PINAY, WHERE ART THOU? AN EXAMINATION OF FILIPINA AMERICANS
IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
A Thesis
Presented to the faculty of the Graduate and Professional Studies in Education
California State University, Sacramento
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
Education
(Behavioral Sciences Gender Equity Studies)
by
Miriam Celeste Latayan Atienza
SPRING
2013
PINAY, WHERE ART THOU? AN EXAMINATION OF FILIPINA AMERICANS
IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
A Thesis
by
Miriam Celeste Latayan Atienza
Approved by:
__________________________________, Committee Chair
Sherrie Carinci, Ed.D.
__________________________________, Second Reader
Francie Dillon, B.A.
____________________________
Date
ii
Student: Miriam Celeste Latayan Atienza
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the
University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library
and credit is to be awarded for the thesis.
, Department Chair
Susan Heredia, Ph.D.
Date
Graduate and Professional Studies in Education
iii
Abstract
of
PINAY, WHERE ART THOU? AN EXAMINATION OF FILIPINA AMERICANS
IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
by
Miriam Celeste Latayan Atienza
Statement of Problem
Children’s books published about Asian American cultures have been a
growing trend in the last 10 years. According to the Cooperative Children's Book
Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison (n.d.), there were 167 (3.34%) out of 5000
books published in 2011 by and about Asian Americans compared to 137 (2.74%)
books published in 2002. Presently, however, the bulk of research in Asian American
children’s literature centers on cultural representation of Chinese Americans, Japanese
Americans, and Korean Americans (Loh, 2006). The dominance of these three ethnic
groups in the body of research may be attributed to the large number of books
published annually about them. As a result, children’s books about other Asian
American groups, such as Filipino Americans, have been overlooked and unanalyzed.
iv
Sources of Data
Through purposive sampling, 10 children’s books featuring the Filipino
American culture were included in the study. A content analysis of children’s books
was conducted using a mixed-methods design to account for the prevalence of
representation of Filipina Americans and the roles they play in the selected children’s
books. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of content analysis (Babbie,
2005; Neuman, 2006), data was collected to quantify the frequency of male and
female characters in each book and describe the roles each character portrayed in the
story (see the Data Collection Sheets in the Appendices). The data collection sheets
were created through the specifications described by Kolbe and LaVoie (1981).
Conclusions Reached
The results indicated that children’s book featuring Filipino Americans
contained a mixture of stereotypical and nontraditional gender portrayals. Although
females primarily comprised the authors of the books in the sample, almost 60% of the
main characters were males. Consequently, most stories stereotypically portrayed
women as very nurturing, feminine, caring, home-oriented, and concerned with
beauty. The in-text visuals also revealed that women tend to be illustrated with a
traditional portrayal – inside the home – and that they were often in the background or
had their illustrations cut off. At the same time, females were observed to be
independent, outspoken, and aggressive in certain roles.
v
Findings from this study demonstrated that males were largely represented in books;
however, females were observed to embody characteristics that were both typical and
nonconforming for their sex.
, Committee Chair
Sherrie Carinci, Ed.D.
Date
vi
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my maternal grandparents, Enrique and Clarita
Latayan, who have been prominent supporters of my education. They have instilled in
me a love of learning that taught me the value of education at an early age. Without
my grandparents, I would not have had the courage and determination to continue on
with my academic endeavors. Ama at Ina, maraming maraming salamat po!
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who helped bring this
thesis to fruition. First and foremost, I owe my deepest gratitude to my mom, Ofelia
Atienza, and my siblings: Ate Cherisse, Ate Maicah (plus my niece, Jamerie), Marri,
and Jerico. I would not have been able to finish my graduate program without your
love, patience, support, and understanding especially when I was unreachable 24/7
because I was working on my thesis. Love you!
I would like to thank Anne Cheng, Marie Torregrosa, Jerry Blake, Susana
Valdez, Delmy Montenegro-Spencer, and the rest of my SASEEP family for all the
opportunities they have provided me both as a student and a colleague. I am very
grateful for all the mentoring, counseling, coaching, and all the necessary ‘pushing’
you all have given me throughout the years – I will never forget them!
I also thank Dr. Kay Moore for introducing me to the wonderful world of
multicultural children’s literature. Her guidance and determination to help me with my
academic endeavors demonstrated how much of a caring professor she is. I am
thankful for everything she has done for me.
To my closest friends (Reina Gatmaitan, Brenda Le, BeBe Keo, Owen
Punzalan, and Reagan Rockzsfforde), your friendship means a lot to me and I can
never thank you enough for hearing me out every time as well as encouraging me to
keep on going with this thesis.
viii
For the friends I have met in graduate school (Katie Clifford, Antoinette
Manuel, Sehar Ali, Kellie Sturgeon, Bill Hanrahan, and Maricela Melendrez), I am
glad to have met you and spend the last two years trekking through graduate life
together. My journey as a graduate student will never be the same had I not been in
this rollercoaster-like ride with all of you. Kudos!
I would also like to acknowledge Francie Dillon as the second reader of this
thesis, and I am indebted to her for her valuable comments on this thesis.
Last but certainly not the least, I cannot find words to express my gratitude to
my advisor and mentor, Dr. Sherrie Carinci. Thank you so much for always believing
in me and fostering a challenging yet fulfilling graduate program. You have influenced
me in more ways than you could ever imagine. When I walked into your EDTE 165
class in Fall 2009, I never realized that gender equity issues would change my life
forever. I strive to one day be as powerful a professor and mentor as you are to me!
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication................................................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... viii
List of Tables ............................................................................................................. xiii
List of Figures............................................................................................................ xiv
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................. 1
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................... 1
Significance of the Study.................................................................................. 2
Methodology..................................................................................................... 4
Limitations ........................................................................................................ 5
Theoretical Basis for the Study ........................................................................ 5
Definition of Relevant Terms ........................................................................... 8
Organization of Thesis ................................................................................... 11
Background of the Researcher ........................................................................ 12
2. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ......................................................... 14
Multicultural Education .................................................................................. 14
Multicultural Literature for Children.............................................................. 19
Teacher Training on Diversity........................................................................ 21
Consequences of the Absence of Gender Equity Training ............................. 24
Social Construction of Gender and its Influence on Gender
Development .................................................................................................. 27
Research on Gender in Children’s Literature (1970-Present) ........................ 31
Research on Asian American Children’s Literature (1960-Present) .............. 46
x
Filipino American Children’s Literature ........................................................ 62
Filipino American History .............................................................................. 65
Summary......................................................................................................... 76
3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 78
Introduction .................................................................................................... 78
Research Questions ........................................................................................ 78
Research Design and Data Collection ............................................................ 79
Research Instruments – Data Collection Sheets ............................................. 80
Participants – Children’s Books ..................................................................... 84
Setting ............................................................................................................. 87
Procedures ...................................................................................................... 87
Summary......................................................................................................... 90
4. FINDINGS ........................................................................................................... 91
Research Questions ........................................................................................ 91
Quantitative Results........................................................................................ 91
Qualitative Results........................................................................................ 101
Summary....................................................................................................... 109
5. DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND
CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................... 110
Discussion..................................................................................................... 110
Quantitative Analysis ................................................................................... 110
Qualitative Analysis ..................................................................................... 113
Conclusion .................................................................................................... 118
Limitations .................................................................................................... 120
Recommendations ........................................................................................ 121
Reflection ..................................................................................................... 122
xi
Appendix A. Data Collection Sheet A – Gender Orientation of Book
Title and Covers ............................................................................... 125
Appendix B. Data Collection Sheet B – Character Personality Traits ................... 127
Appendix C. Data Collection Sheet C – Gender Role Reference of
In-text Visuals .................................................................................. 129
Appendix D. Data Collection Sheet D – Gender Reference of Main
Protagonist ........................................................................................ 131
Appendix E. Data Collection Sheet E – Male and Female In-text
Biographies ........................................................................................ 133
Appendix F. Data Collection Sheet F – Sex of Author and Illustrator ................... 135
References ................................................................................................................ 137
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
1.
Gender Orientation of the Book Title ............................................................. 92
2.
Gender Orientation of the Front Cover .......................................................... 93
3.
Gender Orientation of the Back Cover ........................................................... 93
4.
Personality Traits Attributed to Male and Female Characters ....................... 95
5.
Sex of Main Characters .................................................................................. 99
6.
Sex of Author, Illustrator, and Translator .................................................... 100
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1.
Page
Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals: Expressive or
Instrumental Roles .......................................................................................... 96
2.
Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals: Significant or
Insignificant Roles .......................................................................................... 97
3.
Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals: Stereotyped or
Non-stereotyped Roles ................................................................................... 98
xiv
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem
Children’s books published about Asian American cultures have been a
growing trend in the last ten years. According to the Cooperative Children's Book
Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison (n.d.), there were 167 (3.34%) out of 5000
books published in 2011 by and about Asian Americans compared to 137 (2.74%)
books published in 2002. Presently, however, the bulk of research in Asian American
children’s literature centers on cultural representation of Chinese Americans, Japanese
Americans, and Korean Americans (Loh, 2006). The dominance of these three ethnic
groups in the body of research may be attributed to the large number of books
published annually about them. As a result, children’s books about other Asian
American groups, such as Filipino Americans, have been overlooked and unanalyzed.
The goal of this study was to help fill in the void in research, especially about gender
representation in children’s books featuring Filipina Americans.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this research was to examine how children’s books with
Filipino American characters depict Filipinas. Research in multicultural children’s
literature frequently delved into the underrepresentation, inaccuracy, and
inauthenticity of cultures as well as genders in children’s books (Chen, 2009;
Henderson & May, 2005; Loh, 2006; de Jesus, 2006; Morgan, 2009; Pang, Colvin,
2
Tran, & Barba, 1992). Children’s books from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean culture
generally constituted the sample in most studies about Asian Americans (Loh, 2006).
Hence, there was no telling how children who come from other Asian groups were
depicted and affected by these books. For Filipino American children, in particular,
this case was true because of their lack of representation in children’s literature
(Henderson & May, 2005; de Jesus, 2006). Although Asian American female
characters have been depicted in books, the roles they portrayed have not been
examined extensively in any of the recent research in children’s books (Dong, 2006;
Loh, 2006; Thongthiraj, 2006). While there may be research about gender
representations in children’s books, empirical studies using Filipino American
children’s books as the sample have not been conducted.
Significance of the Study
Asian Americans are now considered one of the continuously growing
populations in the United States (United Census Bureau, 2011b) representing 5.6% of
the total population in the country. California is home to the largest group of Asian
Americans, which consist of 5.6 million people (United Census Bureau, 2011a).
Filipino Americans, in particular, are the second largest ethnic group in the state,
behind Chinese Americans, with a total of 3.2 million people (United States Census
Bureau, 2011b). The US Census Bureau also stated that Tagalog, one of the main
languages spoken by Filipinos, is the second most-spoken language in California
3
homes (2011a). More importantly, public schools in the state enroll a sizeable number
of Filipino students – both from generational and immigrant families.
Filipino students throughout the state consistently permeate K-12 schools
every year. With more than 157,000 students enrolled during the 2011-2012 school
year, Filipinos have a significantly huge presence in the California education system
(California Department of Education, 2012). However, the vast majority of the
curriculum about Asian Americans often lacked extensive information about Filipinos.
According to Gopalakrishnan (2010), minority students, such as Filipino Americans,
need curriculum materials written for and about them because it would help them
become more aware of their heritage as well as the contributions of their culture in
contemporary American society. For pre-school and kindergarten students, different
types of children’s books have been used to supplement the lessons taught in the
classroom. Therefore, these books must be carefully examined and chosen to
adequately depict and represent the diverse backgrounds of the students. Moreover, a
gender equitable selection of books must be offered for the children to read. For
Filipino pre-school students, children’s books published about their culture would
allow them to see how their culture is perceived together as a group and as individuals
living in this country. Filipino American students will have a stronger sense of their
cultural identity and pride as well as form a more solid gender and cultural identity
because they can see themselves in the books they read.
4
Methodology
This study examined gender representations of Filipinas in children’s books
composed of Filipino American characters. A content analysis of children’s books was
conducted using a mixed-methods design to account for the prevalence of
representation of Filipina Americans and the roles they play in the selected children’s
books. The sample of this study included 10 children’s books with Filipino American
characters and was chosen based on the following criteria: (1) the book must be
published in the United States within the last 25 years, (2) the book must have human
characters, and (3) the book must have Filipino American characters and cultural
reference present in the story. The titles of the children’s books in the sample were
derived from the current books included in the University Library’s children’s book
collection as well as through personal research. Afterwards, the children’s books were
bought from online retailers due to easy access and availability. Using both
quantitative and qualitative methods of content analysis (Babbie, 2005; Neuman,
2006), data was collected to quantify the frequency of male and female characters in
each book and describe the roles each character portrayed in the story (see the Data
Collection Sheets in the Appendices). The data collection sheets were created to
account for the sex of the characters and the importance of their roles in the book, as
described in Kolbe and LaVoie (1981).
5
Limitations
The main limitation of this study was that it solely evaluated Filipino
American children’s books with Filipina Americans that were published from the last
25 years. The books included in the study did not encompass all of the children’s
books published about the Filipino American culture. Because the sample was derived
from books which were published from 1986-2011, the results do not reflect all of the
books published prior and after the selected time frame. Furthermore, there was no
random sampling of books in the study since the books were pre-selected for their
affiliation with the Filipino American culture. Therefore, results of this study have
been influenced by the sample used.
Theoretical Basis for the Study
Different theories in education associated with research in gender equity exist
but this study was framed through the lenses of Social Learning Theory (Bandura,
1977; Mischel, 1966), Gender Schema Theory (Bem, 1981, 1983), and Peminist
Critical Theory/Pinayism (de Jesus, 2005b; Tintiangco-Cubales, 2005). Collectively,
the ideas covered by these theories set the overall foundation of this thesis. How a
person learns about gender depends on the role models they see as well as how they
are socialized in a specific environment. Once the conception of gender has been
solidified in a person’s psyche, their decisions and actions about themselves as well as
the books they read will be influenced by how they interpret gender.
6
Social Learning Theory
Mischel (1966) and Bandura (1977) championed the research about Social
Learning Theory. Based on this theory, people learned about behavior through
observational learning (Mischel, 1966) and modeling (Bandura, 1977), which they use
as a guide for their own actions. Modeling not only reinforced the idea of
observational learning, but it also facilitated the preservation of behaviors that have
been perceived over time (Bandura, 1977). Likewise, children immediately learn sextyped behaviors that were specific for males and females from their parents. As
children understand which behavior was appropriate for each sex, they would
internalize this binary system and adopt it for themselves. For instance, children learn
to choose the books they read based on what their elders provide them. If their parents
and teachers choose books that promote gender bias, children would also model this
behavior and select books in the same way. Mischel (1966) and Bandura (1977)
agreed that society rewards boys and girls more if their behavior matches that of what
is expected from them. Therefore, the engendered way of selecting books would be
more favorable for children because they would be praised or even remunerated for
doing this behavior.
Gender Schema Theory
The Gender Schema Theory, which drew upon the framework of Cognitive
Theory (Kohlberg, 1966) and Social Learning Theory (Mischel, 1966; Bandura,
1977), posited that sex typing was the outcome of gendered schemas formed by
7
individuals to make sense of the world (Bem, 1981, 1983). As children learn about
gender schemas, they form their network of associations based on their own sex (Ryle,
2011). Schematic processing also aided a child’s internalization and reinforcements of
the culture’s definition of what it was like to be males and females (Bem, 1981).
Based on what children read in books, they may associate certain skills, ideas, and
duties exclusively according to the sex of another person. For this reason, children’s
gender schemas influence how they interpret what they read in books.
Peminist Critical Theory/Pinayism
Samson (2005) suggested there were not any feminist theories about Filipino
Americans in academia until Filipina scholars (de Jesus, 2005b; Tintiangco-Cubales,
2005) offered a formal theory that encompassed the Filipino American women’s
experiences. de Jesus (2005b) explained Peminist Critical Theory/Pinayism as the
“Filipina American consciousness, theory, and culture, with the p signifying
specifically Pinay or Pilipina,” which “radically repudiates white feminist hegemony
as it incorporates the Filipino American oppositional politics” (p. 5). However,
Tintiangco-Cubales (2005) emphasized that Pinayism was not a Filipino American
interpretation of feminism. Rather, “Pinayism is beyond looking at gender politics as
the major focus. Pinayism aims to look at the complexity of the intersections where
race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, spirituality/religion, educational status, age,
place of birth” (Tintiangco-Cubales, 2005, p. 141). Pinayism is essential in how
Filipinas will interpret the text and images they read in children’s books. If they see
8
themselves in the books they read, a stronger sense of Filipina identity forms and they
will internalize the importance of being a woman as well as a Filipina in America
when they mature.
Definition of Relevant Terms
Asian Americans:
Encompassing diverse groups of people differing in culture, language, and
belief systems – with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, Indian
subcontinent or the Pacific Islands which may include (but not limited to)
those from the following ethnic heritages: Cambodian, Chinese, East Indian,
Filipino, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean,
Laotian, Samoan, and Vietnamese. (Loh, 2006, p. 45)
Bias: “A distorted perspective towards a category of other persons. Bias
interferes with the way people see the world and other people” (Crocco & Libresco,
2007, p. 154).
Children’s literature: “Works written specifically for children or adolescents
[usually books] that are of interest to young people” (Gilton, 2007, p. 3).
Cultural Authenticity: “Looks at how accurately people of color are
represented and/or portrayed in the text specific to their culture [and] is influenced by
power and perspective” (Loh, 2006, p. 48).
9
Cultural Pluralism: “When many distinct but smaller cultural groups coexist
within a large society and maintain their unique identities” (Gopalakrishnan, 2010, p.
248).
Gender: “A category consisting of behaviors that result from social, cultural,
and psychological factors associated with masculinity and femininity within a society”
(Banks & McGee Banks, 2010, p. 446).
Gender equity: “Treating boys and girls in a fair and equitable fashion […and]
may involve taking into consideration each group’s strengths and weaknesses in
planning curriculum and pedagogy” (Crocco & Libresco, 2007, p. 157).
Gender identity: “The simple ability to label oneself as a boy or a girl and
others as boy, girl, man, or woman” (Bussey & Bandura, 1999, p. 677).
Gender roles: “Society’s expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes,
and activities of males and females” which “vary across cultures and at different times
in a society and within microcultures in the same society” (Banks, 2010b, p. 17;
Schafer, 1996, p. 431).
Gender role socialization: “The communication of a particular set of ‘gender
appropriate’ behaviors” (Lips, 1989, p. 198).
Gender schema: “A cognitive structure that enables us to sort characteristics
and behaviors into masculine and feminine categories and then creates various other
associations with those categories. [It] eventually come[s] to shape the ways which we
perceive the world around us” (Ryle, 2011, p.133).
10
Gender stereotypes: “Generalized pre-conceptions about the attributes of males
and females” (Bussey & Bandura, 1999, p. 678).
Multicultural children’s literature: “Literature that is not of the mainstream in
the United States. Rather, it is about groups who have been previously
underrepresented and often marginalized by society as a whole” (Gopalakrishnan,
2010, p. 5).
Multicultural education: “A reform movement designed to change the total
educational environment so that students from diverse racial and ethnic groups,
students of both genders, exceptional students, and students from each social-class will
experience equal educational opportunities in schools, colleges, and universities”
(Banks & McGee Banks, 2010, p. 446).
People of color: “Groups in the United States and other nations who have
experienced discrimination historically because of their unique biological
characteristics that enabled potential discriminators to identify them easily” (Banks &
McGee Banks, 2010, p. 447).
Picture books: “A genre in which illustrations are an integral part of the action
of the story, contributing to the sequence and the mood of the work” (Harada, 1995, p.
138).
Racism:
A belief that human groups can be validly grouped according to their
biological traits and that these identifiable groups inherit certain mental,
11
personality, and cultural characteristics that determine their behavior. [It] is not
merely a set of beliefs but is practiced when a group has the power to enforce
laws, institutions, and norms based on its beliefs, which oppresses and
dehumanize another group. (Banks & McGee Banks, 2010, p. 447)
Representation: “The act or result of making a person, thing, text, action, or
image stand for another so that stable and separate identities are reified, implicitly
creating the impression that the representation is adequate, accurate, and true”
(Appelbaum, 2002, p. 181).
Sex typing: “The process by which a society thus transmutes males and females
into masculine and feminine” (Bem, 1981, p. 354).
Sexism: “Social, political, and economic structures that advantage one sex
group over the other” (Banks & McGee Banks, 2010, p. 448).
Stereotyping: “The process of making a simplified and standard conception or
image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group”
(Crocco & Libresco, 2007, p. 161).
Organization of Thesis
This thesis contains five chapters and follows the guidelines established by the
Teacher Education department from the College of Education. Chapter 1 introduces
the study and it described the purpose of the study, statement of the problem,
significance of the study, methodology, limitations of the study, theoretical
framework, and the definition of relevant terms used in the study. Chapter 2 comprises
12
of a review of all relevant literature on the history multicultural education,
multicultural children’s literature, teacher training on diversity, consequences of the
absence of gender equity training, social constructs of gender and its influence on
gender development, prior research on gender in children’s literature, previous
research on Asian American children’s literature, limited research on Filipino
American children’s literature, and Filipino American history. Chapter 3 emphasizes
on the methodology and describes the analyses conducted in the study. Chapter 4
presents the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data collected from the
children’s books sampled. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the findings and interpretation
of the results in relation to the review of relevant literature included within the thesis.
The figures, tables, appendices, and references used in the study immediately follow
Chapter 5.
Background of the Researcher
Miriam Celeste Latayan Atienza was born and raised in Lipa City, Batangas,
Philippines where she attended a Catholic coeducational school throughout her
elementary years. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 14 and attended
Jesse Bethel High School in Vallejo, CA. In 2006, she began attending California
State University, Sacramento and she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology in
Spring 2011. During her time in school, she was also employed at the Educational
Opportunity Program at CSUS. In Fall 2011, she started the post baccalaureate
program in Gender Equity Studies to pursue a Master of Arts in Education.
13
Throughout her academic career at CSUS, Mia has been fascinated with the
role of women in education. After taking EDTE 165 (Sex stereotyping in American
Education) and EDTE 121 (Multicultural Children’s Literature), she realized that
minority women remain underrepresented and stereotypically depicted in children’s
literature. Therefore, she decided that the examination of children’s books in terms of
gender and Filipino American issues were important to address. During her first two
semesters in the Gender Equity Studies Program, Mia realized that the true essence of
cultural pluralism lies in the proper portrayal and representation of all women in
literature.
Mia continues to work for the Student Academic Success and Educational
Equity Program (SASEEP) on campus as the Program Assistant for the Faculty
Student Mentor Program (FSMP). As a firm believer in equity in education, she
advocates for the recruitment and retention of students from first-generation,
underrepresented backgrounds to Sacramento State.
14
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
This chapter reviews all relevant literature on multicultural education, more
specifically its influence on multicultural children’s literature. Second, teacher training
on diversity and the consequences of the absence of gender equity training, which
would include a review of curriculum materials, using a gender-inclusive lens will be
discussed as well. Third, the social constructs of gender and its influence on gender
development will be examined. Fourth, prior research on gender, Asian Americans,
and Filipino Americans in children’s literature will also be assessed. Lastly, Filipino
American history will sum up the review of literature.
