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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed by 'Little' Miss

115 replies

bumpertobumper · 26/03/2014 22:47

my sons are currently very keen on Mr Men books for bedtime stories. It really annoys me that the female characters are 'little... '. Why can't she just be Miss naughty or Miss Sunshine etc.
I feel it's part of the insidious undermining and belittling (literally!) of women.
So I leave out the little when reading, but DP doesn't and DS1 is in yr1 so can see for himself the girls are all little.
Angry

OP posts:
CoffeeTea103 · 27/03/2014 00:38

Calm down.

stonehairbrush · 27/03/2014 00:44

That one's from the David Cameron school of debate, Coffee.

LightNC · 27/03/2014 00:46

I always thought they were named like this because the extra syllables trip off the tongue better when reading aloud. There's a kind of rhythm there? Mis-ter thingy, Little-Miss thingy.
Whereas Miss, one syllable, sounds a bit stark.
The content, well, too long ago to comment.

HopelessDei · 27/03/2014 01:00

They should be Ms. Seriously. I definitely see your point.

I have censored a lot of the Mr Men books. Mr Mean, for example, was so obnoxious I chucked him in the recycling bin halfway through.

Fefifo · 27/03/2014 01:38

It is belittling to women in exactly the same way as the use of golliwogs is to black people, enforcing ridiculous and negative stereotypes.

The problem is, what's the solution? Golliwogs have been banned because they're one of relatively few examples of black people featuring in children's literature in that period. Absurd stereotypes and negative connotations about women are so, so very common in children's books from that period and even now so much drivel 'aimed at girls' about little princess pink puff petal needing a wardrobe for the party gets published. I don't think anyone's telling you not to get annoyed because the problem isn't there but it's just so universal there's no point bothering with it.

The tiger that came to tea makes my teeth itch.

So a very cautious, YABU.

OwlinaTree · 27/03/2014 02:47

I know it's slightly off topic but have you seen these reviews of the Mr men books? They are from amazon but highlights here. They are amazing!!!!

KatnipEvergreen · 27/03/2014 05:25

Is this thread from 1984? It annoyed me when I was a kid that it was "Little" Miss and not just Miss or Mrs. Hardly likely to change it now after 30+ years are they?

ProudAS · 27/03/2014 06:22

I seem to remember reading the books in french when I was at school. The french versions left out the word 'little'

thegreatgatsby101 · 27/03/2014 06:34

What piggy said.

PunkrockerGirl · 27/03/2014 06:35

FFS Biscuit

JeanSeberg · 27/03/2014 06:44

I thought of that too Owlina. Always glad of another excuse to read those reviews. Inspired!

thebody · 27/03/2014 07:53

I wouldn't have dreamed of reading such boring crap to my kids anyway!

there are such fantastic children's books out there with great authors why in earth read them these.

I am so old I have a collection of Enid Blytons charmingly named, 'The 3 littie gollywogs' never read those to them either.

the world is full of crap books. don't read them.

monicalewinski · 27/03/2014 08:16

Thanks owlina, I've never seen those before - v v funny!

EeeIcouldCrushAGrape · 27/03/2014 08:18

Would you read Irvine Welsh or Barbara Cartland to your 5 yr old or would you "censor" the reading material they can access?

How on earth is that even relevant - surely you know that Barbara Cartland isn't a children's book and shouldn't be read to 5 year olds?! World of difference reading out ADULT books to kids than ones for their age group! That's not even a proper comparison Confused Hmm

EeeIcouldCrushAGrape · 27/03/2014 08:20

I always thought they were named like this because the extra syllables trip off the tongue better when reading aloud. There's a kind of rhythm there? Mis-ter thingy, Little-Miss thingy.

This. Although it's more fun for some to over analyse.

attheendoftheday · 27/03/2014 08:26

YANBU. I don't have the books it the house for that reason. Casual sexism in action.

whereisshe · 27/03/2014 08:34

It's a subtle message that builds up, book after book, toy after toy. Yes, one little miss book on its own isn't a big deal.

But when most books don't have female protagonists and the books that do have female protagonists that are portrayed negatively or that only care about their appearance it does add up. And it works - girls will report being less ambitious and more worried about their appearance than their male peers by early teenagerhood. And that's entirely social conditioning!

It matters because it's getting worse - this is not an oh-well-never-mind-it-was-another-era issue. I'm worried about it, and I'm concerned that other mothers of daughters think it's a non problem.

Lollydaydream · 27/03/2014 08:35

I'd never thought about the 'little' aspect before - the characters aren't human and I just read itas a literal little. However I agree that the female characters are more negatively named and I'm always shocked by the casual violence, proboems are solved by pulling hair, tweaking nises etc ; the books have not aged well.
Little Miss Sunshine is good though!

candycoatedwaterdrops · 27/03/2014 08:37

I always thought they were named like this because the extra syllables trip off the tongue better when reading aloud. There's a kind of rhythm there? Mis-ter thingy, Little-Miss thingy.

I concur with this. I love the books; such cherished memories of sitting on my grandma's bed and her reading them to me.

samandi · 27/03/2014 08:47

I see the usual "calm down dear" and "get a grip" posters are out in force on this thread. For some reason people like this seem to equate annoyance with hysteria and questioning things with having a nervous breakdown. I wonder if they always have such strong emotional reactions to things in their own (offline) lives?

OP, YADNBU to be annoyed that women are called "Little Miss" while men are given the grown up "Mr". And I for one am glad that there are many women (yes, it is mostly women) continuing to call these "small" things out and question them.

Can't remember the books myself, apart from recognising the covers.

EeeIcouldCrushAGrape · 27/03/2014 08:51

I agree that the female characters are more negatively named

We have Mr Rude, Mr Greedy, Mr Uppity, Mr Grumble, Mr Grumpy, Mr Fussy, Mr Mean, amongst others. So not entirely sure how you come to that conclusion.

EeeIcouldCrushAGrape · 27/03/2014 08:56

"Little Miss" while men are given the grown up "Mr"

Because it sounds better, perchance?! Mis-ter Gree-dy, Mis-ter Mis-chief etc.
Lit-tle Miss Sun-shine, etc sounds better than Miss Sunshine which just sounds stark for a children's book.
Or why not just do away with the Miss title instead and just call the book Sunshine, and not allude to the fact she's female at all. Could be a book about the sun in the sky for all the kids know.

samandi · 27/03/2014 09:08

Eee -

In that case, "Mrs" would sound better. Personally I don't think Miss Sunshine sounds stark at all, though.

You seem to be getting a little upset dear. Don't worry, no-one's going to ban your little books anytime soon.

DomesticDisgrace · 27/03/2014 09:11

Ah Janiemac you've little to be worrying about

LittleMissLurksALot · 27/03/2014 09:13

Well...this is awkward Blush