Med handen för munnen : En studie av sju barnböcker för åldersgruppen 6–9 år ur ett normkritiskt genusmaktperspektiv

Sammanfattning: In this essay seven children’s books aimed at the age group 6-9 years are read using a matrix to determine if the characters, from a viewpoint considering current gender norms and power, are normative, norm-breaking or falsely norm-breaking. The latter means that they have been attributed transgressive characteristics without there being any shift in power balance from the masculine to the feminine. Results show that the authors have tried to break gender norms, for example with regards to the child -characters’ clothes, which are consistently very alike regardless of gender. These efforts remain shallow as the power still rests with the boys, whose awareness of their own position within the gender -power system give them a sense of intrinsic power (power-to). The female characters reflect societal gender norms by being self-effacing, compliant and reactive, for example by praising the boys, providing them with room to be competent as well as both silencing themselves and letting themselves be silenced. The boy -characters show falsely norm-breaking behaviour in some areas, for example by having atypically broad emotional spectra, yet the boys’ superiority is retained and is reflected in their behaviour towards the female characters.