Multicultural Education
Multicultural education was as a result of the different political, social, and
curriculum movements of the 1950s and 1960s (Appelbaum, 2002; Banks &
Ambrosio, 2003). The Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 was a highly
relevant and monumental event in the field of education because it paved the way for
the creation of the field of multicultural education (Ross & Pang, 2006). Similarly, the
Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was an influential catalyst to its inception after
students of color began to question inequities in education created by the Jim Crow
laws (Blum, 1997). Originally stemming from the African American movement and
Ethnic studies, this field became the comparative study of all racial and ethnic groups
in the United States since it advocated for the formal inclusion of the varying cultural
15
and individual experiences into the traditional curriculum (Banks & Ambrosio, 2003;
Grant, 2008; Grant & Ladson-Billings, 1997). However, Banks (2010b) contended
that in the 1960s courses and programs about multicultural education were not
properly planned because most students took only elective classes about it. Teachers
were also unaware of how to approach students of color and thought of their culture
“as deficiencies that needed to be remediated” (Sleeter & Grant, 2009, p. 162).
Therefore, the formal definition, purpose, goals, and method of practice fluctuated as
contingent upon the institution that implemented multicultural education (Banks,
2010b; Steinberg & Kinchloe, 2009).
The core purpose of multicultural education was to promote educational equity
for all minority groups and bridge the achievement gap between the dominant and
marginalized groups of society (Ross & Pang, 2006). Moreover, the founders aimed to
change the structures of schools to ensure equal opportunities for students who come
from diverse backgrounds (Sleeter & Grant, 2009). Educators who come from the
‘transformative scholarship’ model instruct students to learn and internalize cultural
pluralism and equity to better function in a multiethnic society (Grant & LadsonBillings, 1997). Issues of gender, race, class, and language were also woven into the
larger scale of multicultural education in order to properly comprehend the differences
of people in American society (Grant & Ladson-Billings, 1997; Ross & Pang, 2006).
In turn, the ideologies of multicultural education, as noted by Sleeter and Grant
16
(2009), would be achieved once all educational institutions address the societal and
school goals.
Educators (Banks, 1993a, 1993b, 2004, 2010a, 2011; Sleeter & Grant, 2009)
recognized that multicultural education has its goals, dimensions, and approaches.
Multicultural education’s overall goal was “to reform the school and other educational
institutions so that students from diverse racial, ethnic, and social-class groups [would]
experience educational equity” (Banks, 2004, p. 1). In the same token, there were
specific goals for the society, as a whole, and for schools. The societal goals of
multicultural education were to promote the notion of unity, respect, cultural
tolerance, and pluralism (Campbell, 2010), where everyone acknowledged that the
country was essentially a “tossed salad or a patchwork quilt” (Sleeter & Grant, 2009,
p. 164). The second goal of multicultural education pertained to schools: students from
diverse backgrounds would be exposed to a curriculum about themselves and others,
teachers would provide personal and intellectual activities in the classroom, students
would be evaluated fairly, and all families – despite their gender, social, ethnic,
cultural, or linguistic – would have equal access to school functions and activities
(Sleeter, 2009). Throughout the years, numerous ways on how to teach multicultural
education have been introduced, but there has been no consensus on how to teach
multicultural education consistently (Baird, 2010; Banks, 2010b; Sleeter & Grant,
2009).
17
As a way to recognize the multi-faceted nature of multicultural education,
Banks (1993a, 2010a) developed five dimensions to show how educators use some of
the dimensions in their curriculum: content integration, knowledge construction,
prejudice reduction, equity pedagogy, and empowering school culture and social
structure. The first dimension, content integration, involved the teacher’s
incorporation of people of color in the traditional curriculum. Banks (1993a)
emphasized that this dimension was the narrowest one, as it was not applicable for all
subjects (i.e. Sciences and Mathematics). The knowledge construction process alluded
to the fact that educators inculcate students about race, ethnicity, gender, and social
class (Banks, 1993a, 2011). Teachers must be aware of the different types of
knowledge (personal/ cultural, popular, mainstream academic, transformative, and
school) so that they can properly practice them in the classroom according to their
students’ needs (Banks, 1993a). The prejudice reduction dimension was about the
ways teachers can address the students’ racial, ethnic, and cultural attitudes and assist
them to better generate positive images of people different from them (Banks, 2011).
Equity pedagogy dimension referred to the teacher’s modification of their instructional
style to support and facilitate a learning environment that was inclusive of diverse
backgrounds (Banks, 1993a, 2011). Finally, the last dimension known as empowering
school culture and social structure suggested that once the schools promote an
equitable and transformative environment, the institution, as a whole, would be better
equipped to serve its student population (Banks, 1993a).
18
In conjunction with the dimensions of multicultural education, Banks (2010a)
identified the levels of integration of multicultural content. The first level was called
the contributions approach because important historical and contemporary figures
from different cultures were added on to the traditional curriculum (Banks, 2010a).
Nonetheless, the curriculum remained unchanged and individuals who get included in
this approach were typically people who did not challenge the social, political, or
educational norms of society (Banks, 2010a). The second level, called the additive
approach, occur when teachers add educational materials such as chapters or units in a
book with ethnic information but do not modify their overall curriculum (Banks,
2010a). While the first two levels incorporated ethnic and cultural information in the
curriculum, both did not change its overall structure and content. The transformative
approach allowed students to “view concepts, issues, themes, and problems from
several ethnic perspectives and points of view” (Banks, 2010a, p. 242). The main
advantage of this level was that students have an alternative window of how they
would look at the issues in our society. The last approach, called the social action
approach, serve as the amalgamation of the previous three levels as well as way to
teach students how to be proactive decision-makers and politically active when it
comes to the relevant social issues America faces today (Banks, 2010a).
As a result of multicultural education’s integration in the curriculum, teachers
must also have an in-depth understanding of the student population they serve.
Campbell (2010) noted that teachers who do not value diversity would not have a
19
quality and caring relationships with their students. Moreover, Henry (2010)
emphasized that teachers must be aware that “identities are multidimensional,
overlapping, and complex [because] power and oppression operate along many
dimensions such as socioeconomic background, language, ethnicity, race, skin color,
sex, sexuality, gender, and disability” (p. 183). Once teachers and curriculum planners
understand that no student are the same, sexism, racism, and other forms of
discrimination may be avoided (Henry, 2010). Most of all, teachers should be highly
familiar with their role as cultural mediator because the dynamics of student
interactions depend on how they control cultural conflicts in the classroom (Campbell,
2010).
Multicultural Literature for Children
One of the most important legacies of multicultural education can also be
found in children’s literature. Multicultural children’s literature advocated for
recognizing previously marginalized and oppressed groups in society (Bishop, 1997;
Gopalakrishnan, 2010). Moreover, it allowed every student to learn about people of
different cultural, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds (Bishop, 1997).
Tracing its roots from the Civil Rights Movement, multicultural literature for children
emerged as a response to the demand for the inclusion of cultural information in
curriculum materials (Gilton, 2007). Furthermore, Larrick’s (1995) pioneer study in
1965 was pivotal for multicultural literature because it indicated that people of color
were generally invisible in the study of more than 5000 popular children’s books that
20
were examined. In the occasion that minorities were portrayed in books, they were
often depicted stereotypically and seen as assimilating into the Anglo-dominated
culture (Gilton, 2007). Issues about proper representation or ethnic differences were
hardly addressed, as there was limited dialogue about socially and culturally conscious
books during the time (Gopalakrishnan, 2010).
When Larrick’s (1995) study was conducted, the absence of non-White
characters was publicized as well as the improper representation of minorities in
children’s books. Gilton (2007) acknowledged that stereotypic texts and illustrations
led to the misinterpretation of the different ethnic groups in the country. Because there
were not many authors of color who could write accurately about their experiences,
children’s literature that provided ‘cultural’ insight was mostly prejudiced (Bishop,
1997; Gilton, 2007). Every racial and ethnic groups were vulnerable for stereotypical
depictions because they did not have control about what was published about them
(Gilton, 1997) and major publishers preferred to produce books about mainstream
children’s literature (de Jesus, 2006; Gilton, 2007). Certainly, the publishing trends of
multicultural books have changed over the years to accommodate the ever-changing
demographics of the United States (Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University
of Wisconsin, n.d).
Educators agreed that schools have a need for multicultural children’s
literature (Galton, 2007; Gopalakrishnan, 2010; Hoagland, 2008). Baskwill (2008)
contended that cultural norms dictated the types of books chosen for the classroom and
21
which ones were readily given for children to read. Once teachers identify the need for
multicultural children’s books in their classroom, students begin to read about people,
cultures, and traditions that differ from theirs; thus, they learn to recognize the
advantages of these books at an early age (Bishop, 1997). Hoagland (2008)
enumerated some of the benefits of incorporating multicultural stories and books into
the curriculum. Multicultural children’s literature served as agents of change because
it transformed people’s misconceptions about people of color. For instance, Harris
(1997) agreed that stories, more specifically about African Americans, provide a
window into “the multifaceted complexities of becoming […] Black” (p. 28). Teachers
and their students can then enter into a conversation about the experiences of African
Americans today that could be a positive way to demystify the negative stereotypes
about this particular group. Another advantage of multicultural stories was its power to
lessen or even eradicate racism. Because of its inclusive properties, multicultural
stories encompassed the distinctive perspectives of people in the United States
(Hoagland, 2008). Finally, children’s literature from a multicultural standpoint offered
stories that were culturally relevant and engaging to the readers. Steiner (2001)
mentioned that the possibility of exploring and learning about diversity has never been
easier since the number of multicultural children’s books increased over the years.
Teacher Training on Diversity
After multicultural education was added to the traditional curriculum, teachers
were encouraged to modify their pedagogical styles to suit the needs of students from
22
dissimilar backgrounds (Banks, 1993b). Pang (1994) emphasized that by incorporating
multicultural education in teacher training, pre-service teachers would have the chance
to learn how to create a thriving and equitable environment for culturally diverse
students. As cultural pluralism has been a vital element of multicultural education, the
same concept has been integrated in diversity training in teacher education (Craft,
1996). Since the majority of public school and pre-service teachers mostly consist of
“overwhelmingly white, monolingual [individuals] from a rural or suburban
community,” they have very “little direct intercultural diversity” (Zeichner, 1996, p.
141). Teacher education served as the vessel to prepare teachers to better function in
culturally pluralistic classrooms (Craft, 1996). Similarly, these teachers reported that
they were not prepared to teach students from ethnic and language minority
backgrounds (Hollins & Guzman, 2005; Zeichner, 1996). Therefore, the ultimate goal
of teacher education was to link the discrepancy of experiences between the student
teachers and their future students (Grant & Gibson, 2011).
Zeichner (1996) discussed Teacher Education for Cultural Diversity (TECD)
and how it has been employed to serve as the foundation of diversity training in many
teacher education programs. TECD consist of four dimensions: infusion or segregated
approach to multicultural education, culture-specific or cultural-general socialization
strategies, emphasis on interaction with cultures, and inclusiveness/ cultural
responsiveness of teacher education program. First, teacher educators choose whether
multicultural education would be infused into the main curriculum or taught separately
23
as its own course. A segregated approach to multicultural education course was the
more popular choice although educators preferred infusion approach (Zeichner, 1996).
Second, programs elect how pre-service teachers would work with different cultures.
If the culture-specific training was provided, educators train student teachers to
interact precisely with a certain cultural group. On the other hand, culture-general
training focused on the cross-cultural interactions of student teachers. Third, teacher
education programs have different protocols on how much student teachers were
exposed to a diverse student population. Lastly, teacher education programs equipped
student teachers to teach in a multicultural setting and meet the needs of its students.
Once educators have chosen the method of how diversity training would be taught and
administered in teacher education programs, student teachers commence their
preparation in teaching in a diverse classroom.
Among the students of teacher education programs, most had mixed feelings
and attitudes about diversity in the classroom (Hollins & Guzman, 2005). Hollins
(2011) noted that teacher candidates felt that they do not have sufficient experience to
teach in a multicultural setting so they doubt their ability to properly teach or reach out
to their students. However, Pang (1994) stated that through proper instruction, student
teachers would be able to foster a classroom community that included all students. In
the three phases of Pang’s (1994) teacher education class, students learn how to
understand themselves to become agents of change in the classroom. The first phase
involved prejudice reduction by exploring the values and biases students hold then
24
learning how to minimize or eliminate them altogether. The second phase comprised
of field-based learning, which was also endorsed by Hollins and Guzman (2005) so
that student teachers have prior contact with diverse students before actually teaching
them. Pang (1994) reiterated that by directly interacting with culturally diverse and
urban communities, teachers would relate to the issues they face and understand their
educational aspirations as well. The final phase touched on the feasibility of
implementing multicultural education in the classroom. Pang (1994) recommended
student teachers to be more familiar with intra-cultural difference to avoid over
generalization of a certain ethnic group. Teachers must also include culturally
sensitive and ethnically representative materials so that their students could see
themselves in the curriculum as well as understand cultures that differ from theirs
(Pang, 1994). Overtime, pre-service teachers who were exposed to diversity training in
teacher education courses were more motivated to teach multicultural education and
reduced their prejudicial beliefs about their students (Hollins & Guzman, 2005).
Consequences of the Absence of Gender Equity Training
Banks (1993b) argued that teachers who were trained to adapt to a diverse
student population and taught to utilize equitable curriculum materials would enhance
the learning of every student. Oftentimes, books are used as the primary source of
information both for teachers and students. Witt (1997) emphasized that books serve a
very important purpose in a child’s learning process. However, the pursuit of
providing gender equitable books in the classroom is one of those challenges that
25
continue to baffle educators despite the availability of non-stereotyped books
published today. Pre-service teachers are trained to work with a diverse student
population (Davis, Brown, Liedel-Rice, & Soeder, 2005) but they are “not prepared to
make the needed changes in methods of assessments, curricula choices, interaction
patterns, or teaching strategies that would foster a gender-equitable learning
environment” (Carinci, 2007, p. 64). As a result of the absence of gender equity
training in teacher education, curriculum materials such as textbooks and children’s
books provided to students may contain gender and cultural stereotypes (Carinci,
2007; Davis et al., 2005; Pang et al., 1992; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010).
As the federal government began to implement progressive reforms for women
after the passage of Title IX in 1972, educators took notice of the outdated curriculum
that was reflective of the Victorian and post-World War II era (Sadker & Sadker,
1994). Not only was the 1970s the decade that was analogous with the feminist
movement, but it was also the time period when instructional materials and textbooks
were critically examined for their content (American Association of University
Women, 1992; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010). After analyzing
the textbooks from the years prior to 1970s, educators found that those books were
biased and male-dominated (AAUW, 1992; Trecker, 1973). Women were commonly
depicted in textbooks with dependent, domestic, and insignificant roles while males
were portrayed as the complete opposite (AAUW, 1992; Fox & Hesse-Biber, 1984;
Sadker, Sadker, & Garies, 1980; Trecker, 1973). In addition, minority women faced
26
“double jeopardy” since issues of racism and sexism affected how they were portrayed
in books (Schafer, 1996). More importantly, Sadker et al. (2009) reiterated that
individual male accomplishments were mentioned more often than the total number of
ethnic women in the classroom.
Due to the gender imbalance of representation and depiction of women in
textbooks, teachers advocated for a more impartial and representative depiction of
women in books used in schools (Sadker & Sadker, 1994). The publishers’ role in the
inclusion of women in books was highlighted and a conscientious effort for producing
gender equitable books was put on their shoulders since publishing companies control
what types of information are contained in textbooks (AAUW, 1992; Sadker &
Sadker, 1994; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010). Professional as well as educational
organizations such as the American Psychological Association, National Council of
Teachers of English, and the Council on Interracial Books for Children created
guidelines to avoid the publication of sexist and racist information (Council on
Interracial Books for Children, 1980; Sadker et al., 2009; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010).
On the contrary, women’s space allotment in textbooks did not increase since most
publishers did not abide by the guidelines available to them (AAUW, 1992; Schafer,
1996). The lack of mandates on publishers had a detrimental effect on other
educational books published that were used in the classroom.
Aside from the traditional textbooks, teachers from pre-K to early elementary
levels include children’s books in their curriculum to supplement lessons, foster
27
literacy, and promote multiculturalism (Davis et al., 2005; Ernst & Mathis, 2008;
Hansen-Krening, 1992; Loh, 2006). Similarly, the stories and characters depicted in
children’s books help facilitate the way children understand themselves and the roles
they play as they make sense of the world. Given that this medium is often provided to
girls and boys at a young age (Witt, 1997), children quickly learn about the values and
traditions of society (Oskamp, Kaufman, & Wolterbeek, 1996). Oskamp and
colleagues (1996) also mentioned that children learn about their culture through their
constant exposure to picture books. As prescribed by the stories, the children’s notion
of how a girl or a boy in their culture must behave can be contingent on the types of
books chosen by their teachers. If a book has been selected solely on the basis of
immediate availability, a gender equitable and culturally representative collection of
books may not be possible.
Social Construction of Gender and its Influence on Gender Development
Most people learn about behavior from their environment as well as the social
cues around them (Bandura, 1977; Mischel, 1966). Jacobs, Davis-Kean, Bleeker,
Ecclers, and Malachuk (2005) elaborated that a child’s view of the world was shaped
by their own culture, parents’ beliefs, personal beliefs, and aptitudes. Barker and
Aspray (2006) confirmed that parents teach an engendered mindset regardless of their
values. Early on, parents become their child’s main source of information and their
parenting practices lead to the child’s behavior early in life (Lips, 1989). The child’s
28
motivation to do certain activities was usually based on what they learned from their
parents (Jacobs et al., 2005).
Societal beliefs about the ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ behaviors commonly
guided parents into how they raise their children (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974).
Consequently, these stereotypical behaviors get transmitted from the parents to their
children. According to the model of parent socialization (Eccles et al., 1983), the
“characteristics of the parents, family, neighborhood, and characteristics of the child
[would] influence parents’ behavior and their general beliefs about the child […],
which, in turn, [would] affect child outcomes” (Jacobs et al., 2005, p. 248). More
importantly, parents reinforce the notion of gender by the way they respond to their
children’s behaviors. If a boy or a girl does not act according to these binary
classifications, their parents automatically reprimand them to behave appropriately
(Lips, 1989). For example, the children’s books provided to boys and girls dictate
what types of activities they should do more. Parents encouraged boys to be active,
independent and competitive by giving their children books with male-dominated,
heroic characters whereas girls were given books with princesses or mothers to foster
passiveness, dependency, and cooperation (Lips, 1989). By providing genderstereotyped books, parents directly influence their children’s notion of what they can
and cannot do when they grow up.
Aside from the socialization children receive at home, the school environment
reproduces the exact norms for boys and girls. As students, both girls and boys are
29
expected to participate in the classroom. Since teachers decide what curriculum
materials would be included in their lessons, they indirectly dictate who would
participate in the activities. If teachers provide children with books that contain mostly
male characters, boys would participate more in the activities than girls since boys
could identify more with the characters shown. Much like what Carinci (2007) stated,
teachers who do not know how to adjust their curriculum materials to be more genderinclusive would tend to offer gender biased children’s books. As a result, teachers
spend more time talking and interacting to male students than female students (Becker,
1981; Carinci, 2007; She, 2000).
Whether in the classroom or in the playground, a child’s peers often contribute
to their gender socialization (Adler, Kless, Adler, 1992; Lips, 1989). Maccoby (1990)
emphasized that social interactions among children play a role in their own
socialization. Even at a young age, “children create their own norms, values, and
styles within the school setting that constitute their peer culture,” which oftentimes
have already been engendered (Kessler, Ashenden, Connell, & Dowsett, 1985, p. 169).
A perfect example would be the notion that girls only read narrative text while boys
read informational text (Chapman, Filipenko, McTavish, & Shapiro, 2007). Because
children believed that boys and girls read different types of text, this belief perpetuated
in the classroom and influenced the types of books children ended up reading. Thus,
this gendered peer culture has been termed as ‘unofficial school’ or ‘second
curriculum’ (Best, 1983; Kessler et al., 1985) because of the exclusivity of the norms,
30
which were commonly reserved for school-aged children (Adler et al., 1992).
Researchers (Beal, 1994; Lips, 1989) posited that anyone who strayed away from the
expected role of a boy or a girl was “punished” through abandonment or teasing until
they revert back to the traditional gender-role assignments that everyone follow.
Since the mass media has been widely available and accessible daily, young
adolescents learn about the appropriate male and female demeanors in this culture
(Delgado-Campbell, 2010; Kessler et al., 1985). Thorne (1993) indicated that children
learn about roles appropriate for their sex through books, songs, television shows, and
movies. When it comes to children’s books, the media uses different marketing
strategies to appeal to boys and girls separately. Children’s books geared for boys are
embedded with popular characters such as Sponge Bob, Lightning McQueen, or Buzz
Lightyear – all of which are male and protagonist of the story. Meanwhile, girls are
marketed with books depicting characters such as Cinderella, Mulan, or Barbie to
show that girl characters are princesses who need to be saved or rescued by their male
counterparts. Consequently, boys and girls learn early on that books are genderspecific and that the characters in the stories embody certain qualities that are
dependent on their sex.
In addition, the popular culture, as transmitted by the media, function as a
powerful vehicle of gender role socialization as well (Davis, 1990; Delgado-Campbell,
2010). As children watch television shows and music videos, they quickly internalize
the images portrayed about men and women (Witt, 2000). Besides television shows,
31
children and adolescents continue to be bombarded with innumerable amounts of
advertisements in different forms (Kilbourne, Jhally, Rabiovitz, & Media Education
Foundation, 2010; Newsom et al., 2011). Two documentaries Killing Us Softly 4
(Kilbourne et al., 2010) and Miss Representation (Newsom et al., 2011) exhibited the
extent in which advertisements present such distorted, stereotyped, and unrealistic
images of women. In the end, these advertisements gravely affect young readers
because there are books that incorporate the trends in popular culture into their stories
for the sole purpose of making profit from children’s books.
The power of gender, as a social construct, has been evident in the way males
and females were socialized as children. The books that have been given to them
influence how they form their gender identity as adult. When they grow up, children
then conformed to the gender norms they have read in children’s books because that
was what everyone considered normal (Matisons, 2008; Schafer, 1996). These gender
role assignments, though stereotypical and unrealistic, perpetuated people’s gender
identity overtime (Bussey & Bandura, 1999; Matisons, 2008). Lips (1989) reiterated
that the gender role socialization promoted by the society explicate the behavioral
expectations for males and females.
Research on Gender in Children’s Literature (1970-Present)
The 1970s
Research has shown that educational textbooks used in schools before the
1970s contained sexist information (American Association of University Women,
32
1992; Fox & Hesse-Biber, 1984; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Sadker, Sadker, & Garies,
1980; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010; Trecker, 1973). As a result, children’s books were
critically examined to find out whether they contained the same biases (Sadker &
Sadker, 1994; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010). According to Sunderland (2011), the
feminist movement during the 1970s brought about a transformative era in children’s
literature because books published specifically for children were investigated for their
linguistic and graphic characteristics.
Early gender researchers (Czaplinski, 1972; Hillman, 1974; Nilsen, 1971;
Oliver, 1974; Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, & Ross, 1972) revealed that children’s books
mostly depicted males as central characters with positive characters attributed to them
while women were largely invisible. If females were represented in children’s books,
they were usually seen with ‘insignificant or inconspicuous’ social and occupational
roles (Czaplinski, 1972; Hillman, 1974; Oliver, 1974; Weitzman et al., 1972). While
men were depicted in a plethora of jobs, women’s occupational roles in children’s
books centered on domesticity: wife and mother (Hillman 1974; Nilsen, 1971; Oliver,
1974). In turn, these two roles automatically qualify women to be part of what Nilsen
(1971) referred to as the ‘cult of the apron’ since they have often been illustrated
wearing one as they go about being a mother or a wife. Hillman (1974) argued that the
lack of diversity in women’s roles in children’s books do not reflect reality because
women have long been part of the workforce. Towards the latter half of the 1970s,
research was mostly conducted to investigate how roles were assigned to children
33
based on their sex affected them (Ashby & Wittmaier, 1978; Bracken & Wigutoff,
1977; Hillman, 1976; Scott & Feldman-Summers, 1979).
