How Do Kids Experience Old People?
Children’s books often reinforce ageist and sexist narratives
One of the joys of having young children for me was snuggling in bed with them and reading them books before bedtime. I read my two boys all the classic children’s books, fairy tales and mythologies, and new ones, but one thing I never thought too deeply about was how old people are depicted on the pages.
Yes, there were evil stepmothers and wicked old witches, but that wasn’t “real life” in my mind. But, did my kids know that? How did they experience those descriptions of old women?
That’s something Vanessa Joosen, of the University of Antwerp in Belgium, explores in her 2024 study, “Constructing ‘Old’ Age for Young Readers: A Digital Approach.”
Critics have long discussed the dangers of children’s books, such as those that reinforce ageist and perhaps sexist stereotypes, she notes, as well as the opportunities they offer, such as showing positive inter-generational interactions.
She wanted to dig deeper by using a digital analysis of hundreds of award-winning children’s books published in the United Kingdom, Flanders, and the Netherlands between 1970 and 2020, including the popular works of Harry Potter series author J. K. Rowling, in hopes of revealing ageist stereotypes and more…
