place (Khan and Nighat 111).

Works Cited
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