After examining 120 books from a two time period (Early Period was
represented by 1932, 1935, 1938; Recent Period was comprised of 1965, 1968, 1978),
Hillman (1976) concluded that the occupational roles assigned to males and females in
each time period did not vary despite the 30 year difference. In both time periods,
males were portrayed with socially valuable roles while females had occupations
relative to being homemakers (Hillman, 1976). In another study, Bracken and
Wigutoff (1977) determined that children’s books contained “girl[s] in self-actualizing
situation” who were “placed in the context of a stereotyped environment where [they]
exist as ‘freaks’” (p. 18). However, Ashby and Wittmaier (1978) found that female
characters in nontraditional stories had a positive impact on girls who were exposed to
them. The study illustrated that girls who heard nontraditional stories of women
tended to favor nontraditional occupations compared to girls who heard traditional
stories; hence, a preference for careers outside the domestic roles for women (Ashby
& Wittmaier, 1978). Similarly, Scott and Feldman-Summers (1979) reported that girls
who read about female character in traditionally male stories believed she could also
do everything that the male character did.
Even though legislations favoring the equity of women have passed during this
decade, the presence of the Feminist Movement did not sway the representation in
children’s books to be more reflective of these societal amendments (Bracken &
34
Wigutoff, 1977). Oliver (1974) warned that books children read in school might be
detrimental to their gender development due to the stereotypical portrayals of women.
Since these books were mandated and deemed to be appropriate for boys and girls to
read, they would then assume that these sexist depictions were considered normal
(Oliver, 1974). If girls were only provided books depicting females as mothers, wives,
homemakers, maids, or housekeepers, they might never aspire for a career other than
the aforementioned (Ashby & Wittmaier, 1978). Therefore, positive representations of
women in children’s books were highly recommended because it would allow both
sexes to understand that the barriers pre-set for women harm them in the long run
(Ashby & Wittmaier, 1978; Bracken & Wigutoff, 1977; Hillman, 1976; Scott &
Feldman-Summers, 1979).
The 1980s
Empirical studies done in the 1980s focused on how much representation there
was for women and its possible effects on children’s gender socialization (Ashton,
1983; Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Kolbe & LaVoie, 1981; Kinman & Henderson,
1985; Williams, Vernon, Williams, & Malecha, 1987). Weitzman et al.’s (1972) study
became an influential factor in multiple studies because their results demonstrated that
females were underrepresented and negatively portrayed in picture books for children.
Moreover, the use of award-winning books such as Caldecott Medal Award and
Newbery Medal started to be the popular sample of most studies. For instance, Kolbe
and LaVoie (1981) analyzed Caldecott Medal winners from 1972 to 1979 to
35
investigate whether these picture books still contained sex-role stereotypes despite
changes in women’s roles in the society. Their results showed that there have been
slight improvements in female representation in children’s books but they continue to
be seen in stereotypical portrayals. In another study, Kinman and Henderson (1985)
examined Newbery Award winning books from 1977 through 1984 to find out how
women were depicted in these books. After conducting a content analysis, results
showed that the presence of girls and women has increased over the years. Moreover,
the depiction of female characters presented positive images compared the previous
decade where women were stereotypically shown in children’s books. Lastly,
Dougherty and Engel (1987) followed previous researchers’ (Engel, 1981; Nilsen,
1971) approach in analyzing books that won the Caldecott Awards and Honors from
1981-1985. After counting how many male and female characters were present in each
book, results showed that there were 43% female characters and 57% male characters
in the sample. Finally, other researchers (Dougherty & Engel, 1985; Williams et al.,
1987) agreed that there has been an increasing trend of female representations and
positive depictions in children’s books.
The effect of picture books on gender development was another factor that was
introduced in the literature. Ashton (1983) studied how picture books affect children’s
play behavior. Children ages two to five were initially given three sets of toys
(masculine: truck and gun; feminine: doll and china set; neutral: ball and peg) to play
with and were then read children’s books based on the toy they played with
36
previously. Results indicated that picture books affected the sex-role orientation of
girls more than boys. Although the results focused on the short-term effects of
stereotyped children’s books on children, Ashton (1983) stressed the importance of
providing children with gender equitable books so that they see positive images of
themselves.
Towards the end of the decade, research about gender in children’s book
explored books that were not award winners. For example, McDonald (1989) analyzed
Caldecott Award winners and non-award winning books from 1976 to 1987 to analyze
whether male and female depictions have improved in terms of helping behavior,
characterization, and adherence to traditional gender roles. After gathering a total of
41 children’s picture books for preschoolers to kindergarteners, a content analysis was
performed to account for the helping behaviors and book characters. The results
demonstrated that the responsibility of helping others were more frequent in males
(60%) than females (40%). Similarly, males received helped more frequently, 63% of
the time, than females did (37%). Females were also seen to help more male female
characters in the sample. McDonald (1989) elaborated that female depiction have not
gotten better and underrepresentation in books still exist. Furthermore, females were
shown not to perform helping behaviors compared to males and when they did females
were usually seen in instrumental roles throughout any stories.
37
The 1990s
Most of the research in the 1980s found that the female presence in children’s
books have increased over the years (Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Kinman &
Henderson, 1985; Kolbe & LaVoie, 1981; Williams et al., 1987). In the 1990s, there
were mixed findings about women’s representations in books. For example, Peterson
and Lach (1990) conducted a content analysis to account for five characteristics
(gender of the author, gender of main character, number and gender of other
characters, type of character, and genre of the book) in the books selected in the study
using The Horn Book booklist for 1967, 1977, and 1987. The results showed that
books from 1967 and 1977 had more male than female characters while the 1987 book
list indicated balanced representations of both sexes. However, Peterson and Lach
(1990) emphasized that sex stereotyping was still prevalent in newly published books
despite the belief that it has been completely eliminated. In addition, Oskamp et al.
(1996) examined Caldecott Medal winners from 1986 to 1991 in an effort to replicate
and update Williams et al.’s (1987) study. The researchers found that the author’s sex
and the character’s role were evenly represented while the illustrations had higher
males than females. In addition, Oskamp et al. (1996) noted that traditional gender
roles pervaded in the sample they used. Lastly, the researchers reiterated that the
gender roles in our society have been changing so children’s books must also reflect
these values.
38
While researchers (Oskamp et al., 1996; Peterson & Lach, 1990) found
increasing trends of women’s representation in books, others studies demonstrated that
the imbalance of men and women’s portrayal continue to exist (Davis & McDaniel,
1999; Kortenhaus & Demarest, 1993; Turner-Bowker, 1996). First, Kortenhaus and
Demarest (1993) recognized that children’s books have been increasingly gender
equitable compared to previous decades. However, the researchers found that there
was a 2:1 ratio of male to female characters in the sample after conducting a content
analysis on books from the 1940s to 1980s. Furthermore, the data showed that the
decades leading up to 1980s had a decreasing trend of sex bias but women were still
portrayed inaccurately in children’s books. Second, Turner-Bowker (1996) studied
Caldecott Medal and Honor books from 1984 to 1994 in an effort to learn how the sex
of the author influenced children’s books. Part one of the study showed that there were
more males than females both in the titles and the illustrations. The second part
indicated that male characters were commonly associated with more powerful and
active adjectives than female characters. Turner-Bowker (1996) emphasized that there
were no differences in how authors used descriptors when talking about males and
females. Lastly, Davis and McDaniel (1999) replicated Czaplinski’s (1972) study as a
class research project. The sample involved Caldecott winners from 1972 to 1997 and
results showed that males were represented about 60% while females had 40%
representation both in text as well in the illustration. Davis and McDaniel (1999)
39
emphasized that 1950 was ‘a golden era’ for females because it was then that they
were highly depicted in Caldecott books.
Trepanier-Street and Romatowski’s (1999) examined the effects of books on
the gender socialization of children. The researchers aimed to analyze children’s
gender attitudes about certain occupations and how the books they read might have an
influence on how they perceive occupational roles. Following Scott and FeldmanSummers (1979), the researchers provided preschool to first grade children an
inventory of occupations wherein the children would indicate which ones were for
males or females. The researchers also provided intervention activities so that teachers
would provide children’s books depicting men and women in non-stereotypical roles.
Results mirrored prior research (Scott & Feldman-Summers, 1979) because children
initially rated each occupation stereotypically but the intervention dramatically
improved their perceptions of the occupational roles. As children were exposed to the
non-stereotypical books, they viewed each occupational role as applicable for both
sexes. Finally, Trepanier-Street and Romatowski (1999) confirmed Scott and
Feldman-Summer’s (1979) argument that children’s books serve as a very important
gender socialization tool so teachers and parents must select them carefully to avoid
books with sexist information.
The 2000s
At the turn of the new millennium, gender research in children’s books saw
more replication of previous studies. First, Gooden and Gooden (2001) replicated La
40
Dow’s (1976) study to investigate how females were depicted in Notable Books for
Children as determined by the American Library Association. The sample consisted of
83 books from 1995 to 1999 were included in the content analysis performed in the
study. The researchers found that there were equal proportion of males and females in
the children’s books sampled. On the other hand, females were seen in fewer
illustrations than men. Gooden and Gooden (2001) further indicated that women’s
roles in children’s books were slowly becoming less traditional and males were
depicted in nontraditional roles as well. Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, and Young
(2006) also replicated previous research (McDonald, 1989) to analyze how sex bias
has been indicated in popular books which may not necessarily be award-winning. The
sample comprising of 200 books that were mostly derived from Caldecott and
Newbery winners as well as other best selling book lists from online retailers,
magazines and libraries. The books were coded in a form of a survey closely following
Weitzman et al.’s (1972) specifications; the variables used by Weitzman et al. (1972)
and Williams et al. (1987) were combined in the study. Results showed that males
outnumbered females altogether as central and title characters. Females were still seen
in traditional depictions (indoors, passive, nurturing, etc.) as well as in occupational
roles. Hamilton et al. (2006) reiterated that contemporary children’s books contain
biased and stereotypical portrayals despite the efforts to eliminate these problems over
the years.
41
Another trend in gender research involved the use of children’s books in the
classroom activities to find out how students perceived gender stereotyping. In one
particular study, Rice (2002) utilized third graders to examine whether children would
be able to broaden their definitions of masculinity and femininity through the use of
children’s literature. The sample was derived from a midwestern elementary school
and comprised of 24 students (15 boys, 9 girls) altogether. For six weeks, children
were asked to read books with characters portraying nontraditional roles and then rate
it based on how much they liked the story. Afterwards, the students created a portrait
of the protagonist then discussed what they included in their portrait. Lastly, they were
asked to re-enact the books they read according to their own liking. Rice (2002)
required that the students participate in two plays so that there was a protagonist in a
nontraditional male and nontraditional female role in each one. The students initially
responded to the nontraditional roles for boys and girls with stereotypes attached
because they hold traditional gender role values within them. However, Rice (2002)
found that through the literacy activities conducted in class, the students were able to
accept characters in nontraditional roles in children’s books. Furthermore, children
learned how to expand their notions of masculinity and femininity through literature
discussion and creative dramas.
Similar to Rice (2002), Taylor’s (2003) qualitative study using content analysis
occurred in a classroom setting as a learning exercise to determine whether children’s
books inculcate gender norms in our culture. Using a purposive sampling method, the
42
books in the study were chosen by the instructor as a direct result of the students’
suggestions. The coding frame of the study included masculine and feminine traits that
were commonly attached to each sex and the students found these traits in their coding
frame as well. After the activity, Taylor (2003) stated that students were surprised that
the books they read as children heavily contained gender stereotypes and sexist
information. The students not only realized that popular children’s books were
vulnerable to gender bias but they also affirmed that these books train children to
function in a highly gender stratified society.
Lastly, the latter part of the decade’s research centered on how gender bias and
sex typing affect young children. In a longitudinal quasi-experimental study, Chapman
et al. (2007) investigated whether children’s book preferences were influenced by
what other children of the same age preferred to read. Researchers recruited first
graders from urban, linguistically diverse school districts in Vancouver – a total of
four schools and eleven different classrooms were involved in the study. The students
were asked to perform two book selection tasks: open (free choice) task – where the
children chose as much books as they want and closed (forced choice) task – where
the students must choose only one of the books provided to them. Afterwards, the
researchers asked the children why they chose the books the way they did. The same
exact procedure was conducted during the closed task but the children could only
choose one book (either information or narrative) for themselves, for girls, and for
boys.
43
The results from Chapman et al.’s (2007) study indicated that boys and girls
generally had the same preference for information and narrative books. When
choosing books for themselves, boys preferred storybooks than information books and
they also chose more information books for other boys and more narrative books for
girls. Moreover, the results demonstrated that reading ability does not dictate the
preference of books regardless of the sex of the child. Both boys and girls were
equally drawn to read storybooks and information books. Furthermore, boys and girls
attributed their perceived gender roles of the other when asked about their book
preference. For these children, the gender of the reader commonly dictates the type of
books they will read. Chapman et al. (2007) recommended parents, teachers, and
advocates of children to allow children to choose their own books as well as provide
them a wide selection of books to read to lower or even eradicate these stereotypical
norms imposed on them.
Similarly, Frawley (2008) conducted a qualitative study to analyze how gender
stereotypes influence children’s ability to misremember story information. There were
a total of 72 students, 36 first grade and 36 fourth grade students, who were included
in the study. Children were then asked to listen to two audiotaped versions of two
Caldecott Award-winning books. Afterwards, they were asked to retell the story they
heard previously and answered questions related to the books. Frawley (2008) found
that children distort, fabricate, and misremember book information because of their
gender schemas. Because of the stereotypical beliefs they hold, children retell the
44
stories to ensure that every character adhered to traditional behaviors set for males and
females.
The 2010s
The current decade has ongoing research that demonstrates women’s
underrepresentation in children’s books despite the past 40 years of research about this
topic. For instance, McCabe, Fairchild, Grauerholz, Pescosolido, and Tope (2011)
conducted a thorough examination of gender disparity in children’s books from 1900
to 2000. The sample of 5,618 books was derived from the Caldecott Award winners,
Little Golden Books, and Children’s catalog to ensure that the books represented the
entire twentieth century. The study indicated male characters comprised 36.5% of title
characters while women were present 17.5% of the time. Moreover, the ratio of male
to female central characters was 1.9:1 thus reaffirming the gender disparity found in
title characters. Overall, McCabe and colleagues (2011) also determined that Little
Golden Books had the most unbalanced representation followed by Caldecott winners
then Children’s Catalog. Likewise, Crabb and Marciano (2011) replicated a study
from 1994 to investigate whether items find in the home still promote traditional
gender role assignments. According to the researchers, there were certain objects that
were more likely to be used by one gender over another (Crabb & Marciano, 2011).
Therefore, the study defined that ‘household artifacts’ were items commonly “humanmade objects used to produce effects in the home” while ‘production artifacts’ referred
to “human-made objects used to produce effects outside the home” (Crabb &
45
Marciano, 2011, p. 393). These artifacts were central to the content analysis of
Caldecott award-winning books from 1990 to 2009. Crabb and Marciano (2011) found
that females were depicted frequently with household artifacts and males were seen
with production artifacts. Moreover, the results of the replicated study were also
confirmed.
The research on gender in children’s literature began in the 1970s after
textbooks used schools were examined for their content (AAUW, 1992; Fox & HesseBiber, 1984; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Sadker, Sadker, & Garies, 1980; Sadker &
Zittleman, 2010; Trecker, 1973). Due to the sexist information and gender bias present
in these books, educators delved into the analysis of children’s books (Sadker &
Sadker, 1994; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010). Pioneer studies (Czaplinski, 1972; Nilsen,
1971; Weitzman et el., 1972) found that females were underrepresented and
misrepresented in children’s books prior to 1970s. The following decade’s research
centered on accounting for women’s representation and the effect of biased
information in books on children’s socialization (Ashton, 1983; Dougherty & Engel,
1987; Kinman & Henderson, 1985; Kolbe & LaVoie, 1981; Williams et al., 1987).
The 1990s research indicated mixed results about female representations in children’s
books. Some studies (Oskamp et al., 1996; Peterson & Lach, 1990) showed higher
trends in women’s depiction but others researchers (Davis & McDaniel, 1999;
Kortenhaus & Demarest, 1993; Turner-Bowker, 1996) contended that men still
outnumbered women in children’s books. Gender research in the beginning of the 21st
46
century often replicated studies from previous decades while others explored how
students’ stereotypical beliefs would change permitted that they read non-biased books
(Chapman et al., 2007; Frawley, 2008; Gooden & Gooden, 2001; Hamilton et al.,
2006; Rice, 2002; Taylor, 2003). Because the current decade’s research is still
ongoing, this section focused on research conducted from 1971 to 2011.
Research on Asian American Children’s Literature (1960-Present)
The 1960s
As one of the earliest works to investigate portrayals of minorities in
contemporary children’s literature, Gast (1967) examined contemporary children’s
books from 1945 to 1962 with characters representative of the “American Indians,
Chinese, Japanese, Negroes, and Spanish Americans” background (p. 13). The sample
consisted of 42 books that were published for kindergarten to eighth-grade reading
levels. Gast (1976) performed content analysis for all the books and devised two
coding sheets based on the Katz and Braly List of Verbal Stereotypes. The characters
were examined based on the type of roles they portrayed (major versus minor roles)
and their method of depiction (stereotypically or not).
Results show that Native Americans had 13 titles, Chinese had 2 titles,
Japanese had 5 titles, and Spanish Americans had 6 titles out of the 42 books used in
the study. The major characters in the books were predominantly teenagers and males.
While half of the characters were seen as holding on to their traditional beliefs, over
half – mostly Japanese characters – assimilated into the dominant White culture.
47
Finally, Gast (1967) concluded that the stereotypes found in the sample used were
‘complimentary’ and that the ‘non-complimentary’ stereotypes have been eliminated
from the children’s books published at that time. This pioneer study was an excellent
way to look at how people of color were seen in the 1960s considering that Gast’s
(1967) study was the only one to analyze their depiction. However, the findings of the
study were not generalizable to all minority groups since the sample had children’s
books from five ethnic groups. Lastly, topics about women, children, cultural
differences, immigrants, and generational families were not touched upon in the study.
The 1970s
According to Banfield (1998), the Council on Interracial Books for Children
[CIBC] materialized in 1965, during the zenith of the Civil Rights Movement, as a
way to advocate for children’s literature to be more pluralistic and representative of
the American society. Together with all members of CIBC, children’s literature were
examined for “issues of racism and sexism [which] had become critical issue[s]” for
all cultural and ethnic backgrounds (Banfield, 1998, p. 17) After the CIBC Bulletin
was first published, children’s books about Asians and Asian Americans were
examined through the “Asian American Children’s Book Project” (CIBC, 1976a, p. 3).
With this project, the CIBC aimed to discover how current children’s books portrayed
the Asian American culture and how stereotypes were addressed in the stories about
them.
48
In this project, an 11-group panel reviewed children’s books published from
1945 to 1975. The sample of the project comprised of 66 books: 30 books with
Chinese Americans, 27 books with Japanese Americans, 2 books with Korean
Americans, and 5 books with general Asian American characters. The panel concluded
that all but two books were “racist, sexist and elitist [in addition to the] grossly
misleading” images about Asian Americans (CIBC, 1976a, p. 3). To add to the
stereotypical text and illustrations, all 66 books painted the Asian American image as
the ‘model minority,’ exotic, English language learners, and fully assimilated to the
dominant White culture who “[choose] to live together in quaint communities in the
midst of large cities, clinging to outworn customs” (CIBC, 1976a, p. 3). The results of
the CIBC project were unsettling primarily because children’s books prolong the
common stereotypes about Asian Americans.
Due to the findings of Asian American Children’s Book Project (CIBC,
1976a), CIBC published formal criteria for analyzing Asian American children’s
books (CIBC, 1976b) to make sure that racism and sexism were eliminated in future
books. The first criterion alluded to the realistic portrayal of Asian Americans, not as a
reflection of Caucasians, other cultural groups, nor an exaggeration of the Asian
American culture. Second, Asian Americans children’s books should not be
dominated with stereotypes regardless if it was considered ‘traditional’ or ‘modern’
Asian culture (CIBC, 1976b, p. 5). The third criterion required that the children’s
books to fix Asian Americans being omitted or wrongly portrayed in the story. Fourth,
49
stories about Asian Americas must deviate from only picturing any cultural group as
‘the model minority’ who has successful lives in this country. Fifth, Asian American
women portrayed in children’s books should be applicable to the current roles of
women in our society. The sixth criterion necessitated for an accurate yet diverse
illustration of Asian Americans in picture books. The CIBC (1976a, 1976b) advised
future illustrators of Asian American children’s books to consult with a person from
the particular Asian American cultural group being shown to guarantee that no
stereotypes would be used in the book.
Latimer (1976) acknowledged early on that minorities suffer extreme forms of
prejudice and racism in education by having their presence omitted, stereotypically
portrayed, or presented inaccurately in curriculum materials such as picture books and
other children’s literature. As educators provided children with a collection of books
to use, Latimer (1976) believed that racism would be exterminated once teachers were
“no longer subjected to the dehumanizing forces of curriculum racism” (p. 151). The
author itemized three factors that should be considered when teachers choose their
curriculum materials: stereotyping, tokenism, and censorship, which were similar to
that of CIBC’s guidelines (1976a). Non-minority children should have books that
positively depict other cultures so that they also learn about differences among people
and reduce the possibility of prolonging racism. Latimer (1976) advocated for an
intense yet proper training of pre-service teachers so they become well equipped to a
multicultural student body in the classroom.
50
Lastly, Sadker and Sadker (1977) featured Chinese Americans and Japanese
Americans when they talked about other minority groups presented in children’s
literature. Sadker and Sadker traced the presence of Chinese Americans from the Gold
Rush Era when Chinese immigrants flocked to America in search of a better future.
They are portrayed in books as a collectivistic group whose strict adherence to
traditional culture and beliefs were unwavering. Most stories were either set in
mainland China or in Chinatowns if stories were about Chinese Americans living in
the United States. Similarly, Japanese American children’s books contain stories about
internments, racial prejudice, and assimilation during WWII. Sadker and Sadker
(1977) also stated that that both Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans have
been typically portrayed in tightly-knit communities who hold on to traditional beliefs
as well as having rigid sex roles for both sexes.
The 1980s
Contrasting the previous research (CIBC, 1976a; Gast, 1967; Latimer, 1976)
about Asian American representation, Aoki (1981) delved into the teaching strategies
educators could implement when using children’s books from the Asian American
culture. Using the book The Five Chinese Brothers (Bishop & Wiese, 1938), Aoki
(1981) illustrated how stereotypes and misconceptions about Chinese Americans,
Japanese Americans, or even the whole Asian American culture have circulated in
educational settings. Due to the notion that people from this culture generally look
alike and share the same customs, readers of stereotypical books like Bishop and
51
Wiese’s would continue to hold these misinterpreted ideas. Teachers were
recommended to facilitate discussions that would engage the students to step into the
shoes of the Asian American characters portrayed in children’s books instead of
merely examining the problematic aspects of the books. Moreover, Aoki reminded
teachers and curriculum planners to abide by any of the criteria of selecting children’s
books such as the one from the Council on Interracial Books for Children [CIBC]
(1980). Lastly, Aoki challenged authors, illustrators, and publishers to write balanced
and non-stereotyped books about Asian Americans for teachers to include in their
classroom materials.
