Gendered dialogue in children's literature

Abstract

This paper investigates the gendered dialogue used in popular children's books. Pulling from a list of "100 Best Children's Books," this paper analyzes the characters in these books based on the gender binary and type of dialogue used. The categories of dialogue examined are declarations, commands, and questions. By examining which gender of characters say what types of dialogue, this study conducts a statistical analyses of gendered language within these books. Through examination of gender, rank of character, and dialogue this paper considers how characters are represented to children through stories and offers considerations for teachers and children's literature authors.