I recently asked around on Facebook for examples of sexism in ELT materials. And as writing and editing schedules are increasingly squeezed, many such areas of quality control are under pressure. It’s not always top of their list of competing priorities. Though the editorial process for major ELT publishers does include checks for gender representation, it relies on authors and editors to actively engage with the idea of promoting gender equality. ELT materials are, unfortunately, no exception. When was the last time you saw a female farmer in a book, I wonder? It’s rather unfair of me to single out Ladybird books, since this kind of thing is so widespread we barely notice it. Farmer Fergus leads the cows in.įarm Hullaballoo! by Justine Smith published by Penguin, 2011įlo is just as much a farmer as Fergus, as far as responsibilities go, but here she’s ‘the farmer’s wife’. Flo, the farmer’s wife, gets the milking machine ready. It’s early morning on Blossom Farm and the cows are being milked. Looking beyond ELT for a moment, in our house we have a recently published Ladybird book, containing the following text: So where do these prejudices come from? And how can our young learners’ teaching be honed to counteract these subconscious assumptions? Prevailing cultural norms that prevent boys from being able to express themselves fully and pursue whatever interests they may have are limiting and unhelpful to both sexes. This state of affairs is damaging for boys as well as girls. In case we didn’t already have our heads in our hands, one child says ‘They’re dressed up!’ in complete disbelief that these women might actually do these jobs. The power of the video lies in the gasps of amazement when the real thing walk in… and they are all female. The vast majority – girls and boys – draw men. There’s a powerful YouTube video created by an organisation called ‘Inspiring the future’ in which a class of primary school children are asked to draw a firefighter, a surgeon and a fighter pilot. That’s Daddy’s seat.’ ‘This is for girls – it’s got flowers on it.’ And my particular favourite: The fact that this gem of 21st century sexism came from a boy is not really relevant, since, having discussed the interaction with various friends and colleagues, many report similar conversations with young girls as well as boys. By the age of two, this child has already absorbed the cultural messages we are all bombarded with: that some roles are for women and others are for men. This dialogue reveals something depressing but not totally surprising. Me: What did the farmer give the cows to eat? I recently had the following conversation with a two-year-old:

Peppa pig subliminal messages