The 1990s
Following the issues discussed by Aoki (1981), Pang et al., (1992) addressed
the proper usage and selection of books from Asian American backgrounds. Because
of the growing interest and number of Asian American students in the classroom, Pang
and colleagues encouraged teachers to teach diversity through incorporating children’s
books from varying backgrounds in their curriculum. Teachers then should use the
CIBC’s (1980) criteria when selecting books to ensure that the books accurately
portray and represent Asian Americans adequately. There were also recommended
books from the Asian American literature spanning from 1971 to 1991 as well as a
miniature review of each book listed.
In the same year, Gillespie, Clements, Powell, and Swearinger (1992)
published a study analyzing Newbery-awarded books’ portrayal of ethnic characters.
52
The instrument used in the study was based on the Elementary and Secondary School
Civil Rights Survey (United States Department of Education, as cited in Gillespie et
al., 1992) and the books were characterized based on the nature of the characters’
portrayals (i.e. positive, negative, balance, or neutral). The study found that among the
six books examined from the ‘Asian/Pacific Islanders’ category, only the book Call It
Courage had a major character with positive characterization. Three books had neutral
depiction while the rest of the categories (i.e. positive, negative, balance) were
represented by one book each. Since Gillespie et al. (1992) was the second empirical
study to evaluate the depiction of Asian Americans in children’s books, the results
revealed that even award-winning books like the Newbery “do not portray various
ethnic groups in a positive light” so books must be chosen with careful planning (p.
120).
Lo and Lee (1993) offered a librarian’s perspective about the importance of
selecting culturally balanced Asian American literature in the classroom. Realizing
that multicultural education – through the form of multicultural literature – would be
the future of American education, Lo and Lee reiterated that teachers, librarians,
authors, illustrators, and even publishers should be cognizant of the Asian American
images shown to children. Books with stereotypical characterizations and illustrations
should be avoided; rather, teachers must select books that offer authentic and positive
representation of the Asian cultures. Similar to Aoki (1981), Lo and Lee (1993) listed
ways on how to analyze Asian American books to prevent the selection of biased
53
books. The authors also included a bibliography of recommended books from different
Asian American cultures that educators may use.
Two years after examining ethnic portrayals in Newbery awarded books,
Gillespie et al. (1994) sampled the same award-winning books from 1922 to 1994 to
identify what ethnic groups were represented and how they were depicted. The
researchers used the demographic descriptions for each ‘ethnic group’ to classify them
and also labeled what type of role they played in the story (i.e. major or minor
character). Gillespie et al. (1994) found that early portrayals of Asian Americans were
represented 10% of the time and seen as major characters in 7% of the books.
Researchers stated that teachers should exercise caution when utilizing Newbery
books so that the books they choose do not appear derogatory or stereotypical of any
ethnic groups. As the Newbery books have been around since the inception of
Multicultural Education, some of the books would not be reflective of the diverse
community America has. Gillespie et al. (1994) advised teachers that diversity must be
taught to all children and the books they read must mirror the cultural differences
around them.
As the first scholar to concentrate on a particular group of Asian Americans,
Cai (1994) investigated how Chinese, Chinese Americans, and their culture were seen
in children’s books. By surveying a local library from a Midwestern town, Cai
gathered 73 picture books with Chinese or Chinese American characters to use in the
study. The sample was further classified according to the types of stories the books
54
embedded: folk tales, Chinese American or Chinese Canadian stories, or Chinese
stories in mainland China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. Results varied depending on which
kind of stories the book contained and where the characters were depicted. The first
category, Folk tales, offered a traditional interpretation of the traditional Chinese
culture. The Chinese Americans or Chinese Canadian stories told about the immigrant
and settlement experience of this cultural group in either the United States or Canada.
Finally, stories from mainland China or its territories mirrored the lives of people in
modern China. Cai (1994) added that books that were published in the 1990s were
more likely to be culturally authentic than books published decades before.
As a response to the need for research about cultural authenticity and accuracy,
Harada (1995) mimicked the CIBC (1976a) study to assess which Asian American
groups get represented in children’s books, its authenticity and quality, and to identify
the ethnicity of the books and illustrators. From a selective sample of 34 books from
1983-1993, content analysis was conducted using the Asian American book guidelines
from CIBC (1976b). The findings of the study determined Chinese protagonists were
represented (12 out of 34 times as protagonists) more than the other groups. In terms
of the authors and illustrators, there were 18 authors and 19 illustrators who were
Asians while non-Asians comprised of 16 authors and 15 illustrators. Harada (1995)
found that Asian American characters were characterized overall in a positive,
proactive, and non-stereotypical manner in the books examined. Furthermore, the
description of cultures and illustration of books were accurately portrayed in 23 books.
55
Overall, the study (Harada, 1995) indicated that both Asian Americans and non-Asian
Americans portrayed characters from this ethnic background very well. Despite the
issues of inaccuracy and stereotypical portrayals Harada (1995) noted early in the
study, the findings did not concur with this popular belief.
While Harada (1995) found that Asians and non-Asians alike accurately
portrayed Asian Americans, Mo and Shen (1997) agreed that ‘cultural authenticity’
has not been properly defined so past studies often equated it to the lack of stereotypes
in the story. However, Mo and Shen (1997) argued that cultural authenticity should
address the relevancy of the cultural beliefs in the story, its cultural acceptance, and
the illustrations should be purposeful, with an “interpretation of the reality, not of
mechanical imitation” (p. 91). Although they recommended for the term’s definition to
be refined, Mo and Shen (1997) did not pose a new definition; rather, they
recommended authors and illustrators to be conscious of how characterizations and
images would be presented in future books about Asian American cultures.
The 2000s
Following previous research about Asian American depiction in children’s
books (Cai, 1994; CIBC, 1976a; Gast, 1967; Gillespie et al., 1992; Gillespie et al.,
1994Harada, 1995), Attebury (2001) focused on Chinese and Japanese Americans
authors and illustrators to ascertain how these two cultures were depicted in the
children’s books that have been published over the years. Lawrence Yep’s books
mostly focused on finding one’s identity and his illustrations were praised for
56
“realistic and sympathetic pictures by selecting and weaving words into a workable art
form [which has been] proven successful in preserving and bringing to light the
essence of cultural reality” (Attebury, 2001, p. 35). Yochiko Uchida’s work reflected
her experiences during the internment camps as well as the preservation of Japanese
heritage. Ed Young started his career as an illustrator for a major publisher but ended
up writing his own children’s books. Although his early books were folk stories from
China, Young merged his Chinese upbringing with his American experiences in the
books he wrote. In 1990, he was awarded the Caldecott Award for his book Lon Po
Po: A red riding hood story from China. Lastly, Allen Say incorporated his personal
experiences – most especially his quest for a sense of identity – in his books. Say’s
Grandfather’s Journey won the Caldecott Award in 1994 and has been recognized for
numerous more awards for his children’s books. Overall, Attebury (2001) highly
commended Yep, Uchida, Young, and Say for their notable contribution in Asian
American children’s books and urged other writers to promote cultural diversity in
future books.
After many decades of research about Asian Americans in children’s literature,
Louie (2005) became the first researcher to look into Korean American children’s
books for its contents. The purpose of the research was to indicate how values of
Korean-Americans have been presented and changed over time in children’s books.
The sample consisted of all the books published about Korean Americans from the
past century as identified through books, websites, library catalogs, and book lists –
57
gaining an overall sample of 93 books. Louie (2005) noted that 90% of the sample was
books published from 1990s onwards and were representative of elementary and
junior-high levels.
The qualitative results of the study showed the progression of traditional values
reflected in the books. First, books with folk tales dominated the number of books
reflecting traditional values: shamanism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Shamanism,
which was the belief that ordinary objects have either good or bad spirits, was depicted
in stories that were present for hundreds of years. Buddhism, which stated that
people’s lives were a balance of rewards and retributions, allowed people to believe
that good people would be rewarded and the wicked would be punished until eternity.
Confucianism, which entailed that one’s position in life was determined by their
birthright, was a powerful factor in Korean tradition because they believe that a
person’s social class would never change nor should people intermarry to elevate
one’s social standing. As a result, stories about Korean children who were unidentified
and uncared for were considered justifiable. But the Korean history of immigration
shifted the traditional values even further. Stories about immigrating to America and
conflicting identities of the American-born children became popular especially during
the post-Civil Rights era. Lastly, Korean American children’s books also chronicled
the lives of adopted children and their new lives in America. Louie (2005) reminded
the readers that the shift of Korean traditional values echo the numerous
transformations of Korean American lives.
58
In an effort to incite for the publication of more Asian American children’s
books, Loh (2006) stated that current publication trends (Cooperative Children’s Book
Center, University of Wisconsin, n.d.) of children’s books group do not reflect the
growth in population of this ethnic group. The result of this discrepancy can be seen in
the lack of Asian American educational materials and children’s low exposure to
children’s books depicting them. According to Loh (2006), both Asian and non-Asian
children suffer because of the exclusion of curriculum materials about Asian
Americans. For Caucasian children, the lack of exposure to Asian American literature
may lead to internalization of societal stereotypes about this group as well as the
inability to appreciate diversity in their own classroom (Loh, 2006). Asian American
children, on the other hand, would be unable to see the value of their heritage since
they do not read about role models similar to them. Additionally, Loh (2006) posited
that the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in children’s books limit people’s
information about the diversity within the Asian American culture. Lastly, Loh (2006)
recommended educators to use the guidelines published by CIBC (1976a) and Aoki
(1981) to gauge the authenticity of any given children’s book from the Asian
American culture.
According to Thongthiraj (2006), Thai Americans have been typically evaded
in children’s literature research about Asian Americans as a whole. The Thais were
virtually nonexistent in the country until the passage of 1965 Immigration Act, which
permitted the unlimited number of immigrants to enter the United States (Ludden,
59
2006; Thongthiraj, 2006). Because of the large influx of Thai immigrants since 1965,
generational families have rendered disparate experiences between the elders and their
American-born children. In children’s literature, Thongthiraj (2006) underscored the
influence of the traditional, filial, and religious customs into the stories published
about Thai Americans. Stories such as Yai by Hirunpidok (1993) and Rice without
rain by Ho (1990) featured female characters who were searching for their own
identity in the midst of a changing environment. More importantly, women’s roles in
these stories were governed by the strict adherence to the Thai culture. For instance,
Larsen’s Confessions of a mail-order bride: American life through Thai eyes portrayed
the protagonist as someone who embodied the expected norms of an Asian woman
(Thongthiraj, 2006). Like many other Asian subgroups, Thai American female
characters often battled the notion of being too American who “experiences loss of her
‘Thainess’ and a struggle to return to her cultural roots” (Thongthiraj, 2006, p. 245).
Finally, Thai American girls were commonly portrayed as characters who displayed
strong feelings of antagonism towards their grandmothers because of the latter’s
insistence to maintain their Thai identity more than their American self.
Parallel to Thongthiraj’s (2006) observations about the adherence to strict
gender roles of Thai women, Dong (2006) elaborated on how Mu Lan’s story
exemplified the feminine identity of Chinese and Chinese American women. Since
Mu Lan’s legendary story was considered the first to cross gender norms while
maintaining filial duty and obedience, numerous authors as well as Disney company
60
recreated the image of Mu Lan to market to younger audiences (Dong, 2006). There
were several controversies regarding Mu Lan’s presence in children’s books published
in America, more specifically Lee’s (1995) and Kingston’s (1982) versions. Dong
(2006) cited Frank Chin to be one of the most overt critics of these two books because
he believed that Mu Lan’s story, as told by Lee (1995) and Kingston (1982), distorted
and stereotypically portrayed the original image of Mu Lan. However, both authors
(Lee, 1993; Kingston, 1982) defended that their image of Mu Lan was adapted from
the original ballad to cater for the American audience and used the Western style of
reading the Chinese calligraphy (Dong, 2006). Therefore, children who read these
books see “a Chinese-looking yet American-acting Mulan” (Dong, 2006, p 229). On
the one hand, the Western version of Mu Lan’s story allowed American children to
relate to her individualistic attitudes yet it also sustained the ‘exoticness’ of her
character. Despite the inconsistency in the depiction and authenticity of Mu Lan’s
story, Dong (2006) stated that these Americanized versions were meant to enhance the
reading pleasure of children so they have a sense of intersectionality of gender and
ethnicity in Chinese American culture.
In the current decade of research about cultural authenticity and representation
of Asian American children’s books, Chen (2009) noted that books containing
traditional Chinese folk tales do not accurately portray the lives of Chinese Americans
due to its dated content. Children’s literature featuring the Chinese culture has often
depicted what Kelley (2008) referred to as the ‘high culture:’ food, fashion, fiestas,
61
folklore, and famous people. As a result, people who were not familiar with the intradifferences between Asian Americans cannot discern between the Japanese and
Chinese cultures (Chen, 2009). One of the recurrent themes present in both the
Japanese and Chinese children’s literature has been World War II [WWII] and its
effect on both societies. Chen (2009) asserted that the Japanese stories about the war
were clearly accepted by the readers due to their direct involvement with WWII.
However, the Chinese stories and interpretations of WWII remained in the back burner
because of the widespread fear of Communism following the war. When Pearl S. Buck
and Irish Chang published books that were reflective of their time, the readers finally
legitimized the Chinese experiences of the Sino-Japanese War and WWII. Chen
(2009) reminded that the depiction of Chinese and Chinese Americans in books should
go past beyond folklores; rather, children’s literature should incorporate “stories set in
modern history which [would] help them make sense of the lives, choices,
perspectives, and biases of their grandparents and parents, as well stories about
themselves” (p. 8). Authors should always remember to write more about
contemporary Chinese American stories so they can better depict the lives of people
from this culture rather than assuming that China should always be a backdrop of their
stories.
Overall, the experiences of people from the Asian American culture have been
well documented in children’s literature (Loh, 2006). However, Asian Americans were
not properly depicted nor did the children’s books include all of the subgroups of this
62
culture even after the post-Civil Rights Era (CIBC 1976a; Gast, 1967; Gillespie et al.,
1992, 1994). Most of the books had frequent reference to the Chinese and Japanese
cultures although Korean and Thai cultures were also discussed in the literature
(Attebury, 2001; Cai, 1994; Chen, 2009; Dong, 2006; Harada, 1995; Louie, 2006;
Sadker & Sadker, 1977; Thongthiraj, 2006). Due to the diverse interpretation of Asian
American experiences in America, the research about Asian American children’s
books greatly the deliberated issue of cultural authenticity (Chen, 2009; Dong, 2006;
Loh, 2006; Mo & Shen, 1997). As a result, different guidelines for analyzing Asian
American children’s books were proposed so that teachers and parents could properly
select and analyze the books that will be given to children (Aoki, 1981; CIBC 1976b;
Latimer, 1976; Lo & Lee, 1993; Pang et al., 1992).
Filipino American Children’s Literature
Based on the expansive review of Asian American children’s literature which
spanned more than forty years, books representing the Filipino American culture have
not been examined thoroughly compared to other Asian American groups. Most of the
time, the Filipino American children’s books were included in the ‘recommended
books about Asian Americans’ without stating how and why these books were
included to the list. Although several scholars (Aoki, 1981; Blake, 1995; Lo & Lee,
1993) have listed Filipino American children’s books in their work, there were no
analyses provided in terms of gender and racial stereotyping, authenticity, or gender
and racial representation. Harada’s (1995) study was the only empirical study to
63
include a Filipino American book, Nene and the horrible math monster (Villanueva,
1993), in the sample. However, this study only alluded to the summary of the story as
well as how the protagonist was seen as a smart and overachiever Asian American.
While the presence of Filipino Americans was barely acknowledged in most of the
studies, they continue to be marginalized in Asian American children’s literature.
After an exhaustive search of empirical literature, the researcher found no
empirical studies analyzing the roles and representations of Filipino Americans in
children’s literature. However, Melinda de Jesus’ work (2005a, 2006) provided an
insight of how children’s books influenced the lives of Filipino American children. In
Fictions of Assimilation, de Jesus (2005a) explained that the literature she read as a
child was mostly from American literature such as Nancy Drew series, Hardy Boys
Series, and other mystery books. de Jesus (2005a) noted that her exposure to such
books was “a maternal legacy” since her mother was raised in the Philippines during
the American occupation, when cultural assimilation was required from all Filipinos
(p. 46). Due to the ‘Americanization of Filipinos,’ children treated books like Nancy
Drew as their basis of their feminine identities even if it emphasized the importance of
being White rather than being Filipina (de Jesus, 2005a). The result of such
inculcation of ‘whiteness’ led to young girls’ subjectivity “to both internal
colonization (colonial mentality) and hegemonic feminism that seeks to incorporate
[Filipinas] and erase [their] very existence within its blinding whiteness” (de Jesus,
2005a, p. 51). Finally, de Jesus (2005a) suggested that children’s literature should
64
carefully portray people of color, especially Filipinos, to avoid the prevalence of “the
hegemonic forces of assimilation and deracination” found in children’s books from
past decades (p. 58).
In contrast to the examination of Nancy Drew novels, de Jesus (2006)
reviewed Lakas and the Manilatown Fish (Robles, 2003) because this book portrayed
the Filipino American community in recent times. In this article, she argued that
despite of the high populace of Filipinos in America there were no books adequately
depicting the culture (de Jesus, 2006). Similar to Cordova’s (1983) notion that Filipino
Americans were the ‘forgotten Asian Americans,’ de Jesus (2006) observed that the
“erasure of Filipino America” have been preserved in children’s books (p. 203). On
the other hand, the publication of Robles’ (2003) book was a remarkable achievement
for the Filipino Americans because it came from an authentic perspective and
addressed significant issues within the community. The book has also surpassed
multiple hurdles such as publishing and marketing issues. Since Caucasians decide
whose and what stories would be published, Robles’s book (2003) went against all the
odds of having this book published. de Jesus (2006) explored the importance of
positive and authentic representation of Filipinos but she did not talk about the
absence of women in this book.
Overall, Filipino Americans have not been omitted only in the history books of
this country, but they have also been missing in the research about Asian American
children’s literature. In the few studies that mentioned their presence, children’s books
65
featuring Filipino Americans were only seen in the ‘recommended books’ section of
the study. While de Jesus’ (2005a, 2006) work demonstrated how children’s books
have impacted Filipino Americans, there have been no empirical studies documenting
how they have been depicted in children’s books. Moreover, gender constructs were
never examined in any of the work that mentioned Filipino American children’s
books. Therefore, it is the purpose of this thesis to fill this void in research within the
multicultural children’s literature community.
Filipino American History
Immigration
According to Filipino American scholars (Claudio-Perez, 1998; Cordova,
1983; Nadal, 2011), Filipino immigration happened in three distinctive ‘waves’ that
were preempted by the political and social events in the United States. The first wave
of immigration occurred in the 16th century after the Manila Galleon Trade began
(Cordova, 1983; Nadal, 2011). Because the Philippines was under Spanish colonial
control, most people were poor and uneducated so they worked as crew members in
Galleon ships that journeyed across the Pacific Ocean to other places such as
Acapulco, California, or New Orleans (Cordova, 1983; Nadal, 2011). Filipinos, who
were often referred to as ‘Manilamen,’ often left their ships to look for a better life and
Louisiana became one of many havens for these men (Cordova, 1983). Early settlers
in Louisiana relocated to the southeastern coastal areas and they used their seafaring
abilities to work as seafood and shrimp harvesters (Westbrook, n.d.). Several
66
generations later, the Filipino presence in Louisiana became so prominent that a
building called ‘Manila Village’ was established as a cultural hub for all Filipinos,
most especially those from Barataria Bay (Westbrook, n.d.). In addition, Manilamen
were also recruited to fight with Major General Andrew Jackson during Battle of
Louisiana in 1815 (Claudio-Perez, 1998). Afterwards, most of the men sent for their
families and adapted to their newfound life in America. The success of these early
Manilamen fueled an increase number of new Filipino immigrants in North America
but their reasons for migration differed from their predecessors.
In the early 1900s, the second wave of immigrants came to the country as
pensionados or sponsored students to study in American universities on the East Coast
and the Midwest (Nadal, 2011). Most of these students were recruited after the
Philippine-American war in 1899 to teach them the “civilized way of life” and were
then expected to return to the Philippines as educated professionals (Kim & Mejia,
1976; Nadal, 2011, p. 13). The pensionado program began in 1903 and sent mostly
male students to America to study medicine or law as dictated by the Philippine
government. Several years later, Filipinas (Filipino women) were also documented to
have come to the United States as sponsored students in a much smaller number than
their male counterparts (Kim & Mejia, 1976).
Because America acquired the Philippines as a result of the Treaty of Paris in
1898, Filipino students were considered as American nationals and “its little brown
brother” so people treated them fairly well (Kim & Mejia, 1976; Nadal, 2011, p. 13).
67
Almost all of the pensionados went back to the Philippines after graduation but some
of them remained in the United States to permanently establish their familial roots
(Nadal, 2011). Laborers, primarily male between 16 and 22 years old, also came to
America during the second wave. The laborers knew that once they arrive here, a life
of abundance and prosperity awaited them since it was the land of opportunity – where
everything was possible (Cordova, 1983; Espiritu, 2003; Nadal, 2011).
The third wave of immigration transpired between 1910 and 1940 when
laborers and nonsponsored students came to the United States looking for a better life
(Nadal, 2011). With the enactment of Asian exclusion laws, plantation companies,
canneries, and farmers from the West Coast sent recruiters to the Philippines to hire
these ‘American nationals’ as employees because they were willing to work for long
hours and low pay (Espiritu, 2003). These laborers suffered terrible living and
working conditions and most of them experienced extreme cases of poverty (Kim &
Mejia, 1976). After the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 was passed, Filipino
immigration slowed down and their status as American nationals were expunged, thus
none of them escaped overt forms of discrimination (Espiritu, 2003; Kim & Mejia,
1976; Nadal, 2011). Despite racial and workplace discrimination, Filipinos banded
together to form close-knit communities and settled in cities like Stockton, Los
Angeles, Honolulu, and Seattle (Cordova, 1983). Within a few years, the same cities
founded ‘Manilatowns’ which hosted restaurants, cultural, and recreational facilities
for all the Filipinos in the area (Cordova, 1983).
68
Nadal (2011) suggested that the Immigration Act of 1965 made the last wave
of immigration of Filipinos possible since it repealed all the Asian exclusion policies
from prior years. Espiritu (2003) stated that Filipinos immigrated to America because
of the rampant rates of unemployment and uneven distribution of wealth. In addition
to the political uncertainty caused by the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, recent college
graduates and practicing professionals fled the Philippines to find a more stable source
of employment, which was usually overseas (Espiritu, 2003). The United States
became the most favorable destination due to its high demand for people with high
educational credentials (Pido, 1986). Therefore, majority of Filipinos who immigrated
here were doctors, nurses, and engineers who worked for major companies in different
parts of the country (Nadal, 2011). Conversely, others who went to America with less
than favorable credentials did not fare as well as the group mentioned above. Some
Filipinos, who came here as tourists, knew that the American job market was much
more lucrative than that of the Philippines so they decided to stay as undocumented
immigrants – commonly known as ‘TNT’ (tago ng tago/ in constant hiding) in Filipino
communities (Nadal, 2011; Pido, 1986). To this day, many Filipinos continue to keep
their ‘TNT’ status so they could earn money under the table to send their families back
home (Nadal, 2011).
