A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair
Children's literature serves as a powerful medium through which children construct messages about their roles In society and gender Identity is often central to this construction. Although possessing mental schemas about gender differences is helpful when children organize their ideas of the wo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Research Management Institute (RMI)
2008
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| Online Access: | https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13066/ |
| _version_ | 1848803230591483904 |
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| author | Nair, Ramesh |
| author_facet | Nair, Ramesh |
| author_sort | Nair, Ramesh |
| building | UiTM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Children's literature serves as a powerful medium through which children construct messages about their roles In society and gender Identity is often central to this construction. Although possessing mental schemas about gender differences is helpful when children organize their ideas of the world around them, problems occur when children are exposed to a constant barrage of uncompromising, gender-schematic sources that lead to stereotyping which in turn represses the full development of the child. This paper focuses on how gender is represented in a selection of Malaysian children's books published in the English language. Relying on the type of content analysis employed by previous feminist social science researchers, I explore this selection of Malaysian children's books for young children and highlight some areas of concern with regard to the construction of maleness and femaleness in these texts. The results reveal Imbalances at various levels Including the distribution
of main, supporting and minor characters along gendered lines and the positioning of male and female characters In the visual Illustrations. The stereotyping of these characters In terms of their behavioural traits will be
discussed with the aim of drawing attention to the need for us to take concerted measures to provide our children with books that will help them realize their potential to the fullest. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:35:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | uitm-13066 |
| institution | Universiti Teknologi MARA |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:35:57Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | Research Management Institute (RMI) |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | uitm-130662016-06-29T08:36:12Z https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13066/ A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair smrj Nair, Ramesh Malaysian literature Collections of general literature PZ Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Children's literature serves as a powerful medium through which children construct messages about their roles In society and gender Identity is often central to this construction. Although possessing mental schemas about gender differences is helpful when children organize their ideas of the world around them, problems occur when children are exposed to a constant barrage of uncompromising, gender-schematic sources that lead to stereotyping which in turn represses the full development of the child. This paper focuses on how gender is represented in a selection of Malaysian children's books published in the English language. Relying on the type of content analysis employed by previous feminist social science researchers, I explore this selection of Malaysian children's books for young children and highlight some areas of concern with regard to the construction of maleness and femaleness in these texts. The results reveal Imbalances at various levels Including the distribution of main, supporting and minor characters along gendered lines and the positioning of male and female characters In the visual Illustrations. The stereotyping of these characters In terms of their behavioural traits will be discussed with the aim of drawing attention to the need for us to take concerted measures to provide our children with books that will help them realize their potential to the fullest. Research Management Institute (RMI) 2008 Article PeerReviewed text en https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13066/1/AJ_RAMESH%20NAIR%20SMRJ%2008%201.pdf Nair, Ramesh (2008) A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair. (2008) Social and Management Research Journal (SMRJ) <https://ir.uitm.edu.my/view/publication/Social_and_Management_Research_Journal_=28SMRJ=29.html>, 5 (2). pp. 49-60. ISSN 1675-7017 https://smrj.uitm.edu.my/ |
| spellingShingle | Malaysian literature Collections of general literature PZ Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Nair, Ramesh A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair |
| title | A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair |
| title_full | A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair |
| title_fullStr | A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair |
| title_full_unstemmed | A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair |
| title_short | A content analysis of gender representation in Malaysian children's literature / Ramesh Nair |
| title_sort | content analysis of gender representation in malaysian children's literature / ramesh nair |
| topic | Malaysian literature Collections of general literature PZ Fiction and juvenile belles lettres |
| url | https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13066/ https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13066/ |