Historical Perceptions of Gender in Marine Animals as Studied Through Children’s Educational Books

Abstract

Children are fascinated by the natural world from a young age, evidence of an innate human tendency to form meaningful relationships with nature. At a young age, children are also exposed to various gender norming influences, such as the use of personal pronouns (she/her, him/his, it/its, they/their). I assessed thirty-nine historical children’s books from the “Golden Age” of children’s literature (1865-1926) for their use of personal pronouns in reference to non-human marine animals. These texts suggest that pronoun use in regard to marine animals is neither random nor systematic, but rather demonstrates a predilection toward masculine personal pronouns, particularly when describing active and/or dynamic characters, while the use of feminine pronouns occurs almost exclusively when describing reproduction of female marine animals. Additionally, illustrations of marine animals reveal a tendency to display animals as solitary figures in mostly sterile, biological formats that were typical of the time period, showing little evidence of anthropomorphism. Finally, there are notable differences between how boy and girl characters are depicted, with boy characters portrayed as more dynamic and active participants in their interactions with the ocean. Using methodology drawn from ecofeminist scholarship, these observations suggest that elements of white heteropatriarchy and systems of oppression are evident in early texts about marine animals for children, and that educational reformers should consider the effects of these gendered tendencies in order to make marine education more inclusive.