Cultural Beliefs
Filipino values remain one of the most prominent features of the Filipino
American culture. According to Pido (1986), the concept of ‘barangay,’ “[which is]
69
the social, economic, political, and military unit of precolonial Philippine society,”
served as a major foundation of Filipino core values (p. 19). The notion of barangay
inculcated collectivism, cooperation, and family among the members of precolonial
groups to ensure a more fluid society (Pido, 1986). Individuals were highly
encouraged to work for the good of the larger society and to maintain close relations
within their community (Okamura, 1998; Pido, 1986). Furthermore, Sikolohiyang
Pilipino (Filipino Psychology), a body of research co-founded by Virgilio G.
Hernandez, played an important role in Filipino American values as well (Nadal,
2011). Sikolohiyang Plipino articulated that the diverse cultural and linguistic
characteristics of Filipinos generated a different psychological experience compared to
the interpretation of Western Psychology; therefore, these varying perspectives shaped
the traditional Filipino values (Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000).
Since most of Filipino values have been known only in Tagalog form, foreign
and native scholars vary in their interpretation of each concept (Mendoza, 2002;
Nadal, 2011; Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000; Pido, 1986). Pe-Pua and ProtacioMarcelino (2000) reiterated that dissimilar and generational interpretations of Filipino
values “perpetuat[ed] a distorted, if not false, picture of the Filipino” (p. 54). Although
many scholars (Mendoza, 2002; Nadal, 2011; Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000;
Pido, 1986) have provided varying yet related definitions of the Filipino values,
Nadal’s (2011) interpretation would be adapted in this thesis due to its currency and
applicability to Filipino Americans:
70
1. Kapwa (fellow being) is defined as the core construct of Filipino
Psychology, in which all individuals feel a sense of belongingness or
connectedness to each other. It is specific to Filipinos in that it implies a
personal and emotional bond between individuals and groups (particularly
between Filipinos), regardless of previous relationships.
2. Utang ng loob (debt of reciprocity) means that individuals are generous
with each other and are expected to return favors or compensate their peers
or neighbors in some way, whether it was asked or needed.
3. Hiya (shame) is governed by the notion that the goal of the individual is to
represent oneself or one’s family in the most honorable way. The
individual wants to avoid shame, by acting respectably in the community,
by being successful and making one’s family proud, and by avoiding
anything that would bring embarrassment to the family.
4. Pakikisama (social acceptance) [instruct Filipinos] to get along well with
peers, without making waves or causing conflict; the goal of Filipinos is to
be socially accepted and celebrated, oftentimes without standing up for
themselves or being different [and] Filipino Americans will more likely
choose what is best for the collective than for the individual, in order to
please everyone.
71
5. Bahala na (fatalistic passiveness) is best translated as “Leave it up to God.”
Individuals who subscribe to a bahala na attitude tend to live without
worry, have a low locus of control, and accept things as they are.
6. Lakas ng loob (inner strength) is best described as being courageous in the
midst of problems and uncertainties [and Filipinos] believe that by being
resilient they can overcome the struggle. (pp. 38-40)
Family
The family structure has been long considered as one of the most important
factors for Filipinos (Espiritu, 2003; Jamero, 2011; Nadal 2011). Even after
immigrating to the United States, Filipinos preserved their traditional beliefs
especially about their families (Espiritu, 2003). Nadal (2011) exemplified how they
incorporate the notions of kapwa (fellow being) and utang ng loob (debt of
reciprocity) through their families. Despite being from different provinces in the
Philippines, Filipinos tend to form relationships easily because of their commonality
of experiences in the United States (Espiritu, 2003). Therefore, most Filipino
Americans would enumerate not only their parents and children, but also include their
other relatives and closest friends (Cordova, 1983; Nadal, 2011) as part of their
immediate family. Children would often recall having countless number of tito
(uncle), tita (aunt), lolo (grandfather), lola (grandmother), ninong (godfather), and
ninang (godmothers) as part of their family while growing up (Nadal, 2011). Blood
relations have never been the sole basis of having many ‘family’ members because
72
Filipinos value strong kinship and positive relations with people around them
(Cordova, 1983; Espiritu, 2003; Nadal, 2011; Okamura, 1998).
Parents often determined how their household would operate although
grandparents were welcomed to help out as well (Nadal, 2011). Depending on the
parents’ level of assimilation, traditional family norms were instilled in the home
(Espiritu, 2003). Children were taught to be respectful and filial to their elders.
Similarly, they were obligated to take care of their parents and grandparents as they
grow older (Okamura, 1998). Parents also tend to serve traditional Filipino dishes such
as adobo, sinigang, and nilaga to feed their children instead of consuming American
foods (Espiritu, 2003). Moreover, children were usually socialized to interact with
other children from other Filipino families (Jamero, 2011). Parents and their friends
highly preferred that their children would bond together thus going to the same
dances, parties, and social function in their community (Jamero, 2011). Lastly,
Filipinos believe that education determined one’s future so parents often funded their
children’s education until they graduated from college (Okamura, 1998).
Women’s Roles
When the first group of Filipinos came to the United States in the 16th century,
most were young, single males eager to work for any jobs that would provide them a
stable income (Cordova, 1983). Women had not been known to immigrate to America
until their husbands sent for them or if they came here for their education (Cordova,
1983). According to Pido (1986) and Nadal (2011), the Philippines promoted an
73
egalitarian society prior to colonization and they kept this tradition in present time.
However, Filipinas were expected to manage the household and raise the children
strictly according to Catholic beliefs. Parents sheltered their daughters from the world
and encouraged them to perform traditional gender roles (Jamero, 2011). In fact, most
daughters were socialized to focus on their education, not to date nor go out with
friends at night (Nadal, 2011).
Most Filipinas were usually more educated than their husbands so they also
earn a higher income (Choy, 2005; Cordova, 1983; Espiritu, 2003). Filipinas’ ability
to secure a high paying job altered the dynamics in the home (Espiritu, 2003). Filipino
husbands often worked day jobs so they were able to oversee their children after about
5pm (Espiritu, 2003). However, females worked the graveyard shifts in hospitals since
a large majority of them were employed as nurses (Choy, 2005; Espiritu, 2003).
Because the culture accepted women’s binary roles as homemakers and employees,
Filipinas were never ostracized for their decision to do both duties simultaneously
(Pido, 1986).
Identity
The Filipino American sense of identity has long been considered as
multifaceted and evolving due to colonial influences (Espiritu, 2003; Nadal, 2011;
Okamura, 1998; Pierce, 2005; Pido, 1986). Since Spain colonized the Philippines from
1521 to 1898, the Filipino lifestyle has been transformed to accommodate all of
Spain’s religious, cultural, and educational values (Nadal, 2011; Pierce, 2005; Pido,
74
1986). Most Filipinos were forcefully converted to Roman Catholicism when the
Spaniards took over the country and most cultural values stemmed from their Catholic
beliefs (Nadal, 2011; Pido, 1986). The Spaniards’ Catholic faith blurred the lines of
religion and politics so Filipinos were coerced to conform to everything the Spanish
crown demanded (Pido, 1986). In addition, Nadal (2011) emphasized that the
Spaniards have also woven the patriarchal notions of ‘Machismo’ (male dominance)
and ‘Marianismo’ (female submissiveness) into the Filipino culture; in turn, these
beliefs reshaped the gender role expectations of the newly colonized Philippines.
Perhaps the long lasting consequence of the Spanish occupation with regards to
Filipino identity was the high reverence for being a mestizo/mestiza or a person with
light skin (Pierce, 2005). After four hundred years, Filipinos, both in the Philippines
and in America, still value ‘colorism’ – “the preferential treatment clearly associated
with skin color” (Pierce, 2005, p. 33). The lingering effect of colorism reflected the
belief that people with light skin were more beautiful, smart, and capable than a
moreno/morena – a person with tan or brown skin tone (Pierce, 2005).
The United States colonized the Philippines from 1898 to 1945 and it sparked
another alteration of the Filipino psyche (Pido, 1986). Americans who were stationed
in the Philippines were involved in “Americanizing the Philippines” with their cultural
and educational values (Nadal, 2011; Pido, 1986). For Filipinos who decided to
immigrate to the U. S., their American colonial experiences transcended with them in
this new land (Cordova, 1983). Pierce (2005) argued that whereas the Spanish
75
inculcated the value of having light skin, Americans taught the Filipinos about the
‘rules of race’ which meant that everything related to being ‘White’ should be valued
and imitated. As a second-generation Filipina named Maria Sotello recalled, “we had
two lives at that time. We had our school and neighborhood life, which was all white
but [our] social life was basically Filipino” (Espiritu, 2003, p. 115). Filipino
Americans were also taught to embrace individualism and competition, especially in
their education (Nadal, 2011). Filipino families in America have adapted to this
mindset so both children and adults know how to get along with others but still
maintain a competitive environment (Nadal, 2011).
Recently, the literature (Mendoza, 2002; Nadal, 2011; Strobel, 2005) has been
inundated with concepts of decolonization among Filipino Americans. Strobel (2005)
posited that the ability to access information about Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino
Psychology) allowed Filipino Americans to learn more about the process of
decolonization, which “enables the colonized to understand and overcome the depths
of alienation and marginalization caused by colonization” (Strobel, 2001, as cited in
Pierce, 2005, p. 32). With decolonization, concepts, beliefs, and traditions that
perpetuated colonial mentality would be discarded (Mendoza, 2002; Nadal, 2011).
Filipino Americans who embark on this process also have to reject the cultural
hegemony and must achieve a ‘cultural emancipation or liberation’ from their
colonizers (Espiritu, 2003; Mendoza, 2002). Nadal (2011) indicated that teaching pre-
76
colonial Filipino history and providing children with Filipino roles models that would
ensure that future generations have “decoloniz[ed] mind-sets” (p. 101).
Although Filipino Americans were considered as one of “the original Asian
immigrants,” they have long been considered as “forgotten Asian Americans” in this
country (Cordova, 1983, p. ix ; Pido, 1986, p. 32). Since the earliest arrival of
‘Manilamen’ to Louisiana during Galleon trading in the 16th century, the lives of other
Filipinos who immigrated to the United States dramatically changed forever (Cordova,
1983; Westbrook, n.d.). Filipinos initially worked in plantations, canneries, and farms
throughout the country although their living conditions and wages were terrible
(Cordova, 1983). However, gender roles changed for Filipino immigrants because of
women’s employment situations (Choy, 2005; Espiritu, 2003). For immigrants who
decided to stay in America permanently, they upheld the same cultural beliefs and
traditions that they learned in the Philippines (Jamero, 2011; Nadal, 2011; Pido, 1986).
The colonial traditions Filipinos inherited from Spanish and American occupations
have now been challenged through the decolonization movement introduced in recent
years (Mendoza, 2002; Nadal, 2011; Strobel, 2005).
Summary
The review of literature revealed that children’s books have not been equitable
in the representation of women and minority in the last 50 years. Multicultural
Education has been incorporated both in K-12 schools as well as universities and
colleges since the 1970s but equity still has not been met. Teacher education provided
77
valuable training on how to work with a diverse student population but gender equity
training was put into the back burner. As a result, teachers and curriculum planners
were more prone to select biased educational materials such as children’s books.
When children read books in the classroom, they discover that Asian Americans and
women, in general, have been marginalized in all genres and types of children’s
literature. Furthermore, the constant erasure and underrepresentation of Filipino
Americans in children’s books negatively impact the ethnic and feminine identity of
children from this culture since they do not see themselves in the books they read. The
review of literature demonstrated that children’s books featuring Filipino Americans
must be examined to know how gender equity has been addressed in the limited
number of books published.
78
Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to examine how Filipinas were depicted in
children’s books featuring Filipino American characters that were published in the last
25 years. The study analyzed the representation of Filipino women and their
importance in the narrative, as manifested in the stories. Data was collected from 10
children’s books and content analysis was utilized as a research methodology to
properly quantify and analyze the roles of Filipina characters both in-text as well as in
the illustrations. More specifically, gender constructs present in each book were
examined since research (Chapman et al., 2007; Frawley, 2008; Rice, 2002; Taylor,
2003) indicated that stereotyped books negatively influenced children. This study
aimed to fill in the void in the literature about Filipino American children’s literature
and to increase awareness regarding gender stereotyping in Asian American children’s
books.
Research Questions
The following questions were explored in this thesis:
1. In children’s books with Filipino American characters, how often do
Filipinas get represented?
2. How are Filipinas characterized in children’s books?
79
Research Design and Data Collection
Research methodologies utilized in the field of social sciences differed over the
years depending on what phenomenon was being observed. In this study, a mixedmethod research design was employed and primarily used content analysis to analyze
the content of the sample. According to Bryman (2012), content analysis “is an
approach to the analysis of documents and texts that seeks to quantify content in terms
of predetermined categories in a systematic and replicable manner” (p. 290). Since
content analysis was an unobtrusive research method, the sample was possible to be
studied without tainting them (Babbie, 2005). In addition, Neuman (2006) stated that
content analysis was useful for examining large volumes of text and interpreting
messages within the text that were usually indiscernible at first glance. Content
analysis was possible to be conducted in either a quantitative or qualitative manner
and a combination of both was “the most effective evaluation” of the sample (Babbie,
2005, p. 346). Quantitative content analysis involved counting and recording
numerical aspects of the text (Neuman, 2006). On the other hand, a qualitative content
analysis interpreted the symbolic meaning of the content of the text and the researcher
usually influenced the interpretation of results (Bryman, 2012).
Gravetter and Wallnau (2005) reiterated that nonparametric tests were
appropriate to be conducted if the data has a categorical nature. Nonparametric tests
have usually been used only to observe the frequencies in the data (Gravetter &
Wallnau, 2005). More specifically, Stern (2008) recommended a nonparametric test
80
called the chi-square test for independence to analyze nominal variables “that differ
only qualitatively from one another” (p. 189). Scholars (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2005;
Stern, 2008) stated that the chi-square test of independence should be used to
determine whether one variable was independent from the rest. Therefore, the
researcher elected to use the chi-square test for independence in the quantitative
analysis of gender role reference of the in-text visuals.
Scholars (Babbie, 2005; Neuman, 2006; Sunderland, 2011) agreed that content
analysis was the most applicable research methodology whenever children’s books
were used as the sample of a study. Sunderland (2011) reiterated that content analysis
has been deeply woven into gender research in children’s literature. Pioneer
researchers (Czaplinski, 1972; Nilsen, 1971; Weitzman et al., 1972) analyzed picture
books using content analysis to explore gender misrepresentation and sex stereotyping.
Early studies (CIBC, 1976a; Gast, 1967; Latimer, 1976; Sadker & Sadker, 1977) about
Asian Americans in children’s literature have also implemented the same research
methodology when cultural depiction and representation were investigated. For these
reasons, the researcher elected to adopt the same method for this study in order to be
consistent with all the previously mentioned studies that focused on gender and Asian
American representations in children’s books.
Research Instruments – Data Collection Sheets
Six data collections sheets were created to account for both quantitative and
qualitative content in the sample used (see Data Collection Sheets A-F in the
81
appendix). The main purpose of these data collections sheets was to indicate how
Filipino Americans, whether females or males, were depicted in children’s books. The
data collection sheets coded for the gender orientation and frequency of each sex
representation in the title, cover, in-text words, illustrations, main protagonist, author,
and illustrator of the children’s books. During the construction of these coding sheets,
prior studies (Bem, 1974; Hamilton et al., 2006; Kolbe & LaVoie, 1981) were taken
into consideration to properly report the content of the sample. As a general feature of
all coding sheets, the book title, author, illustrator and year published were listed at the
top to identify which of the children’s books was coded.
Data Collection - Sheet A (Gender Orientation of Book Title and Book Covers)
Data Collection Sheet A coded for the gender orientation of the title and book
covers. The gender orientation was determined based on the names or adjectives used
in the title of the book. Hamilton et al.’s (2006) rubric for determining the sex of the
character was used for all of the coding sheets that necessitated them. For the front and
back covers of the book, the same instructions were used to label the orientation of the
sample. The ‘gender-neutral’ column was marked when the item (title, front cover,
back cover) did not hint a male or female gender orientation. Moreover, the books
were coded to be gender-neutral if the covers featured both males and females in the
illustrations. The ‘Male-oriented’ column was marked if the book listed a name or
descriptor that would typically be associated with males while the ‘female-oriented’
column was marked when it pertained to female names or descriptor. The ‘comments’
82
box was included to ensure that the researcher was able to make a note of any other
information related to the gender orientation of the books.
Data Collection - Sheet B (Character Personality Traits)
Data Collection Sheet B coded for the personality traits attributed to each
character present in the story. The researcher adapted Bem’s (1974) Sex Role
Inventory [BSRI] to evaluate the male and female’s characterizations as reflected by
their personality traits. Although the BSRI’s traits were originally labeled as ‘male
items,’ ‘female items,’ and ‘neutral items,’ the researcher decided to eliminate these
terms so that the personality traits were relative to both male and female characters.
For coding purposes, masculine was defined as “having qualities appropriate to or
usually associated with a man” while feminine was defined as “characteristic[s] of or
appropriate or unique to women) (Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, n.d). Lastly,
the researcher coded the personality traits of the characters subjectively according to
their portrayal in the children’s books.
Data Collection - Sheet C (Gender of In-text Visuals)
Data collection sheet C coded for the gender role reference of in-text visuals.
Kolbe and LaVoie’s (1981) six dimensions (i.e., expressive vs. instrumental roles,
significant vs. insignificant roles, and stereotyped vs. non-stereotyped roles) were
adapted in this study to survey how each character’s role was illustrated in the book.
First, a character was assigned to have an expressive role if he or she portrayed
concerned for the well being of another, or they were seen to be caring, affectionate,
83
warm, and dependent. Second, a character was coded to have an instrumental role if he
or she was seen to be task-oriented, self-sufficient, somewhat competitive, and
appropriately aggressive. Third, a character was deemed to have a significant role if he
or she was a central figure in the story and performed a major task, action or function.
Fourth, a character was coded to have insignificant role if he or she was present in the
story but performed either no recorded function or some minor task. Fifth, a character
was assigned to have a stereotyped role if he or she portrayed the traditional sex-role
expectations as culturally defined. Finally, a character was coded to have a nonstereotyped role if he or she could be characterized as androgynous – where he/she
performed roles that were traditionally assigned to the other sex.
Data Collection - Sheet D (Gender Reference of Main Protagonist)
Data Collection Sheet D coded for the gender reference of the main protagonist
in each book. The name of the protagonist was listed and a box was marked based on
their gender.
Data Collection - Sheet E (Male and Female In-text Biography)
Data collection sheet E coded for the presence of male and female in-text
biographies. To account for how many males and females had their biographies
featured in the book, the name, sex, culture, page introduced, and photo of each
biography was written in the columns provided in the data collection sheet. A
‘comments’ box was placed below the column for the researcher to make note of any
other relevant information for this section.
84
Data Collection - Sheet F (Sex of Author and Illustrator)
Data collection sheet F coded for the sex of the author and illustrator. The
name, role (author or illustrator), and sex were listed to tally the frequency of each sex
in the sample. The comments box was provided so that the researcher could also
elaborate on how the order was presented and the orientation of how their names were
written in the book.
Participants – Children’s Books
Children’s Book Samples
The sample of the study included children’s books with information or stories
about Filipino Americans. The books titles were obtained either through the existing
Filipino American children’s books in the University library or through personal
research. Most of the books were purchased from online book retailers because of easy
access and wide availability the Internet stores provided during their acquisition.
These books varied in the information they contained; some had original stories and
folktales while others provided activities and factual information about the Filipino or
Asian American culture. Due to the purpose of this study, the sample was derived in a
purposive way to ensure that the target population (Filipino Americans) was fully
represented.
Criteria of Inclusion
The books were chosen based on the following criteria: (a) the book must be
published in the United States within the last 25 years, (b) the book must have human
85
characters, and (c) the book must have Filipino American characters and Filipino
cultural reference present in the story. The final sample of books in the study included
the following:
1. Nene and the horrible math monster
Author: Marie Villanueva
Illustrator: Ria Unson
Publisher: Polychrome Publishing Corporation
Year published: 1993
2. Filipino children’s favorite stories
Author: Liana Romulo
Illustrator: Joanne de Leon
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Year published: 2000
3. Willie wins
Author: Almira Astudillo Gilles
Illustrator: Carl Angel
Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc.
Year published: 2001
4. Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella
Author: Myrna de la Paz
Illustrator: Youshan Tang
86
Publisher: Shen’s Books
Year published: 2001
5. Lakas and the Manilatown Fish/ Si Lakas at ang isdang Manilatown
Author: Anthony D. Robles
Illustrator: Carl Angel
Publisher Children’s Book Press
Year published: 2003
6. Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel/ Si Lakas at ang Makibaka Hotel
Author: Anthony D. Robles
Illustrator: Carl Angel
Publisher: Children’s Book Press
Year published: 2006
7. My first book of Tagalog words: Filipino rhymes and verses
Author: Liana Romulo
Illustrator: Jaime Laurel
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Year published: 2006
8. Filipino friends
Author: Liana Romulo
Illustrator: Corazon Dandan-Albano
87
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Year published: 2007
9. Pan de Sal saves the day: A Filipino children’s story
Author: Norma Olizon-Chikiamco
Illustrator: Mark Salvatus
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Year published: 2009
10. Cora cooks pancit
Author: Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore
Illustrator: Kristi Valiant
Publisher: Shen’s Books
Year published: 2009
Setting
The data collection was conducted at the university library to maintain
consistency and avoid delineation when assessing the children’s books. This location
was chosen because of the availability of additional resources necessary for the data
collection: computers, software, books, and librarians.
Procedures
In order to properly code for the gender representations of Filipinas in
children’s books featuring Filipino Americans, a total of six coding sheets were
constructed for this thesis’ content analysis. The coding rubrics provided in previous
88
studies to evaluate the significance of the role portrayed in books (Kolbe & LaVoie,
1981) as well as the method to distinguish the sex of each character (Hamilton et al.,
2006) were adapted to design the coding sheets used in this study. Data was collected
from the children’s books’ front and back cover, main bodies of text, illustrations,
images, and dust jacket. All the words in the book titles as well as the sentences in the
book were read to code for the gender orientation of the book’s contents. Each book
was coded for the gender orientation of the title and book covers (back and front),
personality traits of main characters, gender role reference in illustrations, sex of the
main protagonist, gender orientation of in-text biographies, and the sex of the author
and illustrator. The 10 books included in the sample were coded independent of each
other, which lasted approximately three to four hours for each one. The entire coding
process transpired between 35 to 40 hours due to the dissimilar amounts of text and
illustrations in each of the books assessed.
Text
Data from the text included the book title, names of author and illustrator, and
main content of the story. The narrative was used to code the amount and frequency of
males and females mentioned throughout the story for a quantitative analysis of
gender representation present in the book. The book’s title was coded to adhere only to
a single gender orientation to maintain a proper count of the sample’s gender
orientation. The author and illustrator’s name and sex were also coded once. Each
character in the story was tabulated only once to retain the accurate number of male
89
and female depiction in the book. Lastly, all the sentences in narrative were read to
code for personality traits that can be attributed to each character in the story. In turn,
these personality traits were used for the qualitative analysis of gender depiction in the
narrative.
Illustrations
Data was collected from all the images and illustrations of all the characters
present in the story. The personality traits of each character were coded based on the
manner of how they were illustrated in the story. In addition, the in-text visuals were
coded for the gender role reference of each character. The front and back covers of the
book were coded gender-neutral, male-oriented, or female-oriented based solely on the
illustrations presented. Gender-neutral was assigned to the illustration if both male and
female were present. The covers were deemed to be male-oriented if males dominate
the illustration more than females. Lastly, the covers were coded as female-oriented if
females largely embodied the illustrations.
The illustrations throughout the narrative were coded similar to Kolbe and
Lavoie’s (1981) study. First, characters were coded to have either expressive or
instrumental roles. The character was assigned to have an expressive role if he or she
conveyed care, affection, warmth, and dependency. On the other hand, characters were
assigned instrumental roles if they were self-sufficient, somewhat competitive, and
appropriately aggressive. Second, the characters were coded to have either a
significant or insignificant role in the story. Significant roles meant that the character
90
was a central figure in the story and performed a major task, action or function.
Insignificant roles were defined as a character whose presence in the story contributed
to either no recorded function or some minor task. Finally, the characters were
assigned to a stereotyped or non-stereotyped role. Stereotyped roles portrayed the
traditional sex-role expectations while non-stereotyped roles were characterized as
androgynous so that males and females performed roles that were traditionally
assigned to the other sex.
Summary
Content analysis was conducted to evaluate 10 children’s books containing
Filipino American characters. Data was collected to code for the quantitative and
qualitative contents of the books using rubrics from previous studies (Hamilton et al.,
2006; Kolbe & LaVoie, 1981). Quantitative data was derived both from the text and
the illustration to account for the frequency of male and female characters in the book.
In particular, the qualitative data obtained from the sample mirrored the interpretation
of the researcher as it related to their academic and personal background. Due to the
nature of the study, purposive sampling was chosen to gauge the amount of gender
representation and frequency of Filipino Americans; therefore, the need for a random
sample was rejected.
91
Chapter 4
FINDINGS
This study examined 10 children’s books featuring Filipino Americans that
were published in the last 25 years. Research has shown children’s books typically
contained more male than female characters and stereotypical portrayals (Davis &
McDaniel, 1999; Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Hamilton et al., 2006; Hillman, 1974;
Kortenhaus & Demarest, 1993; McCabe et al., 2011; Nilsen, 1971; Oliver, 1974;
Oskamp et al., 1996; Turner-Bowker, 1996; Weitzman et al., 1972). In addition,
children’s books also promulgated the constant “erasure of Filipino America” in
children’s literature (de Jesus, 2006, p. 203). Therefore, the intent of this study was to
examine the frequency of depiction and extent of characterization of Filipina
Americans in children’s books. This chapter reports the results of the study after
conducting both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data collected.
Research Questions
The following questions were explored in this thesis:
1. In children’s books with Filipino American characters, how often do
Filipinas get represented?
2. How are Filipinas characterized in children’s books?
Quantitative Results
In order to conduct quantitative analysis, data was gathered from 10 children’s
books with Filipino American characters using data collection sheets A, B, C, D and
92
F. Data collection sheet E was not used in the analysis because there were no in-text
biographies available upon the examination of the books. The text and illustrations
from the books’ covers (front and back) as well as the main text were included in the
data collection process; thus, the results from this section pertain to the books’
entirety.
Gender Orientation of Title and Book Cover
Data Collection Sheet A was used to ascertain the gender orientation of the
title and book cover. On average, the book titles featured almost equal gender
orientations: 3 were gender-neutral, 3 were male-oriented, and 4 were female-oriented.
However, the front cover of the books displayed a different representation because
male-oriented covers comprised 5 of the sample then followed by 3 female-oriented
covers and 2 gender-neutral covers. Finally, the back covers showed 6 gender-neutral
orientation, 3 male-orientation, and 1 female-orientation (see Tables 1, 2, and 3).
Table 1
Gender Orientation of the Book Title
Orientation
Frequency
Gender-neutral
3
Male-oriented
3
Female-oriented
4
Total
10
93
Table 2
Gender Orientation of the Front Cover
Orientation
Frequency
Gender-neutral
2
Male-oriented
5
Female-oriented
3
Total
10
Table 3
Gender Orientation of the Back Cover
Orientation
Frequency
Gender-neutral
6
Male-oriented
3
Female-oriented
1
Total
10
Personality Traits of Characters
Data Collection Sheet B was used to assess the personality traits commonly
associated with the characters portrayed in the children’s books with Filipino
American characters. The researcher coded the characters’ personality traits
subjectively using Sheet B, which was the modified and adapted version of the BSRI
(Bem, 1974). As previously noted, the definition of masculine adopted in this study
was that of “having qualities appropriate to or usually associated with a man;”
94
feminine, on the other hand, was defined as “characteristic[s] of or appropriate or
unique to women (Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, n.d). In the sampled books,
some of the written words used to described males were ‘big,’ ‘strong,’ ‘beastly,’ and
‘handsome’ – all of which alluded to masculine traits. Meanwhile, words such as
‘beautiful,’ ‘delicate,’ ‘gentle,’ ‘kind,’ ‘elegant,’ and ‘dainty’ were frequently to
described female characters. Like the Merriam Webster dictionary (n.d) suggested,
both males and females were described in a way that conformed to what society
expected as masculine and feminine traits
Based on the combined top 10 traits of the characters, both male and female
characters portrayed stereotypical personality traits (seeTable 4). Males, more
specifically, were depicted to be more independent, make more decisions easily,
masculine, self-reliant, and have strong personality compared to females. In contrast,
females were characterized as understanding, feminine, tender, and gentle. As
reflected in Table 4, the combined personality traits observed for both sexes seemed to
be polar opposites of each other. Interestingly, the BSRI (Bem, 1974) labeled ‘likable’
as a gender-neutral trait yet males were males were portrayed more in the stories to
possess this attribute compared to females. Finally, there were four personality traits
of women that both sexes almost equally had in common: being ‘sensitive to the needs
of others,’ ‘soft-spoken,’ ‘compassionate,’ and ‘loves children.’
95
Table 4
Personality Traits Attributed to Male and Female Characters
Personality Traits
Independent
Makes decisions easily
Masculine
Self-reliant
Strong personality
Likable
Dominant
Self-sufficient
Sensitive to needs of others*
Understanding
Feminine
Tender
Gentle
Soft spoken*
Compassionate*
Loves children*
Male
15
9
9
8
8
8
7
7
7
7
0
4
4
4
4
6
Female
5
2
0
4
3
2
1
0
6
9
9
9
8
6
5
5
Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals
Data Collection Sheet C was utilized to examine how the illustrations depicted
gender roles presented in the books. Because the variables were mostly nominal and
dichotomous variables, the Chi-square test of independence was performed to analyze
the results (Bryman, 2012; Stern, 2008). According to Stern (2008), the Chi-square
test of independence was necessary to determine that the results of one variable do not
influence another; thus, ensuring that they were independent from each other. Since
there were three categories used to assess the roles portrayed by the characters, three
Chi-square tests were performed to quantify the results.
96
Expressive or instrumental roles. In order to understand how the data was
collected for this section, it was coded through the following rubrics: ‘expressive’ role
was assigned if the character portrayed concern for well being of another, was caring,
affectionate, warm, and dependent; ‘instrumental’ role was coded if the character was
task-oriented, self-sufficient, somewhat competitive, and appropriately aggressive.
And to determine whether there was a relation between the role portrayed (expressive,
instrumental) and gender (male, female) among the sample of children’s books, 76
characters (41 males, 35 females) were categorized as having expressive or
instrumental roles. Of the 41 males, 12 were categorized as having expressive roles
and 29 had instrumental roles; of the 35 females, 24 had expressive roles and 11 had
instrumental roles. The outcome of a chi-square test of independence indicated that the
relation between the role portrayed was significantly related to the gender of the
character, Χ2 (1, N = 76) = 11.70, p < .01, ϕ = -.39 (see Figure 1).
30
25
20
Male
15
Female
10
5
0
Expressive Roles
Instrumental Roles
Figure 1. Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals: Expressive or Instrumental Roles.
97
Significant or insignificant roles. In order to understand how the data was
collected for this section, the following rubrics were established: ‘significant’ role was
assigned if the character was the central figure in the story and performed a major
task, action, or function; ‘insignificant’ role was coded if the character was present in
the story but performed either no recorded function or some minor task. To determine
whether there was a relation between the role portrayed (significant, insignificant) and
gender (male, female) among the sample of children’s books, 76 characters (41 males,
35 females) were categorized as having expressive or instrumental roles. Of the 41
males, 28 were labeled as characters with significant roles and 13 had insignificant
roles; of the 35 females, the number of characters classified as having significant roles
and insignificant roles were 18 and 17, respectively. A chi-square test of independence
indicated that the relation between the role portrayed and gender was not significant,
Χ2 (1, N = 76) = 2.25, p > .10 (see Figure 2).
30
25
20
Male
15
Female
10
5
0
Significant Roles
Insignificant Roles
Figure 2. Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals: Significant or Insignificant Roles.
98
Stereotyped or non-stereotyped roles. In order to understand how the data
was collected for this section, the following rubrics were established: ‘stereotyped’
role was coded if the role portrayed by the character was showed the traditional sexrole expectations of each sex; ‘nonstereotyped’ role was assigned if role could be
characterized as androgynous – where males and females performed roles traditionally
assigned to the other sex. To determine whether there was a relation between the role
portrayed (stereotyped, non-stereotyped) and gender (male, female) among the sample
of children’s books, 76 characters (41 males, 35 females) were categorized as having
expressive or instrumental roles. Of the 41 males, 23 were classified as characters with
stereotyped roles and 18 with non-stereotyped roles; of the 35 females, 20 had
stereotyped roles and 15 had non-stereotyped roles. The outcome of a chi-square test
of independence indicated that the relation between the role portrayed and gender was
not significant, Χ2 (1, N = 76) = 0.008, p > .90 (see Figure 3).
25
20
15
Male
10
Female
5
0
Stereotyped Roles
Non-stereotyped
Roles
Figure 3. Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals: Stereotyped or Non-stereotyped
Roles.
99
Gender Reference of the Main Protagonist
Data Collection Sheet D was employed to account for the sex of the main
protagonist in the books. From a total of 24 central characters, 14 (58%) were males
and 10 (42%) were females (see Table 5).
Table 5
Sex of Main Characters
Sex
Frequency
Percentage
Male
14
58%
Female
10
42%
Sex and Role of Author and Illustrator
Data Collection Sheet F was used to collect the data pertaining to the sex and
role of the author as well as the illustrator. In reference to the authors’ sex, there were
two (20%) males and eight (80%) females. The illustrators comprised of six (60%)
males and four (40%) females. Lastly, there were three translators who were listed in
the two bilingual books in the sample (Lakas and the Manilatown Fish & Lakas and
the Makibaka Hotel (Robles, 2003; 2006), all of which were females (100%) (see
Table 6).
100
Table 6
Sex of Author, Illustrator, and Translator
Role
Sex
Frequency
Author
Male
2
Female
8
Male
6
Female
4
Male
0
Female
3
Illustrator
Translator
Statistical Significance of the Study
As with any study, statistical significance was frequently associated with the
size of the sample. This phenomenon was observed in the current study. Due the
purposive sampling method effected in this study, there were only 10 children’s books
examined. A chi-square test for independence was performed and a relationship was
found only between the role portrayal (expressive or instrumental) and the gender of
the character shown in the illustrations, X2 (1, N = 76) = 11.70, p < .01, ϕ = -.39 (see
Figure 1). Although the quantitative results of this study cannot be generalized to the
population, it can, however, provide an insight to the manner of frequency that males
and females were represented in children’s books featuring Filipino Americans.
101
Qualitative Results
This section focuses on the second research question of the study: how are
Filipina Americans characterized in children’s books? Qualitative data was acquired
through a thematic analysis of the children’s books’ text and illustration. The text and
illustration were examined independent of each other and the results discussed entailed
the themes that emerged upon the assessment of the books.
Analysis of the Text
Women in nurturing roles. One of the most prominent themes that surfaced
throughout the books was the nurturing role of females. Despite the different genres of
books used in the sample (contemporary fiction, folk stories, and educational), women
were described similarly in four of the 10 books in the sample – as caretakers who
provided comfort for their loved ones. For instance, in Nene and the horrible Math
monster (Villanueva, 1993), Nene described her mother as very supportive and
comforting. When she felt anxious and scared, her mother cooked traditional foods
like pansit and leche flan to help her feel better and calm altogether. In the same
token, Rain from “The battle of the Wind and the Rain” (Romulo, 2000) stated early
on in the story that her role was to be caring or else “animals, plants, people on earth
would die” (p. 28). Lastly, two female characters that were predominantly mythical in
nature displayed the same nurturing role as well. In Abadeha: The Philippine
Cinderella (de la Paz, 2001), the Spirit of the Forest appeared in front of Abadeha
during her most dire situation. After the Abadeha stated that her stepmother made
102
impossible demands, the Spirit automatically helped her and aided her several more
times when Abadeha came back in the forest. The Fairy in “The magic lake” (Romulo,
2000) initially tested Pedro’s morals but ended up rewarding him due to his honesty.
She told him that because he was honest he was worthy of having both a silver and
gold axe.
High emphasis on women’s beauty. Another theme present in the sample was
the insurmountable value placed on a woman’s physical appearance. Out of the 10
books in the sample, two books (Romulo, 2000; de la Paz, 2001) portrayed three
characters in this light. First, Alunsina was described as “lazy and selfish” (Romulo,
2000, p. 34) by her husband, Langit, because she was more concerned of how she
looked on a daily basis instead of proactively helping Langit to take care of earth. On
the occasion that she did not beautify herself, she cautiously watched her husband
form mountains and rivers because she wondered why he was more interested with
earth than his beautiful wife. In the end, Langit banished Alunsina because of her
disinterest in taking care of earth due to her vanity.
The second time beauty was emphasized in the sample was when Abadeha’s
stepmother and stepsisters started to mistreat her as soon as they met her. Since they
were extremely jealous of her beauty, the stepmother and her daughters did all they
could to make Abadeha’s life miserable. At one point, the stepmother even told
Abadeha that she “do[es] not deserve to see the prince [because her] place is in the
kitchen” (de la Paz, 2001). The stepmother was so threatened with Abadeha’s beauty
103
that she did not want to risk showing Abadeha’s face to the prince. After all,
Abadeha’s presence would hinder the possibility of the prince marrying either of her
daughters.
Lastly, Berta from “The Prince’s bride” (Romulo, 2000) was disliked by the
Old King as well as the two newlywed couples in the kingdom because of her physical
appearance. She was only deemed acceptable to be Prince Marco’s bride soon after
her curse was broken; thus transforming her worm-like appearance to the most
beautiful woman among all the brides. Above all, the women’s beauty did not
positively affect their lives. For Alunsina, it meant that her relationship with Langit
was severed for good. Oddly enough, Abadeha and Berta were the saviors in their
respective stories but they were offered marriage as their reward due to their pretty
faces – an advantageous asset for the princes they saved.
Independent women. In the sample, there were two children’s books (OlizonChikiamco, 2009; Romulo, 2000) which showcased three characters who were
depicted to be independent and able to stand to make decisions for themselves. First,
Bighari from “A bridge of flowers” (Romulo, 2000) was described to be tending
earth’s garden without any supervision or help. And as a result, she was banished by
her father, Bathala, due to her inability to come to him whenever he called. Bighari,
despite being saddened by her banishment, continued to live her life and cared for her
gardens by herself. Similarly, Pan de Sal (Olizon-Chikiamco, 2009) was also
characterized to be an independent student and child. Although her parents wanted to
104
always walk her to school, Pan de Sal told her father that she can handle going to
school on her own. In the story, she was also described to have found her own route to
school. Laslty, Lupe from “The Runaways” (Romulo, 2000) was the one who initiated
the plan of leaving their home. Due to the unhappy situation she and her brother,
Tonito, have at home, Lupe decided to leave and search for their father. With Lupe’s
instructions, the siblings managed to leave and survive on their own. Days later, their
father found them in the forest and Lupe was able to articulate why they had left home
in the first place.
Outspoken women. Out of the 10 books in the sample, there were two books
(Olizon-Chikiamco, 2009; Romulo, 2000) that portrayed the ability of female
characters to express themselves and establish their own voice much like their male
counterparts. In Filipino children’s favorite stories (Romulo, 2000), both Ana and the
wife who counted gold were depicted as more outspoken than their husbands. These
women were very direct when it came to her commands to her servants and even to
their husbands. Incidentally, their husbands were idle and inevitably followed what
their wives told them to do. Likewise, Miss Floures from Pan de Sal saves the day
(Olizon-Chikiamco, 2009) embodied a very student-oriented yet frank demeanor when
it came to her interactions with her students. When she and her students started their
picnic during their fieldtrip, Miss Floures was very direct with Pan de Sal. Miss
Floures did not suggest the students to share their packed lunch with Pan de Sal;
rather, she straightforwardly told them to share their food. Finally, Lupe from “The
105
Runaways” (Romulo, 2000) was also able to express herself when her father asked
how she felt about their life at home. Much like Ana and the wife who counted gold,
Lupe talked more than her brother, Tonito, about their experiences as home. She never
hesitated to answer the inquiries her father made and explicitly stated they never want
to go back home only to be entrusted in their stepmother’s custody.
Aggressive women. In conjunction to the all the previous findings, two
women – both directly involved with the main protagonists (Abadeha and Lupe) –
were depicted as stepmothers in two of the children’s books (de la Paz, 2001; Romulo,
2000). While women were shown to be nurturing, these two characters were the
complete opposite of the traditional depiction of mothers. Abadeha’s stepmother
demonstrated aggressive and abusive tendencies throughout the story. The stepmother
was always cruel whenever she spoke to Abadeha because she made almost
impossible demands to be done immediately. The stepmother constantly abused
Abadeha verbally since she would always threaten to hit her with the kitchen broom if
she does not obey her. Conversely, Lupe and Tonito’s stepmother was equally
aggressive when she interacted with them. At one instance in the story, she locked
Tonito inside a closet without feeding him for several hours. In addition, the
stepmother was gullible because her own daughter, Gina, often blamed Tonito for her
mischievous actions. Instead of finding out the truth, the stepmother often took Gina’s
word and punished Tonito.
106
Analysis of the Illustrations
Constancy of female characters inside the home. Upon the examination of
the illustration, the major theme that stood out was the high prevalence of female
characters to be in the home. Three books from the sample (de la Paz, 2001; Gilmore,
2009; Romulo, 2006) illustrated women whose main presence was found inside the
home, the kitchen in particular. Throughout the narrative, most of the protagonist in
the books aforementioned was simply moving in and out of their homes. While
Abadeha was seen wandering the forest, she was illustrated doing her chores in the
kitchen. Moreover, the female characters illustrated in Romulo’s (2006) book –
grandmother, nanny, and sister – were often seen in different parts of the house. The
grandmother was shown to be on her rocking chair attending to the boy. In the laundry
room, the nanny was seen taking care of the laundry. The sister, although illustrated
several times, was also frequently seen in the living room or in the kitchen. Finally,
Cora, her sisters and her mother predominantly stayed in the kitchen throughout the
story. The only scene where Cora was pictured outside the kitchen was when the entire
family began eating their supper in the dining room.
Nurturing roles. In three of the 10 books, the pervasive images of women
with nurturing roles mimicked what was stated previously in the textual analysis. In
Villanueva’s book (1993), Tessie was seen as the person Nene turned to after waking
up from a bad dream. In the illustration, Tessie was hugging Nene while comforting
her about her fears regarding the math contest. Afterwards, Nene’s anxiety only
107
subsided once Tessie comforted her. In the same token, the Spirit of the Forest from
Abadeha (de la Paz, 2001) was illustrated with motherly appearance. When Abadeha
was in distress, the female Spirit of the Forest came to her rescue. The Spirit of the
Forest, which manifested in different forms, aided Abadeha whenever she needed
help. Lastly, the mother from My first book of Tagalog words (Romulo, 2006) was
shown to be taking good care of her children and very hand-on with her children’s
well being. Even when the son was the central focus of the illustration, his mother
would be depicted in a caring and affectionate way.
Females in the background and cut-off illustration. In three of the 10
children’s books, three books (Astudillo Gilles, 2001; Gilmore, 2009; Robles, 2006)
had illustrations that depicted girls and women in a way that they were either in the
background or cut off. In Willie wins (Astudillo Gilles, 2001), the female students
were seen only after they were illustrated behind Willie and his friends. The female
students in the background were shown to be disinterested in what was going on
around them or busy doing their own work. After Willie opened his alkansiya, a group
of girls stood behind Willie, Stan and Matt – all of whom looked like spectators
instead of active participants in the classroom.
In two books, Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel (Robles, 2006) and Cora cooks
pancit (Gilmore, 2009), some of the female characters were cut off as they were
illustrated. An excellent example could be found in Peachy’s illustration in Robles’
(2006) book. Peachy was first shown in the story after she took the karaoke machine
108
during the party in the hotel lobby. Because Peachy was only seen from the waist
down, her actual facial expressions were never apparent to the readers. Identically,
Cora’s sisters were introduced the same way as Peachy. Despite a proper description
of them in the story, her sisters were initially shown only from the waist down. Later
on, Peachy and Cora’s sisters were fully illustrated only when the story was about to
end.
Teacher’s body language. Several female teachers were featured in three
children’s books sampled in this study: Mrs. MacKenzie (Villanueva, 1993), Willie’s
unnamed teacher (Astudillo Gilles, 2001), and Miss Floures (Olizon-Chikiamco,
2009). Mrs. MacKenzie was Nene’s teacher and she was the person who chose Nene
for the math contest. However, Mrs. MacKenzie stood in front of a male student and
her body was more oriented towards him as she announced the details of the contest.
Similarly, Willie’s teacher often positioned herself next to more male than female
students in the classroom. In one illustration, Willie’s teacher was shown to take
particular interest in a boy’s coin bank. Girls, who were standing behind them, did not
look interested in getting the teacher’s attention nor did they show their coin banks to
their classmates. Later in the story, the teacher was pictured with Willie, Stan, and
Matt as Willie opened his coin bank. Surprisingly, all the female students were not
included in the illustration when they any of them opened their coin banks. On the
contrary, Miss Floures was seen next to her female students as they went to their field
trip. Since Pan de Sal saves the day (Olizon-Chikiamco, 2009) was dominated with
109
female characters, Miss Floures was shown next to female students throughout the
story.
Summary
The content analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data suggests that
children’s book featuring Filipino Americans contained a mixture of stereotypical and
nontraditional gender portrayals. Although females primarily comprised the authors of
the books in the sample, almost 60% of the main characters were males.
Consequently, most stories contained stereotypical portrayals of women as very
nurturing, feminine, caring, home-oriented, and concerned with beauty. The in-text
visuals also revealed that women tend to be illustrated with a traditional portrayal –
inside the home – and that they were often in the background or had their illustrations
cut off. At the same time, females were observed to be independent, outspoken, and
aggressive in certain roles. Findings from this study demonstrated that males were
largely represented in books; however, females were observed to embody
characteristics that were both typical and nonconforming for their sex.
110
Chapter 5
DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS
Discussion
The basis of this study was to assess how Filipino Americans were portrayed
in contemporary children’s books. Two research questions became the foundation of
this thesis:
1. In children’s books with Filipino American characters, how often do
Filipinas get represented?
2. How are Filipina Americans characterized in children’s books?
In turn, these questions were addressed through conducting a mixed-methods research
design: quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the sample. Results suggested
that females, despite being less represented than males, were portrayed both in gender
stereotypical as well as nontraditional ways.
Quantitative Analysis
Gender Orientation of the Title and Covers
As shown in Tables 1-3, the gender orientation of the children’s books varied
depending on which area was being examined. In terms of the book titles, both maleoriented and gender-neutral books comprised of three books each compared to four
female-oriented books. While the front covers were male-orientated, the back covers
displayed a gender-neutral orientation. Since the study provided mixed results for the
overall orientation of the books, a teacher’s training would often determine which
111
books would be included in the classroom. According to Sleeter and Grant (2009) and
Banks (1993a), teachers who tapped on to their training on multicultural education
would choose any of the books included in the sample to ensure that their students
would be exposed to curriculum materials from a diverse standpoint. However,
Carinci (2007) stated that these very same teachers who may have little to no gender
equity training would not be equipped to make an informed decision on which books
should be chosen. Therefore, educators must make a conscientious effort to be familiar
with gender-inclusive practices in curriculum material selection. As with any educator,
the process of selecting gender equitable books that would be included in the
classroom may take time but if teachers make a commitment in doing so, they will see
that their students will ‘unlearn’ the traditional beliefs about gender once they begin to
read.
Personality Traits Attributes to Male and Female Characters
The second finding of this study alluded to the stereotypical traits observed
with the characters in the book. In accordance with previous findings (Czaplinski,
1972; Peterson & Lach, 1990; Taylor, 2003; Turner-Bowker, 1996; Weitzman et al.,
1972), sex stereotyping was evident in the traits commonly attributed to both male and
female characters. For example, the top three personality traits of male characters were
“independent,” “makes decisions easily,” and “masculine.” Females, on the other
hand, were characterized with the top three traits of being “feminine,” “tender,” and
“understanding.” Given that both sexes’ personality traits were almost complete
112
opposites of each other, these results give credence to the notion that sex stereotyping
remains prevalent in the way women are typified in the books. In turn, children’s
gender development are greatly impacted because their concept of people’s attributes
would be stereotypical and biased if they solely base their perceptions from the
children’s books they read (Chapman et al., 2007; Scott & Feldman-Summers, 1979;
Taylor, 2003; Thorne, 1993; Trepanier-Street & Romatowski, 1999). Hence, parents
and teachers should be educated on how they should select the books that children will
read books that are unbiased and gender-inclusive.
Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals
To examine how illustrations depict males and females, the gender role
reference for all the characters were assessed through three binary characteristics.
Statistical significance was found in the relation between the role portrayed
(expressive or instrumental) and the gender of the character. This result concurs with
the findings of other studies (Czaplinski, 1972; Hamilton et al., 2006; Weitzman et al.,
1972) wherein women were mostly depicted with loving and nurturing roles.
Moreover, Nadal (2011) and Pido (1986) previously explained that Filipinas place an
extremely high importance on their family so the results validate the fact that they are
family-oriented people. Meanwhile, there was no statistical significance found on the
relation of roles portrayed (significant or insignificant role; stereotyped or nonstereotyped role) and gender. In other words, neither males nor females adhered to
particular characteristics stated above as they were illustrated in the children’s books.
113
Gender Reference of Main Protagonist, Author, and Illustrator
Finally, the quantitative analysis of data showed that male characters were
more frequent than female characters despite the dominance of female authors. As
seen in Table 6, males accounted for 14 central characters (58%) while females had 10
central characters (42%). These findings are in keeping with numerous scholars
(Czaplinski, 1972; Davis & McDaniel, 1999; Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Hamilton et
al., 2006; Kortenhaus & Demarest, 1993; McDonald, 1989; Peterson & Lach, 1990;
Turner-Bowker, 1996; Weitzman et al., 1972) who examined gender representation in
children’s books. The findings suggest that even when females write the children’s
books, male characters would still dominate as the main protagonist of the story.
Consequently, 60% of the illustrators were males so they may have had a great
influence on how the gender role reference of male characters in the sample.
Qualitative Analysis
Analysis of the Text
Women in nurturing roles. Through the analysis of text, Filipinas were
portrayed both in traditional and non-traditional ways. First, women were commonly
described in the text in nurturing roles and as a token of beauty. When Nilsen (1971)
first introduced the ‘cult of the apron,’ women were primarily depicted as a mother or
a wife. Characters such as Nene’s mom, Rain, and the two mythical creatures
(Abadeha’s Spirit of the Forest and Pedro’s fairy) were definitely described as
nurturing and caring even if they did not necessarily wear an apron. Moreover,
114
Filipinas exemplified one of the lingering Spanish colonial values of ‘Marianismo’
(Nadal, 2011) wherein Filipinos believe that women should devote themselves to their
families as the primary caretakers.
High emphasis on women’s beauty. Results of the qualitative examination of
the text also showed the high emphasis on women’s beauty. Characters such as Berta
and Abadeha were shown to have benefited from their physical appearance. Berta
finally gained acceptance to her husband’s kingdom and Abadeha lived happily ever
after with her new husband. This finding coincides with Pierce’s (2005) observation
that Filipinos believe that being beautiful is still equated with a good life. For young
readers, these images may propagate the message that girls should conform to the
ideal yet unattainable notion of beauty if they really want to be successful in life. As
Kilbourne et al. (2010) and Newsome et al. (2011) noted, this unrealistic beauty ideals
are harmful for girls’ self-confidence and self-esteem because it predates an
insurmountable level of pressure for girls to be ‘beautiful.’ Lastly, young female
readers may think that they must also follow society’s trend of being ‘beautiful’
because the images they see in children’s books also reinforce this idea to them upon
looking at the children’s books’ illustrations.
Independent, outspoken, and aggressive women. Besides the traditional way
that Filipinas were portrayed in the text, they were also shown to be independent,
outspoken, and aggressive – characteristics that have been typically associated with
males. For Bighari, Pan de Sal, and Lupe, they were able to handle most things on
115
their own without any help from male characters. However, both stepmothers featured
in the stories demonstrated qualities of physical and verbal aggressiveness to their
stepdaughters. In a way, the results regarding female independence and outspokenness
reflect the same findings of other researchers (Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Gooden &
Gooden, 2001; Williams et al., 1987) that females were seen in less traditional roles.
On the contrary, the results deviated away from what other researchers (Espiritu,
2003; Nadal, 2011; Okamura, 1998) reiterated about the caring, inclusive, and
collectivistic qualities of Filipino families, which are often headed by Filipinas.
Finally, the depictions of stepmothers also diverge from the Western representation of
females in children’s books as caring, nurturing, and loving (Czaplinski, 1972; Davis
& McDaniel, 1999; Hamilton et al., 2006; Hillman, 1976; Kortenhaus & Demarest,
1993; Nilsen, 1971; Turner-Bowker, 1996Weitzman et al., 1972).
Analysis of the Illustrations
Constancy of female characters in the home. One of the most prominent
results generated from the analysis of illustrations was the recurring tendency of
Filipinas to be in the home, particularly in the kitchen, whenever they were depicted in
the books. These findings mirror that of numerous studies featuring books from the
Western cultures (Czaplinski, 1972; Hamilton et al., 2006; Hillman, 1976; Nilsen,
1971; Oliver, 1974; Weitzman et al., 1972). While the females’ presence inside the
home is not a novel occurrence, the problematic idea of women only seen as wives
and homemakers (Hillman, 1976; Nilsen, 1971; Weitzman et al., 1972) remain the
116
same. If parents and teachers provide young girls books that proliferate the same
stereotypical images seen in this sample, girls may only aspire to careers related to
domesticity and homemaking without exploring the full capacity of themselves
(Ashby & Wittmaier, 1978; Oliver, 1974). Furthermore, these images also convey the
idea that our society still lives by the bipolar nature of gender (Matisons, 2008) as well
as its rigid role expectancies.
Nurturing roles. Upon the analysis of the images, most Filipinas were shown
mostly illustrated performing traditional roles such as being the housewife and
caretaker of the children. Several characters like Tessie from Nene and the horrible
math monster (Villanueva, 1993), the nanny and the grandmother from My first book
of Tagalog words (Romulo, 2006) were all seen to be providing comfort to their loved
ones by hugging or touching them affectionately. In a way, the illustrations also
convey the message that is parallel to Nadal’s (2011) analysis that Filipinas are very
closely tied with their family. The nurturing trait of these females also coincides with
the findings of several researchers (Czaplinski, 1972; Davis & McDaniel, 1999;
Hamilton et al., 2006; Hillman, 1976; Kortenhaus & Demarest, 1993; Nilsen, 1971;
Turner-Bowker, 1996; Weitzman et al., 1972) that largely portray women in
traditional roles.
Females in the background and cut-off illustration. When the theme of
females being in the background or cut off in the illustration, the researcher was not
surprised to see that Filipinas were also subjected to this phenomenon. Boys were not
117
only shown to be active participants in many of the books in the sample, but they were
also illustrated to have females as their spectators. For example, the main protagonist
in Willie wins (Astudillo Gilles, 2001), Willie, was surrounded by his male friends
while his female classmates looked over their shoulders to see what was the ‘treasure’
inside his coconut coin bank. Peachy, in Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel (Robles,
2003), was also shown to be a spectator to the demonstration led by the protagonist as
well as the male tenants. She was mostly illustrated in a way that would not show her
entire body. Images like these confirm what researchers (Davis & McDaniel, 1999;
Oskamp et al., 1996; Turner-Bowker, 1996) found in terms of underrepresentation of
females in the illustrations of children’s books. Readers may never fully grasp the
importance of a female character when they are always seen as part of the background
or with an incomplete image.
Teacher’s body language. The last finding from the illustrations’ analysis was
the overt preference of female teachers with their male students compared to female
students. Among the three teachers seen in the stories, both Mrs. Mackenzie (Nene’s
teacher) and Willie’s unnamed teacher were illustrated to behave differently around
male students. A perfect example was the announcement of the math contest in Nene’s
classroom. Although the text hinted no body language coming from Mrs. Mackenzie,
she was illustrated next to a male student as she announced the contest – as if she was
only talking to him about the contest. Willie’s teacher also showed more inclination
with her male students in the classroom. This female teacher was never shown talking
118
to any female students about their coin banks. For the most part, both teachers’
behavior towards their students corroborates the findings of gender researchers
(AAUW, 1992; Becker, 1981; Carinci, 2007; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010; She, 2000)
that teachers spend more time in the classroom talking and interacting with male
students. Teachers and educators who interact with their students in a very biased way
not only convey the message that they prefer male students but they also are catering
to the educational needs of half of their students in the classroom.
Conclusion
Through an in-depth content analysis, this study aimed to shed light on how
Filipinas were depicted in contemporary children’s books featuring the Filipino
American culture. Results from this study can be related to different aspects of
research in children’s literature whether in gender or Asian Americans. First, Filipinas
were found to be underrepresented as central characters and depicted with
stereotypical personality traits, which corroborated the findings of previous research
(Czaplinski, 1972; Davis & McDaniel, 1999; Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Hamilton et
al., 2006; Kortenhaus & Demarest, 1993; McCabe et al., 2011; McDonald, 1989;
Peterson & Lach, 1990; Taylor, 2003; Turner-Bowker, 1996; Weitzman et al., 1972).
Second, females were also seen both in the text and illustration as expressive
characters that were able to show their caring, affectionate, warm, and dependent
characteristics (Kolbe & LaVoie, 1981). Hence, researchers (Czaplinski, 1972;
Hamilton et al., 2006; Nadal, 2011; Pido, 1986; Weitzman et al., 1972) were accurate
119
when they stated that females – even Filipinas – were commonly portrayed in
nurturing and loving roles. The nontraditional depictions, on the other hand, may have
been influenced by the egalitarian culture promoted by the Filipinos (Nadal, 2011;
Pido, 1986).
Another finding was the propensity of male characters despite the high number
of female authors in the sample. This result may lead one to infer that male characters,
overall, are more favorable compared to female characters regardless of the sex of the
author and illustrators of the children’s books. Fourth, Kilbourne et al.’s (2010) and
Newsome et al.’s (2011) notion of beauty was also reflected in the results since there
was a high emphasis placed on the female characters’ physical appearance instead of
their heroic acts in the stories. Fifth, Nilsen’s (1971) pioneer idea of the ‘cult of the
apron’ was displayed through the repetitive portrayal of women inside the home.
Sixth, the recurring instances of women in the background or have their illustrations to
be cut-off concurs with other studies (Davis & McDaniel, 1999; Oskamp et al., 1996;
Turner-Bowker, 1996) found regarding the in-text visuals related to female characters.
Lastly, the results of the study mirror the findings of many gender researchers
(AAUW, 1992; Becker, 1981; Carinci, 2007; Sadker & Zittleman, 2010; She, 2000;)
when they verified the idea that teachers tend to behave differently around male
students compared to female students; thus, they are also promoting varying norms for
their students’ in-class participation.
120
The researcher attributed the deviation of the portrayals of Filipinas in the
sampled children’s books to the dynamic nature of the Filipino American culture.
Since the authors came from a diverse Filipino upbringing and socialization, these
books reflected the plurality in their experiences as a Filipino American. The stories in
the children’s books feature the malleable and fluctuating gender roles for Filipinas
today. In the same token, the results discussed in this thesis also differ from the
characterizations of Asian American females in children’s literature. Whereas other
Asian American cultures (i.e. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai) depict females in a
very gender stereotypical role (Dong, 2006; Sadker & Sadker, 1977; Thongthiraj,
2006), Filipinas exhibited traits that strayed away from the traditional Asian American
women: independent, outspoken, and aggressive. Similarly, Filipina depictions
contrasted that of women from Western cultures because of the way Filipina
characters were portrayed in nontraditional ways. In a sense, children’s books
featuring Filipina characters challenges the status quo due to their ability to have traits
that are atypical of a female as well as an Asian American.
Limitations
Because this study elected for purposive sampling, one of the main limitations
reside in the children’s books used. The results of the study can only be generalized
from books published within the last 25 years; therefore, books outside these
parameters may not represent the same frequency and manner of depiction. Another
limitation of the study is the lack of examination of animal characters since they are
121
also sources of information for the gender representations of males and females.
Lastly, the inter-rater reliability and validity of the coding sheets in relation to this
study has not been established.
Recommendations
Future studies are recommended to utilize a more expansive sample of books
to encompass the all of the books published about the Filipino Americans. The
researcher would like to examine the dimensions of the study so that stories featuring
animal characters would also be assessed since research on gender in children’s
literature have also focused on such examinations. Since the Filipino culture features
animals in its folklores, a rich data set would be acquired as well as the possibility of
comparing the gender portrayals of animals with humans.
Another recommendation for forthcoming research would be to examine the
gender roles ascribed to by Filipinas who have lived primarily in the United States and
then compare it to the practiced gender roles of Filipinas who have just immigrated to
the country. In addition, pre-service teachers who use children’s books could also be
studied to analyze the influence of their gender equitable practices and gender
awareness training when choosing the curriculum materials for their students. The
researcher would like to examine the effects of gender-stereotyped books on Filipino
American children compared to newly arrived immigrant children. Because California
enroll a large population of Filipino students – both as native-born and as immigrants
– it would be beneficial to study how children’s books affect their gender
122
socialization. Finally, a study examining their gender equity training of publishers,
authors, and illustrators would be beneficial as well due to their strong influence on
the book.
Reflection
Cordova (1983) and de Jesus (2006) were accurate when they stated that there
was an immediate need to reinstate the Filipino presence in America. In a sense, this
thesis was a response to that challenge because there were no empirical studies
documenting Filipino Americans in children’s books. More specifically, there was not
any information about the depiction of Filipinas in children’s literature when this
thesis was in its conception stage. Knowing that other Asian American cultures have
slowly delved into examining how females were portrayed in books written for
children, it was only fitting that Filipinas were also included in that list of Asian
American women whose presence in books were chronicled and evaluated. In that
sense, this study empowered Filipinas to reclaim their voices as well as their
representation in children’s literature.
As the researcher embarked on this journey to find out how Filipinas are
portrayed in children’s books, several questions came to mind. First, how will a
culture whose colonial history continues to linger affect the depiction of females
today? Second, how does the patriarchal and capitalistic orientation of the United
States affect the way Filipinos are characterized in children’s books? Third, how will
author and illustrator present the Filipino values without losing any of its core essence
123
along the way? Besides paving the way to help answer some of these inquiries, there
was no doubt that plenty of valuable information was generated from the results of this
study. Today, Filipinas in children’s books may have been depicted both in
stereotypical and nontraditional roles but books published in the future could change
all of that. Authors and illustrators must always remind themselves that a gender
equitable depiction is not an option; rather, gender equity should be the only choice
when it comes to children’s books. After all, young readers learn about the world from
the books they read so it is only fair that they receive a fair and inclusive
characterization of people around them.
In the coming years, children’s books should only reflect the pluralistic and
inclusive nature that this country continuously promotes. On the one hand, females
should not be an after-thought when it comes to children’s literature. Half of the
readers will always be females so all the personnel involved in writing a children’s
book – author, illustrator, publication company, editors, etc. – must have a proactive
and inclusive (both in gender and culture) attitude as they publish these books.
Moreover, teachers, educators, and curriculum planners should seek and participate in
gender equity training before they plan the lessons as well as select the books for their
students.
When educators finally understand the negative effects of a biased curriculum,
the impact of their training – whether in multicultural education and/or gender equity –
will be reflected in their classroom. Not only will the students have a more enriched
124
educational experience, teachers will also facilitate connected knowing in the
classroom. In the same token, teachers must ensure that children are properly
socialized by the text they read. Because most teachers are concerned with preparing
their students to take the standardized testing, the idea of having children’s books as
an education tool is less prioritized. With that being said, pre-service teachers should
be trained on gender so they know how to use children’s books as a medium of
promoting gender equity and cultural tolerance in society.
Finally, parents should learn how to select children’s books that promote
nontraditional portrayals of boys, girls, males, and females. As the first teachers,
parents must make conscious decisions that would engage children to read bias-free
and gender inclusive books; thus, they ensure the positive gender socialization of their
children through the stories they read as well as the illustrations they see. Parents must
proactively seek for books that will deepen their children’s understanding of the
world. Instead of choosing books that are deemed to be appropriate only for the sex of
their child, parents should welcome books with varying topics and illustrations that
would foster positive gender socialization and a heightened cultural tolerance for their
children.
125
APPENDIX A
Data Collection Sheet A – Gender Orientation of Book Title and Covers
126
Data Collection Sheet A – Gender Orientation of Book Title and Covers
Book Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
Year of Publication:
Gender-neutral
Title
Front Cover
Back Cover
Comments:
Male-oriented
Female-oriented
127
APPENDIX B
Data Collection Sheet B – Character Personality Traits
128
Data Collection Sheet B – Character Personality Traits
Book Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
Year of Publication:
Personality
Traits
Act as a leader
Aggressive
Ambitious
Analytical
Assertive
Athletic
Competitive
Defends on
beliefs
Dominant
Forceful
Has leadership
abilities
Independent
Individualistic
M
F
Personality Traits
M
F
Personality Traits
Affectionate
Cheerful
Childlike
Compassionate
Does not use
harsh language
Eager to soothe
hurt feelings
Feminine
Adaptable
Conceited
Conscientious
Conventional
Flatterable
Inefficient
Gentle
Gullible
Jealous
Likable
Loves children
Moody
Loyal
Sensitive to needs
of others
Reliable
Makes decisions
Shy
easily
Masculine
Soft spoken
Self-reliant
Sympathetic
Self-sufficient
Tender
Strong
Understanding
personality
Willing to take a
Warm
stand
Willing to take
Yielding
risks
Total
Total
* Personality Traits adapted from Bem Sex Role Inventory (1974)
Comments
Friendly
Happy
Helpful
Secretive
Sincere
Solemn
Tactful
Theatrical
Truthful
Unpredictable
Unsystemic
Total
M
F
129
APPENDIX C
Data Collection C – Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals
130
Data Collection C – Gender Role Reference of In-text Visuals
Book Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
Year of Publication:
Name
Sex
EXP/INS*
Roles Portrayed
SIG/INT*
STE/NST*
KEY:
EXP = Expressive (Role portrayed concern for well-being of another, caring,
affection, warmth, dependency)
INS = Instrumental (Role portrayed as task-oriented, self-sufficient, somewhat
competitive, and appropriately aggressive)
SIG = Significant (Character was a central figure in the story and performed a
major task, action, or function)
INT = Insignificant (Character was present in the story but performed either no
recorded function or some minor task)
STE = Stereotyped (Role portrayed the traditional sex-role expectations as
culturally defined)
NST = Non-stereotyped (Role could be characterized as androgynous - where
males and females performed roles traditionally assigned to the other sex)
* The six dimensions were adapted from Kolbe & LaVoie (1981)
Comments:
131
APPENDIX D
Data Collection Sheet D – Gender Reference of Main Protagonist
132
Data Collection Sheet D – Gender Reference of Main Protagonist
Book Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
Year of Publication:
Name of Protagonist
Comments:
Sex of character
Male
Female
133
APPENDIX E
Data Collection Sheet E – Male and Female In-text Biographies
134
Data Collection Sheet E – Male and Female In-text Biographies
Book Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
Year of Publication
Name
*Comments:
Sex Page # introduced Culture Photo
135
APPENDIX F
Data Collection Sheet F – Sex of Author and Illustrator
136
Data Collection Sheet F – Sex of Author and Illustrator
Book Title:
Year of Publication:
Name
*Comments:
Role
Sex
137
REFERENCES
Adler, P. A., Kless, S. J., & Adler, P. A. (1992). Socialization to gender roles:
Popularity among elementary school boys and girls. Sociology of Education,
65, 169-187.
American Association of University Women. (1992). How schools shortchange girls:
A study of major findings on girls and education. Washington, DC: AAUW
Educational Foundation.
Aoki, E. M. (1981). “Are you Chinese? Are you Japanese? Or are you just a mixed-up
kid?” Using Asian American children’s literature. The Reading Teacher, 34,
384-385.
Appelbaum, P. (2002). Multicultural and diversity education: A reference handbook.
Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Ashby, M. S., & Wittmaer, B. C. (1978). Attitude changes in children after exposure
to stories about women in traditional or nontraditional occupations. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 70, 945-949.
Ashton, E. (1983). Measures of play behavior: The influence of sex-role stereotyped
children’s books. Sex Roles, 9, 43-47.
Astudillo Gilles, A. (2001). Willie wins. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books.
Attebury, N. G. (2001). Bridging the gap in children’s literature for Asian American
youngsters. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 76, 33-39.
138
Babbie, E. (2005). The basics of social research (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson
Wadsworth.
Baird, P. (2010). Teaching to empower students. In D. E. Campbell (Ed.), Choosing
democracy: A practical guide to multicultural education (pp. 207-236).
Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Banfield, B. (1998). Commitment to change: The Council on Interracial Books for
Children and the world of children’s books. African American Review, 32, 1722.
Banks, J. A. (1993a). Multicultural education: Development, dimensions, and
challenges. The Phi Delta Kappan, 75, 22-38.
Banks, J. A. (1993b). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions,
and practice. Review of Research in Education, 19, 3-49.
Banks, J. A. (2004). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and
practice. In J. A. Banks & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research
on multicultural education (pp. 3-29). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Banks, J. A. (2010a). Approaches to multicultural curriculum reform. In J. A. Banks &
C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Multicultural Education: Issues and perspectives
(pp. 233-256). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
139
Banks, J. A. (2010b). Multicultural education: Characteristics and goals. In J. A.
Banks & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Multicultural Education: Issues and
perspectives (pp. 3-30). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Banks, J. A. (2011). Multicultural education: goals and dimensions. Retrieved from
http://education.washington.edu/cme/view.htm
Banks, J. A., & Ambrosio, J. (2003). Multicultural education. In J. W. Guthrie (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 1703-1714). New York, NY:
Macmillan Reference USA.
Banks, J. A., & McGee Banks, C. A. (2010). Multicultural education: Issues and
perspectives. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Barker, L. J., & Aspray, W. (2006). The state research on girls and IT. In J. M.
Cohoon & W. Aspray (Eds.), Women and information technology: Research
on underrepresentation (pp. 3-54). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Baskwill, J. (2008). Exploring teacher attitudes toward multicultural literature through
the arts. In G. S. Taylor, K. V. Hinton, & L. Moore (Eds.), Teaching
multicultural literature to help children understand ethnic diversity (pp. 6381). Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.
Beal, C. R. (1994). Boys and girls: The development of gender roles. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Becker, J. R. (1981). Differential treatment of females and males in mathematics
classes. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 12, 40-53.
140
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155-162.
Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex-typing.
Psychological Review, 88, 354-364.
Bem, S. L. (1983). Gender schema theory and its implications for child development:
Raising gender-aschematic children in a gender-schematic society. Signs, 8,
598-616.
Best, R. (1983). We all have scars. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Bishop, R. S. (1997). Selecting literature for a multicultural curriculum. In V. J. Harris
(Ed.), Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 1-19). Norwood,
MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
Bishop, C. H., & Wiese, K. (1938). The five Chinese brothers. New York, NY:
Coward, McCann and Geoghegan.
Blake, B. (1995). A guide to children's books about Asian Americans. Aldershot,
England: Scolar Press.
Blum, L. (1997). Multicultural education as values education. Retrieved from
http://law.scu.edu/socialjustice/File/BlumMEVE.pdf
Bracken, J., & Wigutoff, S. (1977). Sugar and spice: That’s what children’s books are
still made of. Women’s Studies Newsletter, 5, 18-20.
Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University
Press, Inc.
141
Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and
differentiation. Psychological Review, 106, 676-713.
Cai, M. (1994). Images of Chinese and Chinese Americans mirrored in picture books.
Children’s Literature in Education, 25, 169-191.
California Department of Education. (2012). Enrollment by ethnicity for 2011-12:
Enrollment by gender, grade, and ethnic designation. Retrieved from
http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/Enrollment/EthnicGrade.aspx?cChoice=StEnrAl
l&cYear=201112&cLevel=State&cTopic=Enrollment&myTimeFrame=S&cT
ype=ALL&cGender=B
Campbell, D. (2010). Choosing democracy: A practical guide to Multicultural
Education. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Carinci, S. (2007). Examining gender and classroom teaching practices. In G. B.
Stahly (Ed.), Gender identity, equity, and violence (pp. 63-82). Sterling, VA:
Stylus Publishing.
Chapman, M., Filipenko, M., McTavish, M., & Shapiro, J. (2007). First graders’
preferences for narrative and/or information books and perceptions of other
boys’ and girls’ book preferences. Canadian Journal of Education, 30, 531553.
Chen, M. (2009). Seeking accurate cultural representation: Mahjong, World War II,
and ethnic Chinese in multicultural youth literature. Multicultural Education,
16, 2-10.
142
Choy, C. C. (2005). Asian American history: reflections on imperialism, immigration,
and “the body.” In M. L. de Jesus (Ed.), Pinay power: Theorizing the
Filipina/American experience (pp. 81-97). New York, NY: Routledge.
Claudio-Perez, M. (1998). Filipino Americans. Retrieved from
http://www.filipinosinla.com/filipino.pdf
Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin. (n.d.). Children’s
books by and about people of color published in the United States. Retrieved
from http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/pcstats.asp
Cordova, F. (1983). Filipinos, Forgotten Asian Americans: A pictorial essay, 1763circa 1963. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
Council on Interracial Books for Children. (1976a). How children’s books distort the
Asian American image. Interracial Books for Children Bulletin, 7, 3-4.
Council on Interracial Books for Children. (1976b). Criteria for analyzing books on
Asian Americans. Interracial Books for Children Bulletin, 7, 5.
Council on Interracial Books for Children. (1980). 10 quick ways to analyze children’s
books for racism and sexism. In Guidelines for selecting bias-free textbooks
and storybooks (pp. 24- 26). New York, NY: Council on Interracial Books for
Children.
Crabb, P. B., & Marciano, D. L. (2011). Representations of material culture and
gender in award-winning children’s books: A 20-year follow-up. Journal of
Research in Childhood Education, 25, 390-398.
143
Craft, M. (1996). Teacher education in plural societies. Bristol. PA: The Falmer Press,
Taylor & Francis Inc.
Crocco, M. S., & Libresco, A. S. (2007). Citizenship education for the 21st century – A
gender inclusive approach to social studies. In D. Sadker & E. S. Silber (Eds.),
Gender in the classroom: Foundations, skills, methods, and strategies across
the curriculum (pp. 109-164). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Inc., Publishers.
Czaplinski, S. M. (1972). Sexism in award winning picture books. Pittsburgh, PA:
Know.
Davis, A. P., & McDaniel, T. R. (1999). You’ve come a long way, baby – or have
you? Research evaluating gender portrayal in recent Caldecott-winning books.
The Reading Teacher, 52(5), 532-536.
Davis, D. M. (1990). Portrayals of women in prime-time network television: Some
demographic characteristics. Sex Roles, 23, 325-332.
Davis, K. L., Brown, B. G., Liedel-Rice, A., & Soeder, P. (2005). Experiencing
diversity through children’s multicultural literature. Kappa Delta Pi Record,
41, 176-179.
Delgado-Campbell, D. (2010). How society and schools shortchange girls and boys. In
D. E. Campbell (Ed.), Choosing democracy: A practical guide to multicultural
education (pp. 145-171). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
144
de Jesus, M . L. (2005a). Fictions of assimilation: Nancy Drew, cultural imperialism,
and the Filipina/American experience. In M. L. de Jesus (Ed.), Pinay power:
Theorizing the Filipina/American experience (pp. 45-60). New York, NY:
Routledge.
de Jesus, M . L. (2005b). Pinay power: Theorizing the Filipina/American experience.
New York, NY: Routledge.
de Jesus, M. L. (2006). “The sound of bamboo planted deep inside them:” Reclaiming
Filipino American history and identity in Lakas and the Manilatown fish. The
Lion and the Unicorn, 30, 202-217.
de la Paz, M. (2001). Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella. Walnut Creek, CA: Shen’s
Books.
Dong, L. (2006). Writing Chinese America into words and images: Storytelling and
retelling the song of Mu Lan. The Lion and the Unicorn, 30, 218-233.
Dougherty, W. H., & Engel, R. E. (1987). An 80s look for sex equality in Caldecott
winners and honor books. The Reading Teacher, 40, 394-398.
Eccles, J. P., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J., &
Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T.
Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 75-146). San
Francisco, CA: Freeman.
Engel, R. E. (1981). Is unequal treatment of females diminishing in children’s picture
books? The Reading Teacher, 34, 647-652.
145
Ernst, S. B., Mathis, J. (2008). Multicultural literature: Reading, writing, and
responding within a “new” literacy context. Journal of Children’s Literature,
34, 10-12.
Espiritu, Y. L. (2003). Home bound: Filipino American lives across cultures,
communities, and countries. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of
California Press.
Feminine [Def. 2]. (n.d). In Merriam Webster Online. Retrieved February 23, 2013,
from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminine
Fox, M. F., & Hesse-Biber, S. (1984). Women at work. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield
Publishing Company.
Frawley, T. J. (2008). Gender schema and prejudicial recall: How children
misremember, fabricate, and distort gendered picture book information.
Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22(3), 291-303.
Gast, D. K. (1967). Minority Americans in children’s literature. Elementary English,
44, 12-23.
Gillespie, C., Clements, N., Powell, J., & Swearinger, B. (1992). The portrayal of
ethnic characters in Newbery award-winning books. Retrieved from
http://www.americanreadingforum.org/yearbook/yearbooks/92_yearbook/pdf/1
1_Gillespie.pdf
146
Gillespie, C., Clements, N., Powell, J., & Swearinger, R. A. (1994). A look at the
Newbery medal books from a multicultural perspective. The Reading Teacher,
48, 40-50.
Gilmore, D. K. (2009). Cora cooks pancit. Walnut Creek, CA: Shen’s Books.
Gilton, D. L. (2007). Multicultural and ethnic children’s literature in the United
States. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Gooden, A., & Gooden, M. A. (2001). Gender representations in notable children’s
picture books: 1995-1999. Sex Roles, 45, 89-101.
Gopalakrishnan, A. (2010). Multicultural children’s literature: A critical issues
approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Grant, C., & Gibson, M. (2011). Diversity and teacher education: A historical
perspective on research and policy. In A. F. Ball & C. A. Tyson (Eds.),
Studying diversity in teacher education (pp. 19-61). Lanham, MD: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Grant, C. A. (2008). The evolution of multicultural education in the United States: A
journey of human rights and social justice. Retrieved from
http://www.iaie.org/download/turin_paper_grant.pdf
Grant, C. A., & Ladson-Billings, G. (1997). Dictionary of multicultural education.
Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press.
Gravetter, F. J., & Wallnau, L. B. (2005). Essentials of statistics for the behavioral
sciences. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
147
Hamilton, M. C., Anderson, D., Broaddus, M., & Young, K. (2006). Gender
stereotyping and under-representation of female characters in 200 popular
children’s picture books: A twenty-first century update. Sex Roles, 55, 757765.
Hansen-Krening, N. (1992). Authors of color: A multicultural perspective. Journal of
Reading, 36, 124-129.
Harada, V. H. (1995). Issues of ethnicity, authenticity, and quality in Asian-American
picture books, 1983-93. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 8, 135-149.
Harris, V. J. (1997). Children’s literature depicting blacks. In V. J. Harris (Ed.), Using
multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 21-58). Norwood, MA:
Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
Henderson, D. L., & May, J. P. (2005). Exploring culturally diverse literature for
children and adolescents: Learning to listen in new ways. Boston, MA:
Pearson Education, Inc.
Henry, A. (2010). Race and gender in classrooms: Implications for teachers. In D. E.
Campbell (Ed.), Choosing democracy: A practical guide to multicultural
education (pp. 183-207). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hillman, J. S. (1974). An analysis of male and female roles in two periods of
children’s literature. The Journal of Educational Research, 68, 84-88.
Hillman, J. S. (1976). Occupational roles in children’s literature. The Elementary
School Journal, 77, 1-4.
148
Hirunpidok, V. (1993). Yai. In L. Yep (Ed.), American dragons: Twenty-five Asian
American voices, (pp. 168-184). New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Ho, M. (1990). Rice without rain. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.
Hoagland, D. (2008). Walk together children: The inclusive nature of multicultural
literature. In G. S. Taylor, K. V. Hinton, & L. Moore (Eds.), Teaching
multicultural literature to help children understand ethnic diversity (pp. 137151). Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.
Hollins, E. R. (2011). The meaning of culture in learning to teach: The power of
socialization and identity formation. In A. F. Ball & C. A. Tyson (Eds.),
Studying diversity in teacher education (pp. 105-130). Lanham, MD: Rowman
& Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Hollins, E. R., & Guzman, M. T. (2005). Research on preparing teachers for diverse
populations. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. M. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher
education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education
(pp. 477-548). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Jacobs, J. E., Davis-Kean, P., Bleeker, M., Eccles, J. S., & Malachuk, O. (2005). “I
can, but I don’t want to”: The impact of parents, interests, and activities on
gender differences in math. In A. M. Gallagher & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.),
Gender differences in mathematics: An integrative psychological approach
(pp. 246-263). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
149
Jamero, P. (2011). Vanishing Filipino Americans: The bridge generation. Lanham,
MD: University Press of America, Inc.
Kelley, J. E. (2008). Harmony, empathy, loyalty, and patience in Japanese children’s
literature. The Social Studies, 99, 61-70.
Kessler, S., Ashenden, D. J., Connell, R. W., & Dowsett, G. W. (1985). Gender
relations in secondary schooling, Sociology of Education, 58, 33-48.
Kilbourne, J., Jhally, S., Rabiovitz, D., & Media Education Foundation. (2010).
Killing us softly 4: Advertising’s image of women. Northampton, MA: Media
Education Foundation.
Kim, H. C., & Mejia, C. C. (1976). The Filipinos in America, 1898-1974. Dobbs
Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, Inc.
Kingston, M. H. (1982). Cultural mis-readings by American reviewers. In G.
Amirthanayagam (Ed.), Asian and Western writers in dialogue: New cultural
identities (pp. 55-65). London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.
Kinman, J. R., & Henderson, D. L. (1985). An analysis of sexism in Newbery medal
award books from 1977 to 1984. The Reading Teacher, 38, 885-889.
Kohlberg, L. (1966). A cognitive developmental analysis of children’s sex-role
concepts and attitudes. In E. Maccoby (Ed.), The development of sex
differences (82-173). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Kolbe, R., & LaVoie, J. C. (1981). Sex-role stereotyping in pre-school children’s
picture books. Social Psychology Quarterly, 44, 369-374.
150
Kortenhaus, C. M., & Demarest, J. (1993). Gender role stereotyping in children’s
literature: An update. Sex Roles, 28, 219-232.
La Dow, S. (1976). A content-analysis of selected picture books examining the
portrayal of sex roles and representation of males and females. East Lansing,
MI: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning.
Larrick, N. (1995). The all-white world of children’s books. In O. Osayimwense (Ed.)
The all white world of children’s books & African American children’s
literature (pp. 1-12). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.
Latimer, B. I. (1976). Telegraphing messages to children about minorities. The
Reading Teacher, 30, 151-156.
Lee, J. M. (1995). The song of Mu Lan. Arden, NC: Front Street.
Lips, H. M. (1989). Gender-role socialization: Lessons in femininity. In J. Freeman
(Ed.), Women: A feminist perspective (pp. 197-216). Mountain View, CA:
Mayfield Publishing Company.
Lo, S., & Lee, G. (1993). Asian images in picture books: What stories do we tell our
children? Emergency Librarian, 20, 14-18.
Loh, V. (2006). Quantity and quality: The need for culturally authentic trade books in
Asian American young adult literature. The ALAN Review, 34, 44-61.
Louie, B. Y. (2005). Unwrapping the pojagi: Traditional values and changing times in
a survey of Korean-American juvenile literature. Children’s Literature in
Education, 36, 173-195.
151
Ludden, J. (2006). 1965 Immigration Law changed face of America. Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5391395
Maccoby, E. E. (1990). Gender and relationships: A developmental account. American
Psychologists, 45, 513-520.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). Psychology of sex differences. Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press.
Masculine [Def. 2]. (n.d). In Merriam Webster Online. Retrieved February 23, 2013,
from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminine
Matisons, M. R. (2008). Mixed messages: Gender paradigms and everyday life in the
contemporary United States. In R. Cameron Wedding & B. Mosupyoe (Eds.),
Institutions, ideologies, & individuals: Feminist perspectives on gender, race,
& class (pp. 41-60). Dubuque, IA: Kendall /Hunt Publishing Company.
McCabe, J., Fairchild, E., Grauerholz, L., Pescosolido, B. A., & Tope, D. (2011).
Gender in twentieth-century children’s books. Gender & Society, 25, 197-226.
McDonald, S. M. (1989). Sex bias in the representation of male and female characters
in children’s picture books. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 150, 389-401.
Mendoza, S. L. (2002). Between homeland and the diaspora: The politics of theorizing
Filipino and Filipino American identities. New York, NY: Routledge.
Mischel, W. (1966). A social-learning view of sex differences in behavior. In E.
Maccoby (Ed.), The development of sex differences (pp. 56-81). Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press.
152
Mo, W., & Shen, W. (1997). Reexamining the issue of authenticity in picture books.
Children’s Literature in Education, 28, 85-93.
Morgan, H. (2009). Gender, racial, and ethnic misrepresentation in children’s books:
A comparative look. Childhood Education, 85, 187-190.
Nadal, K. L. (2011). Filipino American psychology: A handbook of theory, research,
and clinical practice. Hoboken, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Neuman, W. L. (2006). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative
approaches. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Newsom, J. S., Scully, R. K., Dreyfous, G. W., Redlich, S. J., Congdon, J., Holland,
E., Cvetko, S., ... Ro*Co Films Educational (Firm). (2011). Miss
representation. Sausalito, CA: Ro*co Films Educational.
Nilsen, A. P. (1971). Women in children’s literature. College English, 32, 918-926.
Okamura, J. Y. (1998). Imagining the Filipino American diaspora: Transnational
relations, identities, and communities. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
Oliver, L. (1974). Women in aprons. The female stereotype in children’s readers. The
Elementary School Journal, 74, 253-259.
Olizon-Chikiamco, N. (2009). Pan de Sal saves the day: A Filipino children’s story.
North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.
Oskamp, S., Kaufman, K., & Wolterbeek, L. A. (1996). Gender role portrayals in
preschool picture books. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 11, 2739.
153
Pang, V. O. (1994). Why do we need this class? Multicultural education for teachers.
The Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 289-292.
Pang, V. O., Colvin, C., Tran, M., & Barba, R. H. (1992). Beyond chopsticks and
dragons: Selecting Asian-American literature for children. The Reading
Teacher, 46, 216-224.
Peterson, S. B., & Lach, M. A. (1990). Gender stereotypes in children’s books: Their
prevalence and influence on cognitive and affective development. Gender and
Education, 2, 185-197.
Pe-Pua, R., & Protacio-Marcelino, E. (2000). Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino
Psychology): A legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez. Asian Journal of Social
Psyhology, 3, 49-71.
Pido, A. J. (1986). The Pilipinos in America: The macro/micro dimensions of
immigration and integration. Staten Island, NY: Center for Migration Studies.
Pierce, L. M. (2005). Not just my closet: Exposing familial, cultural, and imperial
skeleton. In M. L. de Jesus (Ed.), Pinay power: Theorizing the
Filipina/American experience (pp. 31-44). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rice, P. S. (2002). Creating spaces for boys and girls to expand their definitions of
masculinity and femininity through children’s literature. Journal of Children’s
Literature, 28, 33-42.
Robles, A. D. (2003). Lakas and the Manilatown fish/ Si Lakas at ang isdang
Manilatown. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
154
Robles, A. D. (2006). Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel/ Si Lakas at ang Makibaka
Hotel. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Romulo, L. (2000). Filipino children’s favorite stories. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle
Publishing.
Romulo, L. (2006). My first book of Tagalog words: Filipino rhymes and verses.
North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.
Romulo, L. (2007). Filipino friends. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.
Romulo, L. (2011). Filipino celebrations: A treasury of feats and festivals. North
Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.
Ross, E. W., & Pang, V. O. (2006). Race, ethnicity, and education: Principles and
practices of multicultural education. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Ryle, R. (2011). Questioning gender: A sociological explanation. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Sadker, M., & Sadker, D. M. (1994). Falling at fairness: How America’s schools
cheat girls. New York, NY: Scribner.
Sadker, D., & Zittleman, K. (2010). Gender bias: From colonial America to today’s
classroom. In J. A. Banks & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Multicultural
Education: Issues and perspectives (pp. 137-156). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
155
Sadker, M. P., & Sadker, D. M. (1977). Other selected minority groups as portrayed in
children’s literature. In Now upon a time: A contemporary view of children’s
literature, pp. 210-230). New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.
Sadker, M. P., Sadker, D. M., & Garies, R. S. (1980). Sex bias in reading and
language arts teacher education texts. The Reading Teacher, 33, 530-537.
Sadker, D., Sadker, M., & Zittleman, K. R. (2009). Still failing at fairness: How
gender cheats girls and boys in school and what we can do about it. New
York, NY: Scribner.
Samson, F. L. (2005). Filipino American men: Comrades in the Filipina/o American
feminism movement. In M. L. de Jesus (Ed.), Pinay power: Theorizing the
Filipina/American experience (pp. 149-166). New York, NY: Routledge.
Schafer, R. T. (1996). Women: The oppressed majority. Racial and ethnic groups (pp.
429-450). New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Scott, K. P., & Feldman- Summers, S. (1979). Children’s reactions to textbook stories
in which females are portrayed in traditionally male roles. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 71, 396-402.
She, H. C. (2000). The interplay of biology teacher’s beliefs, teaching practices and
gender-based student-teacher interaction. Educational Research, 42, 100-111.
Sleeter, C. E., & Grant, C. A. (2009). Making choices for multicultural education:
Five approaches to race, class, and gender. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.
156
Steinberg, S. R., & Kinchloe, J. L. (2009). Smoke and mirrors: More than one way to
be diverse and multicultural. In S. R. Steinberg (Ed.), Diversity and
multiculturalism: A reader (pp. 3-22). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing,
Inc.
Steiner, S. F. (2001). Promoting a global community through multicultural children’s
literature. Englewood. CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.
Stern, L. D. (2008). A visual approach to SPSS for Windows: A guide to SPSS 15.0.
Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Strobel, L. M. (2005). A personal story: On becoming split Filipina subject. In M. L.
de Jesus (Ed.), Pinay power: Theorizing the Filipina/American experience (pp.
19-30). New York, NY: Routledge.
Sunderland, J. (2011). Language, gender and children’s fiction. New York, NY:
Continuum International Publishing Group.
Taylor, F. (2003). Content analysis and gender stereotypes in children’s books.
Teaching Sociology, 31, 300-311.
Thongthiraj, R. (2006). Negotiated identities and female personal space in Thai
American adolescent literature. The Lion and the Unicorn, 30, 234-249.
Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. New Brunswick, NY:
Rutgers University Press.
157
Tintiangco-Cubales, A. G. (2005). Pinayism. In M. L. de Jesus (Ed.), Pinay power:
Theorizing the Filipina/American experience (pp. 137-148). New York, NY:
Routledge.
Trecker, J. L. (1973). Sex stereotyping in secondary school. The Phi Delta Kappan,
55, 110-112.
Trepanier-Street, M. L., & Romatowski, J. A. (1999). The influence of children’s
literature on gender role perceptions: A reexamination. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 26, 155-159.
Turner-Bowker, D. M. (1996). Gender stereotyped descriptors in children’s picture
books: Does “curious Jane” exist in literature? Sex Roles, 35, 461-488.
United States Census Bureau. (2011a). Facts for features: Asian/Pacific American
heritage month. Retrieved from
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special
_editions/cb11-ff06.html.
United States Census Bureau. (2011b). Overview of race and Hispanic origins: 2010
census briefs. Retrieved from
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf.
Villanueva, M. (1993). Nene and the horrible math monster. Chicago, IL: Polychrome
Publishing Corporation.
158
Weitzman, L. J., Eifler, D., Hokada, E., & Ross, C. (1972). Sex-role socialization in
picture books for pre-school children. American Journal of Sociology, 77,
1125-1150.
Westbrook, L. (n. d.). Mabuhay Pilipino (Long life!): Filipino culture in southeast
Louisiana. Retrieved from
http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/Pilipino1.html
Williams, Jr., J. A., Vernon, J. A., Williams, M. C., & Malecha, K. (1987). Sex role
socialization in picture books: An update. Social Science, 68, 148-156.
Witt, S. D. (1997). Boys will be boys, and girls will be…hard to find: Gender
representation in third grade basal readers. Education and Society, 15, 47-53.
Witt, S. D. (2000). Review of research: The influence of television on children’s
gender role socialization. Childhood Education, 76, 322-324.
Zeichner, K. (1996). Educating teachers for cultural diversity in the United States. In
M. Craft (Ed.), Teacher education in plural societies (pp. 141-169). Bristol,
PA: The Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc.